Chapter 24
There’s little evidence the so-called Midnight Insurgence has any affiliation with disgraced King Raul of Asmar.
Their aims however – sharing the Vyrium to help the common man – align with those bringing forth Raul’s humiliation.
We’ll monitor the terrorists closely. Should we suspect influence from Asmar, his rule shall cede with immediate effect.
— THE ALLIANCE’S VERDICT AGAINST KING RAUL ELMSWOOD OF ASMAR
‘Stay here.’ Matthias spun around, dragging me into a corner where two towering oak shelves met.
‘No,’ I said, placing my hands against his chest, shoving him back as books tumbled somewhere beyond with a mighty crash. ‘I’m not standing here like a damn doll.’
Matthias’s jaw ticked and he sighed heavily. Taking a dagger from his boot, he placed it in my trembling hands. Pablo snarled, bounding towards the battle, when Matthias called him back.
‘I haven’t got my sword, but this is the finest Vyrium. Use it to stay safe. Stay by her, okay?’
My eyes widened as Pablo nuzzled Matthias’s hip and placed himself before me.
‘I’ll try and get a sword to you,’ he said.
I clutched the dagger as a muted scream rose somewhere in the midst of the library.
‘As much as I appreciate the trust, it’s not a good idea.’
Matthias placed a searing kiss on my lips. ‘Gods, woman. You’ll be the absolute death of me.’
‘Give me a bloody sword and I might be.’
He placed his hand on Pablo’s head before tearing away, leaving me with the wolf and the still-twitching intruder at my feet.
My breathing hitched painfully at the chaos.
The silver threads hid, lurking behind the ever-eager violet.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I focused on the pain and not the onslaught of screams, scraping metal, the thunder of boots.
For a few frantic heartbeats, I cursed my sight.
Nothing came into focus, and I wasn’t prepared to admit the fear pounding through my veins.
Orange flames rose over the tops of tall shelves.
I stared at the inferno, praying to Evella they were the evidence of Glesni’s second gift and not the assassins laying waste to the library.
Pablo nudged my hip as if to assure me of his presence.
Clutching the dagger in my sweat-slicked palm, I raised it before me.
A cry, high and pained, rent the air.
‘Skye?’ I stared, wide-eyed, as one of the huge tables rose to the ceiling before crashing onto a hazy mass of black. Glesni was certainly awake then, but the cry. Had it been Skye? Gods, what if she was hurt?
I stood, bouncing from one foot to the other, imagined catastrophes flooding my mind, while fear writhed with the increasingly restless threads of purple.
Was the sound of fighting coming from outside?
How bad was this attack? It was all I could do to halt myself screaming my frustration into the world.
Pablo tugged my skirt, before laying his amber gaze firmly on me.
‘I know,’ I said, my voice far too high. ‘But what use am I?’
Pablo barked, and set his teeth into the hem of my skirt pulling again. He was right. How could we stand here, hiding in the shadows, when those we loved were being attacked? I grabbed the scruff of his neck and Pab lopped to the end of the shelf where we’d been hiding.
I rounded the corner, cursing as I slammed straight into not one, but two intruders.
One lurched, and I pitched the dagger out, hitting nothing but air.
Snarling, Pablo leapt onto the attacker’s chest, sending him sprawling.
Their sword clattered against the parquet.
I hissed as the glint of an unseen blade skimmed my hip, crashing my spine into a bookcase to avoid the sting of steel.
The damned glasses slipped through my fingers.
What little sight I had was now well and truly gone.
Grabbing a book from the shelf, I hurled it in the direction of the attacker, striking them on the shoulder.
They didn’t give me a moment to breathe.
I ducked as their sword swung back in line with my neck.
They swore, grappling with the sword now embedded in the shelf.
Pablo growled by my side, before the sharp edge of a sword was thrust through my assailant’s chest. The threads battered my chest as the sword was removed with a sickening crunch.
The figure crumpled to the floor, and relief tamped down the edge of my fear as Matthias shoved a blood-soaked sword into my hand.
‘What did I say about swords?’ I cried, searching his body, checking the blood smearing his shirt wasn’t his.
