72
Kora
Kora collapsed, her body crumpling into the sand as ocean waves smothered her, soothing her burning hot skin. She could barely breathe, her eyes glued shut as she focused on staying conscious. Every fibre of her muscles ached, with white-hot pain crushing her chest.
“Get up!” Hector ordered. A pair of hands grabbed her by the pits, dragging her from the ocean. “Fucking wake up!”
The cacophony of screams came into focus, followed by strange thuds and clashes of metal. Cool droplets splattered her face as her hair stuck to the nape of her neck, weirdly soft against the coarse sand.
Those hands disappeared, dropping her body, and she moaned, rolling to the side.
Her gut twisted, and Kora spewed up everything she’d eaten, her stomach churning out every drop of strength onto the shore.
Something vibrated in the air above her, and the smallest hint of panic surged from the depths.
Kora forced her eyes open, the lids scraping like sandpaper.
A sword, splattered with blood, attached to the hand of a pirate. They were dressed in grey clothing, hanging limp from their bony frame.
“Traitor!” Hector snarled, his sword blocking the killing blow above Kora. He fought back three pirates, and Kora’s vision swam as the pain sang up into her temples, her scar nearly blinding her with the agony.
She glanced to the other side—a pool of diluted blood dripped from her. She touched her nose, grimacing as her hand came away stark red, the rain causing it to trickle down.
Well, shit.
“Get up now!” Hector yelled at her, gesturing to the sword he’d left by her side.
Swishing ocean water in her mouth, wiping the blood from her face, Kora rolled again, avoiding an attack from one of Leto’s crew.
Clambering to her feet, she clutched the sword in one hand, and her dagger in the other as she turned to face the promenade.
Hector’s back slammed into hers, and Kora jolted in surprise as they faced off a small group of grey pirates. Her head relentlessly pounded, her limbs utterly weak as she deflected attacks. Hector’s mighty sword swooped down, saving her every time she stumbled.
“Ye used too much magic!” he shouted, spinning as a Talmon soldier replaced a fallen pirate.
“I know! I just need a second!” Kora gritted the words out, staggering as her sword deflected a soldier’s attack. Their armour was impenetrable, no weak spots that were visible. And stabbing them wouldn’t work either. Callan’s suit had kept him alive, until Blake had desiccated him from within.
“We don’t have a fucking second!”
“You’re not fucking helping!” Kora screamed back.
More soldiers advanced, a tidal wave of black and malachite enclosing in on Kora and Hector. His good brown eye raged, scanning their enemies. Their armour was absolute, not a single kink or crevice that exposed their skin. As though they were encased in stone. Callan’s had been a fluke.
She was going to die beside Hector Read. That hadn’t been on her list of fate predictions.
Just as Kora readied to pray to Thanos, a figure shot from the sky, a blast of extreme wind knocking the soldiers into the sea. A streak of lightning followed, and their enemies spasmed, writhing in the water as lightning snuck into the slits of their helmets, smoking them from the inside out.
Raiden landed before Kora, panting so hard, fury etched into the hard lines of his face. He stared at her, as if disbelieving she was there. The bond snapped open, a tidal wave of regret, shame, and relief slamming into her.
“Turns out some magic can kill them.” Wisps of wind pulled Kora towards him, and she crashed into his chest, burrowing into him as he held her. Within the chaos of battle, Raiden cupped her face gently, his lips crushing hers.
His kiss took her breath away, hot desire and desperate need replacing her fear. He was alive. He was here.
“I thought they had you.” Raiden leaned back with a smile.
“I thought they had you.” Kora berated, glaring at him. “Don’t ever do that again!”
Raiden smirked, but it disappeared as his stare darkened, haunted by something. It narrowed on the blood staining her skin. “What did you do?”
“Ye should’ve seen it,” Hector whistled. “She was a goddess.”
Kora jolted, her mind hazy as she tried to recall what happened.
“I spirited us here.” She winced as she remembered all the pirates still alive on Hell’s Serpent.
Blake would have surely slaughtered them all now in his fury.
Her heart cracked. She hadn’t saved them—she’d only saved herself. She had to do better.
Raiden glanced up, his mouth thinning. “Stay with me. Your magic is low again and will take time to replenish. Hector, what about your crew?”
“They’re here.” He gestured to the side, and Kora gasped as swaths of pirates in red fought in the sea of bodies before the promenade. “Look behind ye.” Kora peered past Raiden, and nearly collapsed in his arms.
