𝐀𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐋𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐲 - 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐯

𝟎.𝟑 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫

✧・❉・✧

"Take care of yourself, umnyshka, please. I'd hate to see you in pieces," The Darkling remarked as Valeriya climbed aboard the skiff, her hands trembling very slightly. She felt for all metal on the skiff, a sense of comfort washing over her.

"I'd hate to disappoint, General," she replied softly. The sun had just cracked in the sky, bathing the two Grisha in an orange glow. A few of the First Army guards were up, a tracker here and there, the Senior Cartographer.

"You are ordered to come back at the slightest sign of your discomfort, Valeriya," The Darkling commanded, for all the world sounded like a mother hen.

Valeriya raised an eyebrow. "Yes, General. You don't need to baby me," she said, frowning.

He ran a hand down his face. "I'm not babying you. I just don't want you to do this if you do not wish to."

"I have to cross it someday," she muttered. "Better it be on my terms."

The Darkling nodded as the sun rose higher and the First Army began bustling about. "You will no — "

A figure pushed past Valeriya, bumping into her shoulder. Of course. Zoya Nazyalensky. She could never be happy until she was given top priority in everything.

"Why am I not commanding the skiff?" Zoya demanded, crossing her arms over her blue kefta and looking at the Darkling.

The Darkling pursed his lips. It wasn't that Zoya wasn't powerful, she was, very much so, but if Valeriya was to cross the Fold for the first time, she needed some task to do to keep her mind off of other things. But Zoya could not be told that.

"You are manning the sail, Zoya. You will need all your concentration for that," he said. Zoya opened her mouth again, but he cut her off. "My decision is final, and I owe no explanation to you. You are to follow Valeriya's orders. Is that understood?"

Zoya turned red and clenched her jaw. "Yes, General."

The Darkling nodded once to Valeriya, and retreated to his tent. Zoya gave her a once-over, scoffed, then headed further into the skiff.

Now, the First Army had crowded the skiff. Valeriya felt for their steel, arrows, guns, knives.

"First Army! Five guards around Squallars at the mast!" Valeriya called out in a loud voice to carry it over the nervous chatter of everyone. "Commanders, arrange your rifled men to the railings. Inferni, between them. Archers, behind the rifled men."

Valeriya was having trouble regulating her breathing. The last time she had crossed the Fold, she was seven, and hiding behind the Darkling. She had promised never to go near Udova, but now here she was, nearing it dangerously.

Of course, they would only be stopping in Novo Kribirsk, but that didn't mean her nerves were settled. She would be far away from the comfort of Little Palace, and as much as she hated admitting it, the Darkling as well.

She ignored the sound of wings, as she focused on the large number of metals aboard the skiff. The two marker counts came, and she called out to the Inferni.

Then all hell broke loose.

The volcra dove, and for a terrible second, Valeriya cursed the Darkling whose power was so similar to this. One by one, like sticks, the First Army soldiers fell, some carried away by the piercing claws of the flying beasts, and all-around people screaming and shouting and blood and bones and shadows. The skiff had stopped, and the horrible image of Zoya being dead flashed in her mind.

Take care of yourself, umnyshka, the Darkling's words echoes in her mind.

Valeriya gritted her teeth and felt for nearby fallen rifles. From the body of a tracker, a rifle flew into her hands, and she fired.

Shot after shot, each one cleverly directed the bullets to the volcra's wings. Even if she shot in open air, she controlled the bullet into diving into the wings.

But it wasn't enough.

Then suddenly, the sky burst open and pure, bright white light tore through the Fold, the volcra shrinking away from their worst enemy and Valeriya's eyes shut on instinct. The light stopped as suddenly as it had come, but the area was clear of volcra, and Zoya, bloodied and bruised Zoya, was manning the sail again.

The Squaller turned around to shoot a roguish grin at Valeriya. "Glad to see you're of use," she remarked, eyes scanning the rifle in Valeriya's hands.

"Glad to see you're not dead," Valeriya called back, handing the rifle to a passing soldier. "Zoya! Turn the skiff back around. We're heading to Kribirsk again."

The Senior Cartographer pointed out a girl, lying unconscious on the deck, sprawled over the body of a tracker. "She's one of my assistants, and she was right at the centre of the light," he babbled.

Valeriya raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying she's a Sun Summoner?"

The old man's lips wobbled but he said nothing. Valeriya pursed her lips and looked at Zoya, who replied with an incredulous look.

Funny, Valeriya thought. For years Zoya and I have been fighting, yet the thing that unites us is the Fold.

"Wake up the tracker, surround the girl. She is to be immediately reported to the General. Understood?" Valeriya commanded, pointing to the shoddy mess of a girl. All Saints, even if she isn't a Sun Summoner, I hope the General gives her new clothes.

The skiff emerged into Kribirsk again, and Valeriya squinted as light flooded into her eyes. The commander of the First Army took the girl to the Officer's Tent, and Valeriya shot him a cold look, but let him. She directed Zoya and the other Grisha to their own tents, telling them to freshen up, change, and get looked at by a Healer.

And then she set towards the black tent flanked by oprichniki and Corporalnik, ready to face the Darkling's mother-henning.

✧・❉・✧

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hey guys surprise im writing again