Chapter 36
The flame of life also meets us in death. The Ever, a shifting ideal for those unknowing in the schemes of the Gods.
We barely have a chance to think when the first blast hits the tower. The general shields my body on impact. He slowly peels himself from me before jumping into action. Avonde was in front of me speaking to Serene, and then she was screaming, and then I couldn’t see them in the dust and rubble.
The northern wall being blown to shreds barely afforded me time to shield my face as another blast hits the eastern wall. The building begins to crumble all around me with smoke and dust following it. I don’t know where Avonde went. Her scream felt like it happened hours ago, not seconds.
“Avonde! Serene!” The remnants of the tower begin to settle; luckily I don’t see any bodies.
Cess and soldiers alike begin to look through the rubble, screaming names and pulling weapons free for the fight to come.
Melee is happening all around me – I need to focus.
My magic keeps skittering across my hands, aching to be wielded but nothing will come out.
Anger like no other fills my core as I try to will it.
Please, just this once, I silently pray to Erees, to Senna, to anyone, but nothing conjures.
I yearn to defend myself.
To defend the kingdom.
My kingdom.
Just once.
Two younger cess emerge from the crumbling building as the dust settles. Their hands wield raw magic as they fight another’s magic, though both powers are equally matched. I need to get a sword. Now.
Over my shoulder I spot a fallen body, the uniform unrecognizable under the filth and blood.
I sprint around two groups in arms and quickly shift the fallen’s hip to release his belt and sword.
I try not to cringe and mutter my apologies to whoever it is.
We’re all souls who deserve some respect in our last moments, regardless of sides.
Listening to my instincts, I run. But run from the battle, I will not.
A shriek fills the air and when I turn to see the source, I see the two cess who were engaged in combat lifeless on the rubble. A younger soldier of Lux drops to her knees and wails over their bodies.
They weren’t expecting the attack now.
To my left another group of cess are sliding across the grass, their defenses slowly begin to falter as their well of power depletes. Duresden’s own legion is relentless with burst after burst battering their shields.
Their heels drag into the muddied ground, teeth gnashing as their hands blast with everything they have left to give. They’re going to burn out, my magic pulses when I sense this.
We’re all semi-connected, in a way. We serve the same giver.
I begin another sprint towards them, hurdling over fallen stone from the tower when a blast of air knocks me back.
My stolen blade falls in the cracks of a destroyed room and I ease myself up from the side of a stone wall.
I can’t find anyone I recognize but I can see some of our soldiers holding down the center of the west field.
Everything is happening at once. Assailants in Duresden’s uniforms continue to pour in from the breached walls, more blasts follow.
This is the coup.
Poe kicks the legs out from a soldier as another comes swinging with a battleaxe, his fangs snapping at Poe’s neck.
The two parry and try to land their blade on one another, jumping over rubble.
He makes clean work of his opponent in a quick swipe at the throat, blood pouring everywhere as he beheads the vampyr.
A human soldier in tatters runs full force and Poe skewers him through his midsection. My stomach lurches at the scent.
Human.
I’m useless unless I feed. I require blood if I am going to stand a chance here.
As if on cue, a soldier with a battleaxe comes running at me with his arm raised.
Unarmed, I jump out of his way and land on my back.
He turns to swing down again so I roll out of the way.
A chipped sword sticks out from the building and I pull, and pull, and pull to free it.
The blade comes loose at the last second as he runs at me again.
Lacking strategy, the momentum behind his swing knocks him off balance and I shove my blade between his ribs from behind.
As his body falls, my glistening blade shines before me.
Blood.
His heart thumps slowly, trying to pump any blood through its circulation. The wound slowly leaks out as he tries to sit up right.
Attacking a human, drinking straight from the source, it has never been an option. I would never take this in normal circumstances. But this isn’t an act of malice, this is an act of survival.
I jump on him, latching my mouth to the space between his throat and shoulder.
Not the best place to pull blood but it works.
Dead blood could be fatal so I pull heavily giving myself no time to breathe in between.
The euphoria ignites my body, as if pinpricks of warmth skate over my skin.
