Blood and Water - The Darkling

Chapter 32: Jaws of Death

*Unedited

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𝕳𝖚𝖘𝖇𝖆𝖓𝖉 and wife cut through soldiers like a scythe cutting grain. My talons sweep low, drawing blood, as Aleksander sends out seething waves of suffocating darkness.

The battlefield is strewn with bodies and the Fjerdan soldiers are still surrounding the King, a noose drawing ever tighter despite our best efforts. There's hope still. The Darkling and I are a force none should dare face. We've reduced the enemy's numbers drastically. Ravka will not fall.

My head jerks over to a shape that glides next to me. I spot Tamar atop a khergud - his double metal wings like those of a dragonfly. She nods to me and I follow them as they dive to the ground. Grisha raise their hands to defend themselves from the creatures of their nightmares - the khergud. If not for my steel focus on the battle raging below us, that same fear would soak into my bones.

The khergud are soldiers equipped with metal wings. They were created by the Shu in order to capture Grisha. Rumor has it that they are constructed from the bodies of the dead.

"Stand down!" Tamar yells in Ravkan. "Tolya, tell them to stand down!"

The people on the ground begin to shout at one another.

King Nikolai looks up at them in wonder. "Stand down!" he commands. "They're allies." I know him well enough that I can tell he doesn't quite believe it. "Keep your eyes on the Fjerdans."

As the Fjerdans catch sight of the winged Shu, they open fire. I whirl in the air, adding a layer of night blades to my feathers in order to protect myself and Aleksander. It isn't enough. They found a weak spot.

I feel a searing pain where my wing connects to my body. A piercing cry escapes my beak. Then all I know is the wind. I'm falling.

The impact barely even registers through the haze of agony. I know not if the Squallers eased my descent or if my senses are all focused on the object lodged in me. My eyes are fluttering, my body twitching. Fire burns me.

Suddenly, the torment increases before calming to a dull numbness. Unwillingly, I transform back into my human body. Through blurry eyes, I see Aleksander tossing a large bloody harpoon to the side. He rushes to me and yells for a Healer.

Blackness takes me. It does not last.

A howl filled with anguish awakens me. My eyes flicker first to the Grisha stitching my wound closed then to the source of the sound that stirred me from unconsciousness.

Aleksander's back faces me. Shadows swirl out from him like a hurricane. They lash out at the enemy with such fury. But some of our allies struggle to stay out of the carnage. He's a vision of avenging glory.

If it came down to the world or you, I would not hesitate to set my nichevo'ya on everyone and everything but you.

Nikolai's head emerges from the corner of my eye, "Lana, despite how helpful he's being dealing with the enemy and all, could you please control your monster?"

Even at the brink of what was almost my deathbed, I can't help but quirk a brow and sassily respond, "Forgive me, King of Scars, for almost bleeding to death and not immediately processing the situation. Of course, I should have jumped to my feet to comfort the Darkling the moment my eyes opened."

Through his stress, he's still my Nikolai. "Precisely! Although, what have I taught you about apologies?"

I huff as I drag myself to my feet, "I am not a Queen, Nikolai."