Swan Song ~ Shadow & Bone

2

Alina's eyes flicked around her as she opened them, only to be thrown into the past, catching sight of the war room of the Little Palace. As she scanned the room, her eyes fell on a familiar figure, hunched over the side of the table. She shook her head as she approached slowly.

"Why drag us back to the past?" she questioned him. He hardly moved.

"The past informs everything," he told her. "It is the wound that will not heal." The Shu girl shook her head.

"Your past is the reason for all ruin."

"Yours makes you think you've found a family with your orphan friend." He chuckled. "You think you've found a future."

"I have." He scowled and shook his head.

"No. You will only grow more powerful. And he will only grow old." Alina sighed and held her hands together as she spoke, making her mind up to prove him wrong.

"You envy our love." He scoffed.

"'Love,'" he repeated. He shook his head. "I do know what you feel, when you're with your tracker." She rolled her eyes.

"I doubt that."

"Not the pining in your heart you've yet to outgrow. You know not the meaning of true love and adoration. I mean the loneliness. The growing understanding of your... unique situation." He lowered his eyes briefly. "The ache of it." Alina sighed, tuning out his words to the best of her ability.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"It will never fade, Alina. It will only grow worse, no matter how far or fast you run. You will come to accept that it's you and me. There are no others like us." He nodded. "Understand there never will be." Alina furrowed her brows as she watched him, but after a moment, she shook her head.

"We are not the same." She unclasped her kefta quickly and dropped the black garment to the ground, leaving her in a simple blue dress. "And I'm not wearing your color ever again." Kirigan's eyes were trained on the fallen coat, and he chuckled under his breath.

"Perhaps now you're getting an inkling of what it's like to be hunted." He shook his head and looked up at her. 'But you still have no idea what it means to fake countless deaths, to have to reinvent yourself after every rebirth, to lose every loved one to sickness, desperation... hate. And time." Alina frowned deeply and shook her head once more.

"And what of Katya?" she questioned without hesitation. "I was under the impression that she meant the world to you. Is she no longer the reason for your fighting, the way you justify your actions? Not your loneliness, not a wound that can't heal." She shook her head. "Her." Kirigan glanced around the room before meeting her eye.

"You've yet to see the full shape of things, Alina," he claimed. "You live in a single moment. I live in a thousand." He rested his hands on the table once again, and Alina shook her head.

"You're already dead." Kirigan looked up, but she was gone.

He jolted awake in his chair, startling Katya, who was sitting several feet away with a book in her hand. Kirigan inhaled sharply before coughing. And coughing and coughing. Such fits were becoming more and more common in the days that passed. Katya moved to stand, but her husband only held up a hand, and she sank back into her seat.

A knock sounded at the door, and the two looked up at it.

"Come in," the Darkling called. Slowly, the door creaked open, and Genya entered, clad in her old red and blue kefta. She closed the door behind us and clasped her hands in front of her stiffly. Katya could see that she was immensely uncomfortable in the presence of the man, ever since the warning she'd given several days before. Kirigan, however, could see no such discomfort.

"Genya," the man greeted with a small smile. "It's good to see more Grisha walking these halls. I'm sure the previous owners would have had us all killed." The redhead nodded shakily and forced a smile.

"It truly is a miracle that you survived," she said quietly. Kirigan sighed, and Katya turned her eyes to him.

"We are survivors," he stated. "Are we not?" Katya nodded with a heavy sigh.

"A miracle would've been more forgiving," she murmured. Her husband nodded.

"Yes, this was tenacity. And that is how we shall move forward. Rally. Begin anew." Genya was silent for a moment before standing up a bit straighter.

"And David?" she questioned. "Has there been any word?" Katya stood, setting her book in her seat, and moved to her friend's side.

"Don't worry, Genya," she said warmly. "Scouts are bringing in new Grisha daily. If he's out there, we will find him for you." The woman sent her friend a grateful smile, and Kirigan nodded.

"Now," he spoke, "as you can see, I am in desperate need of your particular touch." He gestured simply to his face. Genya looked down at her friend, who nodded with a smile. She sighed and stepped towards the Shadow Summoner. He let his eyes fall closed for her to work, and she waved her hands across his skin slowly. The wounds across his face stitched themselves together bit by bit before settling as three simple lines across his face. Genya furrowed her brows and shook her head as she hummed.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "That's all I can-" As she spoke, the shadows hidden in the corners of the room began to speak. They began to move. Genya flinched back as she was startled, and Katya quickly moved to her side. Kirigan quickly held up a hand to keep the creatures at bay.

"Your shadow monsters," Genya whispered. "They're here." Kirigan looked up at her sharply.

"My nichevo'ya," he corrected. "And they are with me, always. In the darkness-" Before he could finish, he began to cough again. Katya inhaled sharply and glanced around the room. After a moment, Kirigan looked up at the two women, his gaze fixed on the Tailor. "Perhaps you might assess the damage." Genya gulped and shook her head.

"I'm afraid that is beyond-"

"Try." Upon receiving a sharp look from his wife, the man sighed. "Please." Genya hesitated, and Katya gave her hand a quick squeeze before stepping away. She nodded shakily.

"Yes. I might..." Kirigan extended his hand slowly, and she drifted her hand across the scarred imprint of the stag antler that had been removed from his skin. She furrowed her brows as she concentrated, but she stumbled back as a nichevo'ya formed behind its master. Kirigan grunted in pain as it stepped around him towards Genya. Katya quickly grabbed her friend's hand, pulling her behind her as Kirigan fought to control the monster behind him.

The room went suddenly quiet as the monster disappeared. After a moment, Katya turned to Genya, silently motioning for her to leave the room.

"Thank you," Kirigan spoke quietly, making the redhead stop in her tracks. "I shall make sure your room is in this wing of the building." Katya and Genya met each other's eye as he spoke. "I'd like to keep you close."