Shadows and The Sea - The Darkling

The Stag & Reunion

Percy's POV

We trekked through the forest for the whole day and it was apparent that we were moving further north. The sun made room for the moon and before we knew it, we were surrounded by white and snowflakes were stuck in the fur linings of our cloaks.

I started to see puffs of my breath float in front of me, another symbol of the temperature change and before I could think more about how dam cold it was, someone pulled my attention away.

"So what happens when we find them? I don't think our little Sun Summoner is going to come back to the Little Palace with a smile on her face. Especially with that tracker of hers," Zoya asked out loud.

The group stopped but the one clad in all black took steps forward until he finally stopped a couple feet in front of me. He didn't exactly turn around but turned his head enough to project his voice back towards the rest of the cloaked party, "We will deal with the tracker when we need to. As for Ms. Starkov, I believe that she doesn't have to resolve to pick between the Stag and the man she loves."

That's all we get because after he finished his thought, he turned back around and started to hike through the snowy darkness.

Not wanting to leave him alone, I started to walk and could hear footsteps follow behind me. I subtly slipped my cold hand into the man's next to me and while I didn't get a verbal acknowledgement, I felt him squeeze in response and his furrowed brow softened for a second before going back to his serious face.

Once I got that response, I quickly switched the hand that was holding Aleksander's and started to walk backwards, facing everyone else. I knew that they were all a little on edge because their general hadn't given them a solid plan yet and going off of the dark aura he was radiating right now, they were not as confident to speak up.

"Alina is going after the Stag and with Mal at her side, she is probably going to be more inclined to fight. However, she is probably also going to reject most things she learned at the Little Palace, knowing her. Like how you have to kill the amplifier to use its power. So the best thing to do would be to make her choose between Mal and the Stag."

As I spoke, I couldn't help but feel a pit start to grow in my stomach. Alina and Mal were my friends so forming a plan to use them against each other and capture them wasn't exactly the most comforting thing to do at the moment but I knew it had to be done. I hoped that once Alina and Mal were calm enough, that I could talk to them and explain what the plan for the Fold was and hopefully they would understand.

Some wishful thinking.

I got a couple weird looks among the people with us.

The oprichniki didn't seem to care but were weary since I wasn't their general. Zoya rolled her eyes but I could tell that what I said made sense to her as she didn't say anything to argue. Ivan looked like he wanted to say something but refrained. David was the only one who didn't seem to have a problem with me coming up with a plan but that was probably because he wasn't heavily involved with this part.

"We could have someone with a long ranged attack shoot a warning shot before moving in. Maybe to the Stag so it won't run away but nothing to kill it. However, Mal will be quick to respond so someone should cover and be ready to counter anything he may do. To work against Alina, we would then need to try and get Mal away from her."

"Why don't we just kill him?" asked Ivan.

That was one of the first things he's said on this trip but one of the most idiotic as well.

I snapped my head in his direction, "No, we can't kill him. If we do then we have no leverage against Alina and she will act more reckless. If she knows that she has something to save or protect, then it will cause her to cave in more quickly. But even if we have to harm Mal, it can't be fatal."