He pulled me close, laying a hard kiss on my cheek.
‘And what did I say about staying safe?’ He stroked Pablo’s head, who was already growling, pressed to my hip. ‘If you’re going to be out here, you’ll need this. Don’t fucking die on me.’
‘I don’t intend to,’ I called after him as a shadowy figure leapt off a high shelf.
Pab sprang to meet them, dragging them to the ground, while Matthias struck his other sword in their chest. I clutched my throat as the intertwining threads sought out the dying.
They’d been starved for too long. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep them at bay.
He turned to face me as books flew through the air, striking the attackers, knocking them senseless.
‘I need to get me one of those,’ he said, grinning at the wolf returning to my side. Matthias grabbed my arm and, stepping over the dead attacker, led me through the library.
I made out Glesni, a wall of fire snaking away from her and somehow missing all the books and paper, only striking the figures in black.
I jolted as Ifan roared, his sword sweeping in a blur as he tore through the intruders as though they were the finest sheafs of paper.
The library was a swirling nightmare of smoke, shadow, panic.
Matthias clung to my hand so hard he may have broken bones, but I needed him.
Needed him to anchor me. We stood on the shards of broken glass, panting, our swords raised, Pablo snarling with a menace I’d never seen before.
Matthias spun about. I cursed my vision as shaky figures moved through the cloying space, no idea who they fought for.
I strained my ears, my chest easing at the lack of crashing steel or dying cries.
Matthias dropped my hand, wiping the sweat from his brow.
‘Guards! Rossing!’ he cried, his voice commanding, while turning in a circle – darkest crimson dripped from the sword he still held aloft.
‘I think we’ve done it, my liege,’ Glesni called out.
I looked in her direction, heaving out a long breath, relieved to see the mentor unharmed.
‘You did well. Your father would be damned proud.’
Matthias nodded his thanks. Guards stood, swords and daggers held high. Another fire Anomaly spun nervously, a small blaze flaring in her hands.
‘Have they gone?’ I asked, my voice trembling. ‘Could there be more?’
‘I think we got them.’ He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. ‘They didn’t seem to have a single Vyrium blade or Anomaly among them.’ Matthias lowered his sword and took my hand again in his. I shivered, noticing it wasn’t sweat making his grip slick, but thick, scarlet blood.
‘Are you hurt?’ I cried, suddenly realising it may be his.
‘A scratch or two. I’ll be fine once Keya’s sorted them with a balm.’ His head craned as he gazed about the library. The guards lowered their own swords but remained on alert. ‘Asher!’ he called again, his brow furrowed. ‘Captain Rossing.’
He tugged me forward, and I followed numbly. A shiver ran through me as I surveyed the damage. The curtains catching as they billowed against the shattered glass.
‘Asher!’ he shouted again, and a spike of worry struck me. Where was his captain?
‘He’s okay, isn’t he?’
Matthias’s jaw tightened. ‘He’d better be. Or I’ll kill him all over again.’
‘Matthias, he’s here!’
My pulse spiked at the panic in Skye’s tone.
We passed Glesni, hands on her hips, shivering as she hurled limp bodies out of the window.
Skye propped up Asher. Matthias swore, and I furrowed my brows, my pulse jolting at the blood on his shirt, the slice bisecting his dark chest. Matthias grabbed him, and Asher slumped, his lips pale and trembling.
‘It’s all right. She’s being dramatic,’ he said, attempting a weak smile while Matthias placed Asher’s good arm over his shoulder.
‘Damn. We need to call out to the town for a healer. Where’s Keya?’ Matthias said, leading Asher towards a low settee a few paces away and settling him down. ‘Has anyone seen her?’
He grabbed a passing guard. ‘Have you seen Keya Grace?’
The guard shook her head and bowed.
‘Who were they?’ Skye asked, kneeling before Asher and laying her hand on his cheek.
‘I don’t know.’ Matthias paced back towards the library, checking to see if Keya was there.
