Swan Song ~ Shadow & Bone

1

Genya's eyes flicked nervously around the gathering of captured Grisha and vengeful First Army. Her wrists were raw from the cold metal that had been rubbing against them for saints know how long, but it was nothing compared to the last prison she had endured.

"The Grisha betrayed us!" an intoxicated soldier cried. "Their General and the Sun Summoner caused that." He gestured loosely with his arm towards the swirling black mass that had recently become little more than background noise for the Grisha. "We fought for you! We sacrificed our front lines for you!" He shook his head as he stared up at the shadow."And now, the Fold is coming for us all. Because of you!" His face turned to one of anger once again, and he looked back to scan the mass of Grisha in cages.

"They say the Grisha are Ravkan," he claimed. "Loyal to the King. The same king the Grisha poisoned." He laughed and shook his head. "Can you imagine?" Genya's breath grew increasingly more nervous as the crowd grew restless and angry.

"I am a Healer," she spoke gently as the man stepped closer to her cage. "I can help your soldiers." She sighed worriedly and glanced up at the Fold. "If you leave us here, you will kill all of us." The man was quiet for a moment before laughing and shaking his head.

"It's not us you should be worrying about now," he claimed vaguely. "It's the things inside the Fold." At his words, the shrieking from inside the mass of shadow grew louder. And louder. Until they could hardly help but clutch their ears in a fruitless attempt to drown out the sound.

"What is that??" one of the soldiers cried as an unnamed man fell to the ground, headless.

"How? The Volcra can't leave the Fold."

"Kirigan's dead!" The First Army soldiers grew panicked and scurried around, making an effort to escape the unidentified horror that awaited them, but it was of little consequence. Soon enough, each and every one of them was dead.

And from the shadows, two figures, dressed in black, emerged.

Slowly, the taller of the two lowered his hood.

"I have returned," Kirigan announced. "And I've made some new friends." At his words, his companion lowered her hood and glanced between the nichevo'ya that flanked the two of them. Wordlessly, her eyes met Genya's, and the redhead relaxed only slightly. "So..." Kirigan's eyes scanned the corpses that surrounded them. "This again? Locking us up in cages." He sighed, but there was no remorse behind his onyx eyes. "We shall have to overthrow the King now." Upon looking down at his wife and noticing the source of her attention, his eyes fell to Genya, and he slowly made his way to her cage.

"Genya," he spoke softly, cutting away the lock. "Am I glad to see you." Before he could attempt another move, Katya rushed forward, melting away the shackles around her friend's wrists and clutching her close. Genya looked up at the former General as the two separated.

"You survived," she muttered, her eyes still widened in shock.

"Of course we did," he almost scoffed. "When have we ever not?" He took a sharp breath in as he stepped away from her cage. "But I am famished. I think we shall head into town. Dispose of the First Army there and cook up some dinner." He looked back at the group briefly as Katya and a freed Durast worked to free the Grisha from their cages. "If anyone... cares to join." He turned away from them, and the instant his eyes were no longer on the group, Genya rushed to her friend's side. Katya instantly interlocked their arms, the two clinging to each other like magnets, neither willing to let go again for fear of losing each other.

"There was talk that you'd both died in the Fold," Genya murmured, glancing around nervously. Katya glanced down at her as she tried to keep her attention both on her and on her husband as he grew farther away.

"We nearly did," she admitted. "I'm still not quite sure how I survived, if I'm honest. He keeps assuring me that I owe him nothing, that we took a vow to protect each other regardless, but I know without him I would have died without a doubt." Genya nodded and rubbed her arm gently.

"I am grateful to him for that." Katya clenched her jaw and glanced around before stopping her steps, pulling Genya to a halt as well. The brunette looked down at her kind friend with worry in her eyes. "Katya? What is it? What's wrong?"

"You need to be cautious," the taller girl warned in a hushed tone. Genya's brows furrowed in confusion and concern simultaneously.

"What are you talking about?"

"Genya, you know there's nothing in this world I could ever hide from you. I never have lied to you, and I never intend to, so I feel that it's only right if I warn you that Aleksander has grown darker in the time we were away from you." Her eyes were everywhere, trying to balance ensuring that no one was around to hear them and that they didn't get left behind. "Much happened in the Fold, and I will have to inform you of that later, but I need to tell you now that while he is still Aleksander–protective and strong and loyal–he has grown... I can find no better word for it than almost unstable." Genya's eyes widened only slightly as she tried to understand her friend's words.

"Unstable?" she repeated. "I don't understand, what has he done?" Katya's eyes were filled with worry and near sadness as she gazed down at her friend.

"The use of merzost to create his nichevo'ya saved us in the Fold, yes, but it also weakened him. Substantially. And more than in a physical sense, I believe it has begun to change his mind." She shook her head. "He is angry. And bitter. And he seems hyperfixated on finding Alina and finishing what we started in the Fold." She gulped and squeezed Genya's hands tighter. "I fear he may not stop before he does. Or before it kills him. But I also fear that anything and anyone who gets in his way will stand no chance against him anymore." Genya nodded.

"And what about you?" Katya had no response to the inquiry, and Genya's heart sank. "I will stand by you." She squeezed her friend's hands once in return. "You will not have to help him or face him alone. Whatever you find to be the best path, I will follow you down it, sestra."

Translation

sestra ~ sister