41. Kasten
Five hours, they had held her prisoner. Five hours, I hadn’t been fast enough. And five hours that were the worst of my life. If she didn’t make it because of my ineptness, if she had suffered greatly, I would never forgive myself.
Halfield Manor had been empty of all but a sick Irabel and servants. The trail was cold. I’d briefly thought of taking Irabel hostage to barter an exchange, but leaving her here undefended proved that Sir Halfield didn’t care what I did to her. That man was as despicable as Lord Lyrason.
Princess Annabelle was back at the palace. One of my men was attempting to subtly locate her and ask for her send the device to Highfair, in person if necessary. There was nothing to do but wait while my scouts combed the city for any sign of her. Wait and wait, taking no care for Lord Lyrason’s halfsouls. Wait for Annabelle to reappear with the device as each hour passed in agony, and I thought of every horrible thing that might have happened to her while I sat on my backside.
I hadn’t slept for two days, but there was no chance of that now.
The moment I heard the door open, I leaped from my chair. Annabelle wore a heavy black cloak covering her face, the end of her crossbow poking from the bottom. She briefly took in the room before pulling her scarf from her lower face.
I grabbed the pyramid from her hand. “Didn’t they tell you my wife’s been kidnapped? What took you so long?”
She frowned at me. “It was risky enough for you to contact me. I had to arrange a cover story in order to sneak out. I wasn’t planning on leaving for another hour.”
I carefully put Sophie’s hair in the device, and it whizzed, opening up and turning blue. The pendulum swung west. “You should have just given my man the device.”
Annabelle folded her arms. “Absolutely not. Not when I still don’t know if I can trust you. Where that device goes, I go.”
“Fine.” I didn’t care what she did anymore as long as she didn’t get in my way. Every part of me was focused on Sophie and how I had failed to protect her.
Annabelle folded her arms. “A thank you, yet again, would be more appropriate.”
I ignored her. Sir Tristan already had seven men fully armed with devices and ready to accompany with us. It was already approaching eleven. So much time wasted. “We leave now.”
I set out at a firm jog; I didn’t care if that meant Annabelle fell behind. She shouldn’t be here anyway. This was nothing to do with her anymore, and her lack of fitness was not going to be what kept me from Sophie. The streetlamps here were kryalcomy, and the road was clean and clear, allowing us to move easier than downtown where we normally fought halfsouls.
Meena snapped her arm out and grabbed my sleeve, jerking me to a halt.
I frowned and turned to her. Her hand was over her detector, pressing against her ear to block out sound. “Do you hear that?” she whispered.
I held out a hand to halt the party and dull the noise of our footsteps and panting breaths while Annabelle watched in confusion. There was no chance I was explaining our devices to her.
“I don’t hear anything,” the princess said before I hushed her.
A small keening moan sounded over the detector, so faint, I could barely hear it. I glanced at Meena. “Ignore it. Sophie is our only priority tonight. We’re not here to hunt halfsouls.”
Meena kept frowning. “I understand, General, but it’s getting louder.”
I started running, moving quicker than before to make up for lost time. “It doesn’t matter. We need to rescue my wife as fast as possible.” I held up the pyramidal device to make sure we were still going the correct way.
The dull thud of our boots and the panting of my breath hid the whine of the detector for the length of the street, but then it grew far louder, and I was sure I could hear a second moan half a tone below the first.
“What are they doing here?” Meena murmured. “We’re on the other side of the river from downtown. They’ve never been up here before.”
“Don’t get distracted,” I snapped. I didn’t have the time and patience for this. Nothing was going to get between me and Sophie. I picked up speed.
A low throbbing drone sounded on the detector. The signal for help. It had to be coming from my scouts.
I hesitated. There were men on standby in Highfair who could go to their aid. But what if the reason we could hear halfsouls even on this side of the river was because there were so many of them? What if Lord Lyrason had released eighteen remaining Red Men all at once? What if my men were overwhelmed?
I swore again. Nothing—not even this—would keep me from Sophie.
I turned to my soldiers. “Three of you on the left, go and investigate that signal and aid the scouts. Try and keep the halfsouls from following us if you can. The rest of you will stay focused on rescuing Lady Batton. I will hear no more objections even if the entire city is overrun with halfsouls. Now move.”
