34. Chapter 34
CHAPTER 34
Lucenna
L ucenna had chased Klyde through the pier until an explosion rendered through the air. It knocked her down and when she looked up again, the Somnio was on fire. Raiders fled or jumped into the sea. It groaned loudly as it split in half. Screams and smoke filled the air.
“Oh gods, Dyna!” Lucenna ran for the ship. But Klyde spun around and grabbed her. “No, wait!”
The world ripped away.
She was thrown back into the throws of heat and the burst of fire. Shards of wood ripped through the air. Klyde caught her in his arms as they were thrown backward into the sea. The rogue waves dragged her under. Cold and dark. Rush of the tide tossed her around like a ragdoll. She gagged on mouthfuls of sea water and panic set in. Her arms and legs flailed wildly as she tried to locate which way was right side up. Something rough scrapped her leg. Lucenna whipped around and a burst of pain beat her skull. Her vision went dark.
She could see nothing. Feel nothing. Except her soul falling through the darkness.
A force punched against her heart. Lucenna woke with a gasp, choking on salted water. She rolled over and vomited the rest of it onto the sand. Her lungs burned with the effort.
“Thank the gods.” Klyde slumped beside her on the beach.
“What happened?” She rasped.
“You hit your head on the reef and nearly drowned.” He brushed away the wet strings clinging to her face. They were stained pink with her blood. His face was deathly white, his blue eyes prominent against his wet lashes. He was shaking. “I thought you drowned.”
She touched her bruised chest. He must have…
Her wide eyes flicked past him to the burning sea. The Somnio was on fire.
“No!” Lucenna leaped to her feet, stumbling.
Klyde caught her. “The ship blew, lass. I don’t think?—”
Another explosion ripped through it and the ship cracked in half. It started to skin.
“Dyna!” Lucenna ran for it.
“Lucenna, stop!”
“I have to get her!”
“Don’t get any closer! Lass, please!”
The air burned and heat knocked her down on the sand with another massive eruption. Fire and wood tore through the air like wave. Klyde yanked her around and they crashed onto the sand. Fire was everywhere and the sea was burning.
Lucenna sat up with a sob to find the ship gone. She cried out for Dyna as her vision blurred with tears and smoke.
“Lucenna…” Klyde rasped. “We can’t stay here.”
She let him help her up but whimpered at putting pressure on her feet. Damn it. She must have sprained it. Lucenna took another failed step before Klyde lifted her on to his back.
“Klyde—”
“Aye, you can complain about it later, lass. We need to go.” He broke into a job, carrying her on his back away from the beach. Shieldmen came running onto the dock at the commotion. But Klyde’s steps seemed stunted, and his breath came in heavy.
“I should have brought our ride closer,” Klyde muttered.
“Klyde?” Lucenna looked behind them, seeing the trail of blood left behind each of his steps. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
She shifted her hold on his shoulders and felt something poke her arm. There was a piece of wood pierced into his shoulder.
“Oh Gods.”
It looks worse than it is,” Klyde grunted. “I’ll pull it out later. For now, we need to get out of here.”
That thing would have gone straight through her back if he hadn’t jumped in the way.
“Put me down,” she said angrily, her eyes welling again. “You can’t carry me like this.”
“You can’t walk on that foot either,” he said. “Relax, Lucenna.”
As though she was merely waiting for that command, her body slumped against his. Her cheek resting on his other shoulder. She allowed herself to be carried off, because at the moment, he felt safe. It was a foreign feeling.
And it clashed with her worry for Dyna. Did she make it out?
Thunder cracked overhead, making her flinch. The sky opened as rain began to fall.
“What are we going to do?” Her voice was steady, even as tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked back at the ship and felt her heart break all over again as she watched the flames rise. Zev…was going to be devastated.
“Right now, the only thing I can think of is getting you to safety,” Klyde said. He was in his mercenary role, thinking logically instead of emotionally. And for some reason she was glad because she was a mess. “Many people jumped ship. Maybe she made it. She has survived worse.”
He was right. Dyna was more resilient than anyone she had ever met.
“Then we should go back.”
“We can’t. It’s chaos over there, and all of Argent is coming. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”
Lucenna peeked behind her. There was already a large crowd gathered and some were using magic to put out the flames.
Klyde shook his head. “It’s best we take the next road out of Dwarf Shoe and head to the White Woods. You can’t be here anymore, lass. Do you feel mages in Argent?”
She closed her eyes, searching for any telltale signs of magic. They nearly fell over when the town shook with a boom. Cursing, Klyde held onto her legs tightly as he braced.
But it wasn’t fire that tore through the buildings. It was blue electricity. The charge of Essence was strong in the air.
“What was that? Enforcers?”
“No…” Lucenna’s eyes widened as a flash of blue lightning crashed down from the sky. “Elves.”