" Are you ready for it? "
―THAT MORNING, WE waste no time in leaving. We pack our things up in the main hall, Alina joining us halfway through. Genya gives her the same olive winter coat she wore when she first arrived, freshly pressed and still warm from the iron. Once we're ready, we exit and see the Soldat Sol gathered together in perfect, stiff rows, canisters of lumiya hung on their shoulders in case things go sideways. Their tattoos are almost in flawless uniform and I can't help but wonder how terrified they must be feeling today, knowing it's nothing short of the uncertainty rippling through my mind.
Alina walks over to me as everyone prepares to make the journey to the Fold, and I raise my eyebrows in question. She reaches into her pocket and pulls something out.
My breath catches when I see it glimmer in the light.
The Lantsov emerald.
"He would have wanted you to have it," Alina whispers, placing it in my palm.
I feel its weight, remembering the day Nikolai showed me it, the day we both said goodbye. If only we knew just how far goodbye would go.
"I shouldn't," I say, trying to return it to her.
"I want you to have it, too," she tells me. "Just take it."
I look down at it and nod, slightly defeated. "Thank you, Alina."
She smiles. "We might die today because of me. You don't have to thank me for anything."
We all take our bags and soon our group is headed out to either save Ravka or perish fateful deaths. Half an hour later of dead silence, we arrive at the Fold, the wall of darkness dwarfing all of us, the shadows swirling around where it stops on the sand as though aching to spread further.
I stand with the Etherealki as the Squallers summon a powerful gust of wind. I feel the pressure drop and my ears pop as the acoustic blanket falls over us.
We spread out in a line and soundlessly enter the Fold.
As the darkness engulfs me and that familiar cold feeling fills the air, I realize I'm eager, eager to kill the man who used me, eager to finally be able to do something, eager to get this over with even if it means death because if we fail, I won't be able to live in the lifeless world the Darkling will create.
Alina raises her hands and the light shifts, warping around us all for a few seconds before everyone fully disappears. It feels odd not being able to see my own feet hit the ground, much less even hear them. It's like being a ghost, and every time I feel the impact of the sand, it makes for a surreal feeling.
"Hello?" Alina whispers, and her voice crackles.
"We hear you," Zoya replies quietly.
As I walk, I hear the first click, signifying half a mile. After ten more minutes, the second click arrives, and I realize how impossible all this is. We're in the Unsea without light, the possibility of a thousand volcra swooping down and killing us all not entirely out of the equation.
We all take our positions and simply wait, nerves buzzing like bugs in the air.
At long last, the violet glow of something in the distance brings us to attention, moving closer from the east, an otherworldly and slightly jarring sight.
Two clicks sound and we move into a formation.
The third click rings out.
I sense the buttons of her coat shifting despite the fact that I can't see her, and moments later, a blazing light appears, filling the fold like water leaking in, swirls of gold shooting outwards in hungry skeins. I look down and let out a sigh of relief when I can't see my torso.
YOU ARE READING
✵ SWEETER THAN HONEY ― nikolai lantsov ✵
Fanfiction❝ and in a feud with her neighbor, she stole his dog and dyed it key-lime green ❞ © theyluvyvonne Reposting without permission or credits can result in account deletion.
