❝i want you to touch me there make me feel like i am breathing, feel like i am human ❞
𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇...
on the alter of the devil, up
is down, pleasure is pain,
darkness is light, slavery
is freedom, and madness
is sanity
𝐎𝐑...
𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧�...
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THE GRASS WAS WET, COVERED in a fine layer of dew and it soaked into Verena's coat as she laid on it. Kaz and Jesper were next to her with Inej next to Jesper. They lay in the open field behind a lone hay barrel, hiding, as their eyes were set on the train they used to cross the fold on.
"How many are there?" Inej pondered.
"Two," Kaz replied, keeping a sharp eye on the soldiers of the second army who inspected the deteriorating train. "At some point, at least one of them will have to go tell a superior what they found. We'll go in then."
"Not to be that person, Kaz, but are you sure you can drive that thing?" Jesper questioned with skepticism.
"Yes. On the way to Kribirsk while you were busy hugging bait-"
"Milo," Jesper fumed in a low voice. "The goat's name is Milo."
"I was memorizing Arken's timings," Kaz finished.
"Not to hang up on you, but Jes has a point," Verena added. "Arken's system was complicated and the ride was chaotic. No one would blame you for missing a count."
Kaz furrowed his brows and looked at Verena. "Jes?"
"It's Suli, for friendship," Jesper added.
"No, it's not," Inej shook her head.
"Trust me," Kaz began. "Arken and I think alike."
The ground shattered underneath them and a piercing sound travelled through the air. Prices of shrapnel, from the train, fell to the ground as a cloud of smoke and embers rose in the sky.
"Too soon to appreciate the irony, am I right?" Jesper asked. "Yeah, too soon," he nodded to himself as Kaz lowered his head.
"THE SKIFF IS STILL HERE," Inej shared as Verena sat down next to Kaz in the small bar on the edge of town. The Crows planned to stay away from going deep into town in case they ran into General Kirigan. Inej went to scout out an entry to the Fold so they could all go home. "Travellers downstairs are complaining. They were due to cross this morning."
"Orders from the Black General. He plans to cross it tomorrow," Kaz told them.
"The General? Is that the same general who tried to. . . oh, yeah, kill us all," Jesper rolled his eyes.
"He has the Sun Summoner," Kaz revealed.
"Was this your plan all along?" Inej pressed. "To have the General get her back so you can take her again?"
"My plan is to get us across the Fold. We aren't prepared for another fight," Kaz grumbled, his grip on his cane tightening.
"So that's it?" Verena asked. "We're going to let one million kruge go? Leave empty-handed? And not even bother to go after the Sun Summoner?"