Annabelle had the sense not to question what was happening, but freed a crossbow bolt and ran with it in her hand, her eyes scanning the shadowed doorways and tops of the walls as we passed.
I increased my pace, but the keens on the detector grew louder. Let them come. Nothing would stop me from reaching her.
“Left!” Sir Tristan yelled from his position only a step behind me.
I followed his gaze down an alley and raised my sword just in time to block pale slashing arms. Skin that had once been brown was now an unnatural bluish hue; it parted beneath my blade without the half soul reacting. My sword jarred as it struck bone, but still the creature leaned forward, ignoring its injured arms. A half familiar face leered inches from mine before Sir Tristan barreled into it, pushing it away.
I didn’t stop to see the end of the fight. I kept running toward Sophie. She had waited long enough.
We turned a corner, and a shout alerted me to two men at the back of our party fighting another halfsoul who moved with unnatural speed. I slowed, if they managed to break our party apart and separate us, things would be harder. I was about to join the fight when the halfsoul thudded back, a crossbow bolt in its chest.
I glanced at Annabelle. Her eyes were wide, and there was a slight tremble in her fingers as she reloaded and clicked the metal string of the crossbow behind the latch. I stepped closer to her so I could see her line of sight. Three more halfsouls were approaching.
Why today of all days? Why couldn’t Lord Lyrason have waited before causing chaos? I didn’t care about him right now.
This had to take as little time as possible. “Annabelle, shoot the one on the left. Meena, take the one on the right. I’ll take the center. Tristan, clear the way ahead for us. The rest of you spread out.”
I ran toward the middle halfsoul, once a balding man. Nothing registered in his eyes as he tried to grab me. I ducked beneath his arms and finished him with a blow to his abdomen. I turned in a smooth motion and continued running in the direction of the tracking device, Tristan running unhindered ahead. The street was getting narrower, flanked on either side by tall white plastered walls.
“Sophie, wait for me,” I whispered under my breath. “Wherever you are, hold on. I’m coming.”
Annabelle’s footsteps stopped, and I heard her crossbow click. I jumped sideways as a body fell from the top of one wall, landing only a few feet from me. The halfsoul didn’t move. I looked at Annabelle and grunted my thanks.
The whine on the detector finally died.
Meena fell into step beside me, her face looking beyond exhausted and her footsteps heavy. “That one almost had you, General. This isn’t like you to miss them. You can’t rescue Lady Sophie if you’re dead.”
I frowned at her, rounded a corner, and skidded to a stop. The pendulum in the pyramidal device pointed to a house. It was narrow and nondescript. I motioned for our group to press against the wall and catch their breath while I crept to the gate and studied our destination.
The house had a small front garden that was overshadowed with thick foliage, obscuring it from view of the street. Two guards stood in the weak pool of light at the door, destroying their night vision. Fools.
I gestured for Meena to sneak after me onto the ground, and we dispatched them within seconds before they could make a sound.
Not that it would have mattered if they did. I’d never been so angry and was quite willing to fight a whole army of Halfield’s men if I had to. I was just getting warmed up.
The rest of our party joined us at the door.
I turned to Annabelle. “Stay out here and keep your face hidden. Stay out of any action. If things get bad, run.”
She shook her head. “I want to come?—”
I pushed her back. “Stay out here. Refuse and I will tie you to a tree, understand? I have no idea what is waiting in there, and I have a lot more experience fighting than you. Besides, this is personal between me and Sir Halfield. It has nothing to do with the soulless or you.”
Something in my tone and eyes made her shrink back and nod.
I ordered Tristan and the other three men to stay and guard our escape route before I crashed through the front door, Meena close on my heels. If they had hurt her…
The corridor was empty, as was the first room. I pushed farther inside, my sword drawn, anger giving me a strange, cold calm as I methodically checked each room for cowering inhabitants.
At last, I found Sir Halfield leaning on his cane in the pantry, a half-eaten plate of food beside him. He looked me straight in the eyes as if uncowed, but I could see the telltale signs of tension in his shoulders and the way his fingers tapped the silver knob on top of the ebony cane. I walked straight up to him, causing him to back against the wall. “Where is she?”