On my last sip, I lick the wound clean and mercy kill him to finish him off, my blade making one last puncture wound in the center of his chest.
“Liv!” Avonde screams motioning me over to her near the stables. I release a breath knowing she is alive. Duresden’s soldiers now outnumber Lux’s and too many cess lay strewn on the grass. Many were young or barely trained in combat.
Out of nowhere, a soldier launches herself at me from the smoke of the tower blasts.
Her hair is tied up in a spiked bun. Her grand sword knocks me back, causing me to trip on my heels.
My own sword is entirely too long, but balance is not something I can be picky with right now.
My bare feet scream over the broken bits of stone surely embedded in my skin. I should find shoes.
“Pretty,” she taunts as she looks down upon my body. “A shame, too.” The soldier swings hard and fast, giving me half a second to roll out of the way. I was too slow, the edge of her blade catches my upper arm but I bite back the pain and find my feet.
No weakness, no mercy.
Throwing all my force behind the sword, we begin to parry.
Trained, she avoids my jabs with grace, but I’m faster.
My arms scream and burn but we continue.
The soldier switches grips on her weapon before she catches another slice on my arm.
Thank the Gods I have blood healing me faster than before. Nothing can hold me back.
I’m screaming and thrashing, ducking and jabbing. Doing everything Cedric and Garreth taught me before I left Lux.
The hard part about a fight – war, too – is someone has to falter.
Someone will fall. Someone will die. Someone will lose.
That is the only way this ends. That is, until a third person enters the fight.
A large man with half his uniform hanging off his body saunters into the fight, the female soldier maintaining her stance while I fight to keep my sword raised.
I notice then that the noise of the surrounding fight has dwindled. No secret as to which side quietened. My heart squeezes but I can’t think of that.
“This her?” the new soldier questions. I swing down upon him but he merely steps out of the way. His eyes catch the blood-red streak on my hair. I spit on the ground, baring my teeth. I will fight.
“Mhmm,” the other soldier nods. I stay in my stance, slowly backing up with my eyes on them. Other fighters for Rolan begin to make their way to us and I begin to feel awfully claustrophobic. “I remember that face,” she snarls.
The fact that this is happening means everyone else did not make it. A quick scan, because I can’t look away for too long, just shows bodies everywhere. A few are being dragged half-alive towards a wagon in the south. The assailants snicker and close in.
Avonde.
Serene.
Poe.
The generals.
Where are they?
My heel hits another body laying with a short sword.
Stupidly, I drop my long sword as I crouch, eyes still trained on those approaching.
They’re predators playing with their prey.
My hand finds the hilt and I realize with dread then that I cannot carry it.
This short sword is twice the weight of my other blade.
My elbow gives out and the group laughs at me.
A boot from behind kicks me down, presses me into the cold, wet, earth. The sun above scorches my skin.
Another foot kicks the weapon out of my grip as I thrash and scream. Anything to avoid this. A face levels with mine, bald and missing far too many teeth to be acceptable. I spit on him, too. He punches me square in the face.
I smile and spit again, blood this time.
“Put a sack on her head,” he orders, rising.
“Go to hell,” I snarl.
“And knock her ass out.”
The boot releases from my back and I see it in my peripheral coming for the final blow. If they take me to a second location, I’m dead.
An ember, a kernel of energy within me, the place where I envision my magic – it rumbles. There is no other way to describe it. Clarity. A thorough knowing washes over me because that can only mean one thing.
It is as though Senna has given me a gift.
On instinct, I scream a deadly, guttural scream.
One full of a metaphysical energy coming from within.
That kernel giving in to my pleas. From my fingers to my toes, I feel my body heat up.
I know flames are licking off my body. I am fire embodied.
The boot next to me is no longer there. I roll onto my side and that’s when I see the world ablaze around me.
The assailants, those who survived my initial release, are running doused in flame.
They’re doing everything to rid themselves of the heat and I pity them.
So, I extend my hand in each of their directions, lighting them more completely. Better to be done with it. Everything in me is scorching a beautiful, most welcome burn. I will burn them all.
They will pay.