Fire sears my side as I reach for Adelaide. Her whimpers spear my heart as I resume my journey to my hiding spot. The harder I run, the slower I seem to move. More arrows hit the streets. Bodies fall around me like trees in a windstorm. I skirt around them and grit my teeth.
Faster.
Faster.
Hurry!
As the Malachite invaders press closer, Bloodstone people rush from their stone cottages with swords, daggers, and spears. I spot Everly fighting, and my heart shudders.
A scream pierces the air as I make it to the edge of the building. Everly’s scream. Tiny prickles of fear race down my back. I don’t turn, though. I cannot afford to turn, to look back, to hesitate.
Shadows embrace us as I hunch behind the building and keep Adelaide close. Trembling takes over her body as her cries soften, and silent tears trace her cheeks. Using the end of my surcoat, I wipe them away, wishing things could be different for her, wishing she never had to see death or feel fear.
She already lost her mother. Now this.
As she nestles in my arms, her shaking eases. I keep my left arm around her, sheltering her.
As Olah is my witness, I’ll kill anyone that comes near this child.
In this moment, this horrible, horrible moment, nothing else matters. Not my mission. Not my insecurities. Nothing matters but this child and protecting her.
“Addie.”
I shift to peer behind me as Luc steps closer. Blood and soot mar his face and clothing, but he’s never looked more relieved. Adelaide’s eyes light up the moment she spots him. I free her, and she runs into his arms.
“Father,” she cries, her joy softening my heart the way nothing has in a very long time.
“Sol.” Luc holds out his hand to me, as if offering to take me away from all of this. To protect me the way he’ll protect Adelaide.
My gaze shifts to that square.
With so many bodies littering the ground, it’s impossible to spot Everly. My heart sinks.
Please, don’t let her die too.
Instead of accepting Luc’s offer, I lurch to my feet and race back to the crush of bodies.
“Sol!” Luc cries out, but I keep running.
A throbbing pain grips my side, followed by a line of fire tracing over the wound. I ignore it and search for Everly.
Unfamiliar words rise above the chaos, words spoken in a tongue I’m not familiar with. As the man chants louder and louder, the smoke shifts, trailing away as a dark cloud develops over the square and roils around us like a thunderstorm.
Rain pours over the city, targeting the Malachites. One by one, the Malachite warriors fall to the ground, clutching at their throats as their eyes widen and their chests heave. With a quick swing, the Bloodstone warriors end them before they ever catch their breath.
Trembling overtakes me as I jerk my gaze around. That was magic. Someone used magic to overcome the Malachite invaders. I rip my stare over the Bloodstone warriors, trying to put a name to the person. Nobody stands out. They all seem as surprised as I am, yet fierceness burns their eyes. Blood stains their skin.
It wasn’t a Bloodstone.
What I saw was water magic, the kind only a Carnelian can cast.
I look again, searching the Bloodstone warriors. Hero stands among them, his eyes burning with ferocity.
It was him.
It had to be.
More Bloodstone people flood the streets, looking over the bodies, tending to their wounded. I stand immobile as the world around me shifts from dark to sunlight. From war to celebration.