She hadn’t just spirited Hector, but his entire crew . . . and the Galenite fleet. A row of ships lined the sea, cannons firing outwards towards the empire’s armada. Raiden’s eyes flared as he looked at her, his lips parting in a sweet exhale.
“You are something else, ruhni.”
Kora nodded, unable to comprehend what she’d just done. It rivalled Zephyr’s level of power.
“Stick together. I’m never leaving you again.” Raiden grasped her hand. “Let’s fucking go.”
All conception of time fragmented and blurred.
Kora dove into the fray alongside Raiden, moving in unison as they targeted Barron’s soldiers.
Raiden had learned lightning seemed to work, and together, they managed to strike them down.
She would leap onto their backs, whilst Raiden’s magic attacked from the front.
Or he would channel it into their weapons, and with utter precision, Kora would fling it into their helmet slits, between their eyes.
She hoped their deaths were merciful, telling herself that she was sparing them from Barron’s manipulation and darkness. That they were suffering in those suits of decay, and only death would reprieve them.
Hector ran for Leto’s crew, his own pirates following in his wake.
Kora peered at the promenade on her left.
The city was in ruins, golden weathervanes, shimmering glass, and spiralling towers crumbled to pieces.
She prayed that everyone had made it out.
That they were already journeying from Windspire Castle to Skybell, or the Aurora Gap.
She caught glimpses of braided silver hair, Skylar wielding her sword effortlessly. Raiden raised his hand, and his power flooded, multiple streaks of lightning wrapping around allies’ swords. Skylar paused, her brows knitting together, as though she were listening, before she spoke.
“Use the lightning! It kills them!” Her voice brushed Kora’s ears, and Raiden swayed slightly, his power usage running thin as he charged everyone’s weapons.
John was near Skylar, Circe close behind him as they, too, fought. Blood splattered their clothes, and the Skytors followed their founder, ensuring her survival. But Erick was nowhere to be seen.
Kora leapt, pushing off the back of another enemy soldier.
They turned, and she flung her weapon through the slit, impaling them.
She landed on their torso, ripping her dagger from them, their brains coating her chest as she ran to the next one, not allowing herself the chance to consider what just happened.
It was war.
Aryn’s arrows fired through the air, their ends alight with crackling golden energy. They struck true within every helmet slit. Aerion remained by his side, defensive bubbles of air forcing enemies back briefly enough for his chakrams to defy gravity.
But the sea of darkness outweighed the pillars of light.
The main dock loomed on the right, and Raiden’s winds pulled on her arm. “This way!” She followed him up the dock, and Raiden came to a grinding halt, his thick arm snaking out in front of Kora.
“I was wondering when you would find me,” Barron said, his voice calm. Kora shivered, her mind fracturing at his presence. There was no sign of Samuel still, she hoped to gods he was safe somewhere. His soul wasn’t destined for bloodshed.
Leto stood before Barron, his power shielding them in a bubble on the very edge of the main dock. Shimmering faint purple, yet his eyes were of the brightest violet. The colour of iridweed.
“He’s the smuggler,” Kora whispered, recognising the unmistakable hue. “Leto’s the one who got the iridweed out of Galen.”
Raiden flinched. “Why? Why would you do this!”
Leto smiled, and Mara squawked on his shoulder, purple powder staining her claws, along with blood. “Power,” she answered for him.
“You have power!” Raiden responded.
“Ah, but not enough,” Barron said, coming forward.
A chain looped around his hand, to something hidden behind him.
Beyond was the stormy ocean, the empire fleet advancing.
The booms of cannons continued, the air thickening with smoke and dense from the rain.
“Leto discovered with enough iridweed consumption, his power became more than just a shield, it made him invisible. In return for his tongue and hearing, he vowed his allegiance to me.”
“You betrayed us,” Raiden growled. “Look at what you have done!”
Leto’s stare flickered, but he didn’t move.
“He’s loyal to only me,” Barron laughed. “I can give him what he’s lost. What have you ever done for him? You only took. You used him. You used his gift. Leto is an advanced spy. The best of the best. He even unleashed Kora’s buried power for me.”
She froze. Her mouth gaped, as more pieces of the puzzle she’d mulled over for weeks clicked together.
“The velesma? But I found that by accident!”
“What?” Raiden frowned, glancing between them. His arm remained raised, and a shimmer of diamonds encased him and Kora. She breathed a little easier knowing his power was still active, and his nose or ears hadn’t started bleeding yet. There was still time.