Chapter 55 - Eres
Eres
Idon’t know who’s still alive.
Who’s still breathing. If she’s breathing, and her name thumps with every rapid beat of my heart as the Lightbringers surge forward again.
More and more bodies fall, leather buried beneath bright, glistening gold stained with scarlet.
I can’t hear anything, only a single, chaotic roar of sound that rings inside my head.
Screaming and shouting all pulled together into an overwhelming groaning noise as I stumble across the field, the noise of thousands of people at once.
Kaelen. Darian.
They’re still there. Still fighting, but a dozen Lightbringers separate us as I battle my way toward them.
When my erevas sputters, I tear the sword from my waist and use that instead, blinking sweat out of my eyes and trying not to breathe in the stench of death that wafts from the bodies around me.
Every time I take one down, three more appear. Kaelen’s shield is little more than holes now, his Voids attempting to fill the gaps. But even those flicker, translucent and wavering as he directs them with sluggish movements.
“Lyra,” Darian roars as I stumble over to them.
His eyes look behind me, to the side, as if she might appear, and my heart beats harder.
He grips my arm, hauling me back from the path of a shimmering luminth arc, eyes flickering between deep, endless black and bright amethyst as if his mind is overloaded. “Where is she?”
I didn’t stop her. I should have stopped her.
But it was a chance. A single, hopeless chance for her to live, to slip between the Lightbringer forces and hide.
Even as I think it, I know she wouldn’t.
That the marks on her face stand out, that even if she survived this, she wouldn’t be able to hide in anonymity in Solvandyr with riftlines covering her face.
I know that she’s likely laying out there, far away from us, and I double over as the thought hits that I won’t even find her body. Not here. Not in the middle of so much chaos, and not before the horde between us cuts me into ribbons for trying.
Kaelen’s hands shake. The shield wavers again. Thin cracks of light spread across it like broken glass. “Eres.”
“Gone,” I rasp. “To Vaelion.”
Darian’s eyes turn fully black.
And Kaelen’s shield… it goes out.
I can’t hear whatever Darian roars at me. Not over the sound that erupts from every faceless golden soldier, the roar of victory as they pull back.
This is it. The last moments, and I grab Darian around the neck, pulling him in as I shout into his ear. “She might live.”
We won’t, but she might. Just like Neela, and the children from the nursery.
Uncertain hope is better than a certain end.
Kaelen folds forward, his hands against the ground as he gasps for breath. Every movement is a struggle as he forces himself upright, as he draws free a single blade. His eyes stare forward, to the field. “She’s out there?”
The Lightbringers have rallied. Sleek, perfect lines face us, as if we’ve made no dent at all. As if these hours have been for nothing.
But we bought them time. Time is all we could give them, and it has to be enough.
The noise cuts through the buzzing in my ear. It blasts across the field, a final call to arms, and the three of us stand together. Raise our weapons.
But the Lightbringers don’t move.
“What are they doing?” Darian stares out at them. At the endless rows. “They’re not moving.”
The horn sounds again. Once, twice, and then a third time.
There’s movement in the first rows of gold. Faces turn, turning away from us and facing the Veilspire. “They’re leaving.”
Nobody moves, so I say it again. Louder. “They’re leaving.”
We watch, torn between suspicion and disbelief as those rows turn away from us, one by one. The mass of gold grows smaller, each turning to march away in perfect synchronicity. They flow back, splitting into two as they march past the space where Vaelion stood.
I can’t see anyone there now. “Lyra.”
They both turn to me. My mind reels, hope and terror warring with sheer fucking disbelief because it’s not possible. All I can say is her name. “Lyra.”
Kaelen bursts into movement.
He’s halfway across the field before Darian and I catch up with him, our breathing heavy as we race behind the rapidly retreating ranks of Lightbringers. Not even one upright golden form remains behind, as though they share a single mind.
Only bodies, and fewer of those the deeper we get across the field.
My heart beats so quickly I almost stumble. Lyra.
Lyra.
Lyra.
We’re coming.
The field is almost completely empty when we reach them, lines of gold vanishing back into the Veilspire. A circle of gleaming Lightbringer soldiers surrounds something in their center. They crouch in unison, aiming spears in our direction as we approach.
Kaelen slows, throwing out his hand to stop us.
“Kaelen Duskbane of Umbraxis,” he says roughly. “I want to speak with Commander Vaelion. Or… whoever is in charge.”
They exchange silent glances behind their golden helms. A shout comes from behind them, and they silently pull to the side, creating a space to get through even as the spears shift to swords, pressed against our necks.
A female Lightbringer is on her knees, her hands pressed against the broken armor of another soldier, laying on the ground. She barely looks up, her voice clipped. “You’re Duskbane?”
Hair the palest shade of gold spills out against the dirt, contained in a braid. And the blood that coats both Lightbringers, the blood soaking into the ground, is glowing. Gleaming.