‘Did we take prisoners? I didn’t see any sign of Vyrium in their weapons,’ Asher said, wincing as Matthias ran to another door, checking to see who was there. ‘They looked like rebels.’
‘Wouldn’t that be convenient?’ Matthias said, before catching the arm of another guard, who shook their head. ‘At least if rebels were attacking, there could be no question of Asmar working with the insurgents.’
‘You think it could be—’
A pained cry cut Asher short. Pab whined and I grabbed his neck. Matthias cursed, dashing back to the library. Asher groaned, leaving bloody handprints on the wall as he struggled to stand.
The lamps flickered low as we tore back in. My stomach twisted as the desperate cry struck me once more. The guards stopped, everyone’s gazes pulled towards the scene of devastation. My heart lurched as I recognised the tiny figure on her knees clutching the blood-soaked woman.
Matthias crashed next to Glesni, yanking the shirt from his back. I swallowed as I moved forward, Glesni’s mournful sobs breaking the silence of the library.
Keya lay sprawled on the ground, one arm lying at an unnatural angle.
Her eyes wide, edged with white, her mouth worked silently.
Desperation was etched onto Matthias, his shirt crushed against a deep slash across her waist. A gasp escaped me at the black stain pooling away from my mentor’s beloved wife.
Glesni gripped Keya’s bloodstained hand in hers, kissing the trembling fingers.
I fell next to her, cursing Evella hadn’t made me a healer like Enfys.
‘Don’t you do this to me, Keya Grace,’ Glesni ordered. Tears streamed down her lined face. My mentor’s chin clenched, determined to force Evella to spare her love.
I met Matthias’s gaze. He shook his head slightly before pressing on Keya’s ruptured side. It was too late. We were all too late. Her blood seeped out, staining the floor as she shivered.
‘No, you don’t, Keya. You don’t get to leave me.’ Glesni heaved back a sob, her hand gripping Keya’s. ‘If you want some peace and quiet, there’s less dramatic ways. You stay here with me. You stay.’
Keya’s eyes focused, meeting Glesni’s. A weak smile split her face before blood bubbled across her lips, spilling down her chin.
‘No. No. Not you,’ Glesni said, gently wiping the blood with her free hand. ‘Not my Keya.’
Keya’s mouth worked, her ragged breaths diminishing with every beat of her failing heart.
I blinked away hot tears, praying the light wasn’t truly leaving her eyes, it was a trick of my poor sight.
‘We… we’ve had it good, Gles,’ she said, her voice barely a whisper.
Glesni nodded, swatting away tears as she tried to smile.
‘You made me so very happy, my love.’
Glesni shuffled, grimacing against her own aches, and lay herself across her wife’s chest.
‘We shared that happiness, my love. Every day I’ve loved you more,’ she said, her voice breaking, wavering. She lifted her head and stroked her hand down Keya’s ashen face.
Keya’s eyes flickered to me. Unfocused confusion ran through her, as though we’d never met, when her face softened.
‘And you,’ Keya said as I fought back the sob rising up my throat. ‘You with this heart of secrets. This fractured soul. Listen to her.’ A smile crossed her face as she looked fondly at Glesni for the final time. ‘She’s… she’s a light. My light.’
Pain crashed across Keya’s features. Her eyes screwed, veins straining.
Every breath rasped slower as Glesni cradled her, whispering how she loved her.
Matthias finally leaned back, his head bowed as Keya took one last, shuddering breath, her hand falling limp.
Glesni pulled her close, rocked her lover as her jagged cries echoed.
Tears fell onto my skirts, and I swiped at my cheeks.
My hand hovered over her shoulder, but Matthias shook his head and stood, offering me his.
Taking it, he pulled me close. We clung to each other as dawn quivered like an uninvited guest beyond the shattered window.
My body screamed with the need to remain cradled in his arms till my tears dried, but they sensed death.
Violet and plum threads swirled, so softly at first I almost missed how they woke.
Grabbing my chest, I tore myself from Matthias, confusion etched on his tearstained face.
I ran as far from Keya’s body as I could.
I didn’t stop until they slumbered. A lid, cracking and decaying, lay over the threads once more.