I expected an attempt to stab me at such close quarters, but instead he pursed his lips as if unthreatened. It was a lie.
“Son-in-law. Let’s make an arrangement. If you tell me what your secret kryalcomy is, I’ll tell you where she is and let her leave with you.”
I was in no mood for games. My hand found his throat, and before he could react, I’d lifted him off the floor, choking him against the wall. “You do not let her do anything.”
He tried his dagger then, his hand slipping the blade from his sleeve and attempting to stab my chest, while his other scratched at my hand around his throat.
I knocked the blade away easily and slammed him against the wall. His head hit stone, and he crumpled, knocked out cold. I stepped away in disgust. If only Sophie would let me kill him. What good could possibly come from letting such a man live who plagued his victims in the worst ways? Who had harmed Sophie! I tied his wrists and ankles to the table.
I turned to Meena, who was already concentrating on the tracking device. She pointed to the floor and pushed the rug aside with one booted foot, revealing a trapdoor. Without speaking, I bent down and pulled on the metal ring. Stone steps descended into complete darkness. Dread started to gnaw at my stomach. What had they done to her?
“Sophie?”
No reply.
My small kryalcomy lamp was out of charge. I fumbled in my bag for an oil lamp; Meena already had her flint box ready, lighting the wick with one strike. I sheathed my sword and took out a dagger, in case I had to fight in the close quarters of the staircase.
Everything was eerily quiet. My patience frayed, and I took the steps two at a time, my normal caution gone with the frantic need to find Sophie. At the bottom was a plain but thick locked door. I withdrew as much strength from my device as I could before crashing my shoulder into the door. It splintered on impact, wood shards digging into my arm and back. My back jarred in shock, and everything hurt, but the pain was good. Feeling anything except the rising sense of panic centered me.
After another push, the door tore from its hinges and fell in a mangled pile of boards.
A whimper sounded from within the dark room. The tiny noise was enough for me to recognize Sophie. My heart broke.
I held up the lamp and strode in, my boots crunching on broken glass. What had happened in here?
“Sophie? Sophie, where are you? It’s Kasten.”
A sob echoed from the furthest corner, and I broke into a sprint, falling on the glass in front of her hunched figure. She shielded her eyes from the pathetic light of the oil lantern. She had blood on her face and both eyes were blackened and swollen. Fury so potent I could taste it raged inside me. Who could hurt somebody as innocent and as good as her?
“Kasten?” Her split lips broke into a strange smile as she squinted at me.
I swallowed down a rising tightness in my throat and wrapped my arms around her as firmly as I dared without causing her more pain. Her head fell forward and rested against my chest. I needed to touch her, to surround her, to know she couldn’t leave me again. “Sophie, I’m here. I’m sorry it took me so long. You’re safe now.”
I sat back to inspect her, my hands not leaving her sides. Her whole body was trembling as she reached out and touched my cheek as if she didn’t believe I was real. “I did it, Kasten. I didn’t tell him anything.”
I froze. “What do you mean?”
She attempted to sit up higher, and I supported her as best as I could. “Father asked about your kryalcomy. The king said he had to use me to find out about it or face ruination. But I didn’t tell him. I didn’t tell him anything.”
My heart shattered. She had been through all this because of me? To protect me?
I tried to keep my tone even as I wrapped my cloak around her. “Is that why he beat you and locked you in here? To force you to tell him?”
She nodded, her eyes wide. “But I didn’t, Kasten. I didn’t tell him anything. I promise.”
My throat constricted, and I pulled her in close. “You were so brave, Sophie. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. I came as fast as I could, but if I’d been more prepared… I’m sorry I wasn’t faster.”
She shook her head as it nestled against my shoulder. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course, I came. I will always come for you.” I pressed my face into her hair, breathing her scent. A crashing sense of relief started to suck the adrenaline from me, bringing tears to my eyes. I was so very tired. I drew in strength from one of my remaining reserves. Now was not the time for weakness. Not until Sophie was safe at home with dozens of guards. This was all my fault, and I would make it up to her. I would never let anything harm her again, no matter who I had to defeat.
