ShadowSong [Book 1 & 2: Complete] [NaNoWriMo16/17]

Chapter 35 - In The Way

Once.

Twice.

Three times the gun fired, the world around it lit up by the blasts of energy unleashed from its barrel.

And every time the starstone gun fired in Melissa's hand, a jolt of agony ran through Banshee's body as she threw herself in front of Ella.

The first one hit her side. The second hit her lower back, and when the third struck just below the bridge between her neck and her right shoulder, Banshee's grip on Ella was all that kept her upright.

Screams echoed through her head. The world was spinning. Her shadow shift hadn't protected her from the energy bolts that the gun fired but... but she'd protected Ella. That... that was all that mattered.

Banshee pushed through the foggy pain and tried to stand straighter but her legs were shaking, letting her down, just like at the competition when her body had shut down and collapsed but no--she wasn't falling. Ella was holding her up. Her hands were under Banshee's elbows, her faces inches from Banshee's, and she was speaking.

"Banshee?" she was saying.

Banshee blinked, trying to remember how her legs were supposed to work. She'd once been zapped by energy that was supposed to be equivalent to the stunning shots that starstone weaponry fired, but this was far, far worse.

"Banshee!" Ella's face snapped away, her gaze angry and directed over Banshee's shoulder. "What did you have that gun set to, you idiot? Do you have any idea what those energy blasts do to a Luminary? Especially while she was shadow shifted!"

Melissa's sneer infected her words. "She wasn't supposed to jump in front of the shots. She wasn't supposed to try and protect a traitor! Get her out of the way and accept your fate for all the damage you've done to this city, Ella!"

Banshee's world spun as Ella pulled her back, sat her down and leaned her up against a branch four times thicker than their waists combined. Ella's hands steadied Banshee's shoulders before her fierce gaze flicked to the side--no, to her hand, where the fragment still dangled from its chain.

Banshee tried to lift a hand to reach out for Ella's wrist, but her muscles spasmed and all she managed was a weak, "No, Ella, don't--"

Her tattoo went cold.

The shock of the frozen core now resting on her chest with the after effects of the gun's blasts still causing havoc through her body left Banshee gasping for breath.

But Ella was still before her and still very much Ella. She wasn't Manifested. There was no Serpent aura, so who--

Below them, Melissa's voice sang out.

"You will come down from the tree you attempt to make your haven and face justice, Ella Spiritcaller, once Spirit of Skypillar, and Banshee, now Shadow of Skypillar. One for her crimes against this city, and the second for protecting the one who would seek the destruction of others. Come, and let your crimes be avenged."

No longer were her words tilted by fury and fear. They were melodic and smooth, confident and sure, and they sent a chill through Banshee like no Manifested had before.

Ella closed her eyes, standing with her fragment clutched firmly between her fingers.

Banshee reached out for her with a little more success this time. "Ella--"

Melissa's voice rose, drowning Banshee out.

"If you will not come to face justice, then justice will come for you."

A golden flash of light banished the night, flaring bright as daylight for the quickest moment as the world shook in the wake of Melissa's blast.

Leaves rained down from the branches above them.