“Lyra.” I try to shove my way past, but the swords press into my neck, stopping me from getting to her. “Let me through!”
When they don’t move, I roar at them. “I’m a healer!”
Beside me, Kaelen and Darian are struggling with the guards. One staggers away, gripping his head as a scream makes its way from his throat. Another drops, convulsing.
“Stop.”
Instant obedience, as easily as if she’d clicked her fingers. “Let them through.”
Her eyes are open. Barely, her breathing broken and strained.
“Lyra,” I breathe. I shove the Lightbringer’s hands out of the way, assessing the damage. “We’re here, love.”
“It was a luminth spear. It went through her back.” The Lightbringer sounds calm, although her hands are shaking. “Our healers cannot help her. Can you?”
Darian helps me roll her over. Kaelen grips my shoulder as I stare down at her blood, soaking the ground. “Eres.”
I can’t fix this. I hold out my palm, but my erevas gutters, the well of Erevan’s power drained beyond my reach. I almost crumple, but my hands move to her face.
My voice breaks. “I waited for you.”
Unfocused eyes narrow in on my face. There’s no fire in her eyes. Her irises are black. “Vaelion is dead. Tell… Kaelen.”
“I know,” he rasps. His hand finds hers. “Breathe, Lyra.”
“Reena,” she whispers. “Talk to her.”
Reena, her sister. My eyes sweep over the Lightbringer again, and back to Lyra. And then back again. “Reena.”
At the sharpness in my voice, she stills. “I’m Reena Vaelion.”
Lyra’s sister. I straighten. “Do you have highborn blood? Gold blood?”
Glowing blood. Blood that glints with power, Aedryn’s gift running through them with such strength that they can repair wounds far beyond mortal reach.
Her brow furrows. “I don’t see what that has to do with—”
“You can save her.” My hand snaps out for her wrist. “I saw Lyra heal a mortal wound far beyond any healer’s capability. She healed something similar to this with her luminth. You can do the same.”
Darian inhales sharply behind me. “Sera. She healed Sera.”
But Reena looks between us. Her eyes are wet. “That’s impossible. I don’t know how—I’ve never healed before.”
“Neither had she, but she did it.” Lyra coughs, a choking, rattling noise that grinds against my bones. “Try.”
Reena leans forward, her hands wavering as I pull back to give her space. “I don’t know what I’m looking for.”
“Stop the bleeding,” I say hoarsely. “That’s the most important thing. We can… we can take her back, work on her. I have scrolls that show the body’s structure. You’d need to replicate them.”
“Be quiet,” she snaps at me. We watch as she takes a breath, her palms beginning to glow. “Nobody speak.”
We sit there for what feels like hours. My fingers stay against Lyra’s pulse, counting each sluggish beat. It echoes the movement in my own chest.
Stay with us.
She should be dead. She should have been dead in the Veilspire. But she keeps breathing as her sister leans over her, her hands glowing—
I see it. The slow, creeping movement of luminth, spreading over the wound in her chest. It sinks down, below the wound, and I chance a look away from her.
Reena wavers. “I don’t think—”
“It’s working. Don’t stop.”
When she finally tears her hands away, I roll Lyra again. The wound is covered at her back, a lattice similar to the one I used on her stomach stretched across the jagged edges of her wound. “She needs more than this, but it’s enough to move her.”
“Back to Solvandyr.” Reena straightens, and the three of us stiffen. “I can have the healers work on her there. Perhaps they can do more now.”
“She needs you.” I lean over her again, brushing hair from her forehead. Her eyes are closed. “This will keep her alive, but not for long. We have to go, and we have to go now.”
“Umbraxis is closer.” Kaelen steps forward, his eyes dark. “Bring her back. We have things to discuss, if you’re the new Commander. Safe passage.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, wielder,” Reena snaps. Her mouth twists in distaste as she scans him. Her eyes lower to Lyra’s still body, and then to me. “Would she make it through the Veilspire like this?”
“Would she want to?” Darian says tightly. Reena’s gaze swings to him, considering. And then to Lyra, flame-filled eyes taking in the riftlines that carve her skin.
Beside me, Darian and Kaelen brace as if to argue further, but I hold up my hands. “Let us bring her home. Please. There’s much to discuss, and Umbraxis is right there. I have the drawings she needs for healing.”
“I guarantee your safety,” Kaelen says, his voice short. “And if you wish to bring a guard, you can, though any violence will not be met well. You can stay with her. Eres will assist with her healing.”
Her shoulders pull back. “Four will attend Umbraxis with me for— for discussions. The rest of you, go back and assess casualties. Send scouts for regular reports.”
Around us, the circle instantly disperses. Several gold-clad soldiers wait as Reena straightens, and looks around at us. “Umbraxis, then.”