Taking power

Part 9 - Running

It was a shriek. It was pain. It was need.

And she had to move, to help.

She was up in an instant, slamming the carriage door open to clamber out. What she saw was horrifying . Where she had only seen rock faces before she now saw a fortress. The cold stone was peppered with arrow slits, holes where soldiers were starting to appear and outcrops from which scouts were shouting back to their generals. How could she have been so blind?

And yet there was nothing to explain that cry. That awful wail of pain.

Their party was scrambling against the first falling arrows. The familiar strangers were panicked, frantic even. They were not expecting a fight. How had they stumbled against such a place. Ivan was by her side straight away. She should have known.

'How did you get out?' He barked, grabbing her shoulder painfully.

'I..' She started but diddnt have to finish. A red tipped arrowhead landed between them. Ivan pushed her hard as it exploded against him. The loud bang seemed to set off all the others until everywhere was covered in smoke and Alina's eyes started to water. Her vision blured. It Would be a massacre. She could already smell the burning of flesh. Was it Ivan?

With outstretched arms and squinting eyes she felt for her guards, Ivan, anyone. She could hear them all around her, shouting to fire west, and head north but they weren't close enough to get to. No one was shouting her name. She was forgotten, for a time. This could be her chance. Perhaps her only chance. To leave, to escape Alexsander and his terrible plans for her.

She wouldn't squander it. She could not help him destroy Ravka. She would survive without him, without a home. She would have to. They could all die here, even him. She owed them nothing.

She ran as fast as she could before the smoke would clear. She ran until her feet started slipping on wet earth and first spruces started to appear. She could still hear the fighting, the screams.

She was panting, weak after such a long time travelling, sweat trickling down her face. She diddnt feel sorry. She felt free. Maybe even happy. She was finally alone.

And yet she should continue. Once he knew she was gone he wouldn't be far behind. She turned, bracing herself to start running again, when she heard it. The scream. The wail that had pulled her from her mindless state in the carriage. It grounded her. Her feet wouldn't carry her forward.

Because she knew that scream.

Nikolai.

She thought he was dead, another one of her family taken by the darkling. And yet, that was his voice . A very human voice too. What was he doing in there? What were they doing to him? The darklings warnings came back to her; Jura Parem. They couldn't have Nikolai, could they?

She would go back for him. Always.

She ran even faster back into the fray. The smoke had started to clear, a red haze replacing it where the dead had fallen. She didn't feel bad. These people had held her captive her for weeks. Watched her fade away in the darklings carriage. The only guilt she felt was for Nikolai. How could she have left him, been so willing to accept his death without even trying to look for him?

She should have known better. She does know better. Alina let that knowledge carry her forward, throwing up a shield of light above her as she stormed the gate of the mountain. The red iron melted in seconds under her will. Inside, lines of soldiers stood between her and the inner rooms. She called the light, breathed a sigh of relief as her power flooded out of her. They fell like flies.

Until they didn't.

The final row of soldiers, fearsome in black and red, stood unperturbed. They stared with yellow eyes as she blasted them again and again with white hot light. The gold inlayed walls around them started to melt. Alina couldn't feel it, but neither could they. Alina walked ever closer until she could feel the heat radiating from them. They had a shield too, of fire so hot it was invisible from afar. She looked closer at the faces of these unflinching Shu. Their green and blueeyes, their pale skin, their mousy hair, it was familiar.

These people were Ravkan.

Inferni she realised when she saw the flames reflected in their eyes. But she had never heard of any to be so powerful, let alone five. Like a unified wave they started to move in on her, marching with dead eyes, tense with power. She threw up her shield all around her now. She could feel more power under her skin, feel it pushing to be let out, to protect her. But did she want to kill these grisha? They held secrets. The secrets of their extraordinary power. Power that she could use to be free of Alexsander forever.

In a split second she had decided. A twinge of guilt was all she felt as she made her light reflect off the melting gold to hit behind their wall of fire and hit the grisha in the eyes. They threw up their hands and screamed in pain at their burns .Alina didn't hesitate to run past them. She continued towards Nikolai, running through narrow corridors and dodging the occasional soldier by bending the light around her.
All the while his screams grew louder, more panicked.

They lead her lower and lower into a dungeon of dim light and damp, roughly carved walls. The sight was nauseating. Rows and rows of cells held emancipated prisoners cowering into corners. Some were clutching at a few bits of straw that had found its way into their prisons, others muttered under their breaths watching the guards wildly.

And then there were the yellow ones. Their cells were reinforced with double crossed bars, padded and completely bare. Inside were grisha like the inferni. They sat motionless, as if waiting for something. It unnerved Alinas very core.

There were even more guards here than in the main fortress. But she wasn't the only outsider. Somewhere, hidden in shadows, was Alexsander. She could feel his presence, waiting like a predator to strike, to unleash his darkness. And at the very centre of these rows came Nikolais screams. From her hiding spot Alina could just about see a white room with someone inside, strapped down and thrashing. She had to get there.

She could get past the prisoners, the guards, invisible in her shroud of light. But he would see. He probably already knew she was here. She could reveal him to the guards. Draw him out and run. Watch whilst the whole army came to capture him. And yet she couldn't do that. This would be a fate worse than death. Alina though of his gentle touches at the inn, the way his anger took hold when that drunkard attacked her. Mabye he deserved it but she wouldn't be the one togive him this fate.
In the end she diddnt have to decide.

'Alina' came his deep voice beside her. 'I need your help.'