I clenched my jaw and swallowed hard to hide my tears from her, before wrapping my arms around her back and under her knees and picking her up. I wasn’t going to let Sir Halfield get away with this. Or the king.
“Where does it hurt? I’ll take you to the physician.”
“Everywhere,” she mumbled. Her fingers dug into my arms as if afraid I would drop her and leave her here in the endless darkness.
Guilt sat heavy in my chest. “I’m so sorry,” I repeated as I pushed past a silent Meena to climb the stairs. The guard looked distraught, but now was not the time to address her feelings.
“Stay sharp,” I reminded her, and she nodded.
As we entered the brighter light of the pantry, I could see the extent of her bruises, and I struggled to stay calm as she curled into a ball away from the light.
The person who had done this was only a few feet away and completely at my mercy…
“Kasten?” she mumbled.
“Yes?” I whispered, not trusting myself to talk at normal volume.
She frowned as if concentrating hard on something. “Lord Lyrason was here. Right at the beginning. They gave me a sedative, so I don’t remember well, but he said something about being outside. That was a long time ago, though. A few hours at least. Father said he would visit me every hour to see if I’d changed my mind. So maybe three or four hours ago?”
I tensed. Lord Lyrason? He knew Sir Halfield had Sophie here? My heart started to thud again.
Surely he would have guessed far more accurately than Sophie’s father how long it would take me to find her. He likely suspected I had one of his tracking devices, but it was clear he hadn’t told Sir Halfield, or he would have had a lot more guards. Halfield had assumed he was safe here with no way for me to find him.
What if Lord Lyrason had been aware of Sir Halfield’s plans and knew I would come running? Was that why he had released more halfsouls tonight? Had he used Sir Halfield’s plans as a trap of his own, knowing I was exhausted from fighting, trying to defend an injured woman, and blinded by rage?
It all made too much sense. Even choosing to release halfsouls on the civilians a few days earlier so I would be absent when Sir Halfield sent Sophie his letter, and then too distracted to realize what danger she was in.
I could see Lord Lyrason calmly offering to help an anxious Sir Halfield rein in his wayward daughter, all so he could work from the shadows and get me exactly where he wanted me.
He knew I was closing in on him. Maybe he was tired of waiting for the king or his noble underlings to finally kill me.
This was bad.
I held Sophie close to my chest and turned to Meena. “We need to go now. Be ready. Your priority is to protect Sophie not me.”
She nodded without question and drew her second short sword.
I hurried through the narrow corridor of the house, cradling Sophie close to my chest. There was no way I would let her be taken from me again. Not when she’d already been so strong while enduring hell.
Ahead, everything was quiet.
Meena slipped past me and pushed open the front door first, bearing her swords out to the night. After a few seconds of continued silence, I followed and took stock of our surroundings. Sir Tristan and the other guards were gone. As was the princess. The thick border of trees and bushes that shielded the garden from the street offered too much cover, too many shadows for me to search.
Some grass was scuffed and there were skid marks. Otherwise, nothing. No bodies. No blood.
My heart pounded in the silence as Meena took up a defensive stance beside me and I scanned the trees again. My device stayed silent apart from the faint drone coming from Meena’s devices.
“What’s wrong?” Sophie asked.
“Lord Lyrason. Can you stand? I may need to fight. Have you got any strength left in your reserve?”
She nodded, and I slowly set her on her feet. She winced and stumbled, but held, pressing her necklace three times beneath the neckline of her dress. I suspected she wouldn’t have much left if she had been using it to survive Halfield’s beatings. I drew my sword and took her hand with the other. Her fingers were sticky with blood. I freed a knife and handed it to her. Just in case.
Where had my men gone? I confirmed that my device was turned on, but I couldn’t sense anyone nearby using kryalcomy or Callum’s devices. My soldiers would have to be far away or dead to not give off a signal. Unless Lord Lyrason knew about our detectors and had ripped them free.
Whatever trouble they were in, getting Sophie somewhere safe was my priority. I motioned for Meena to take the front and we slowly advanced toward the gate.
“Kasten, look out!”
My eyes flew up to the voice, and I saw Annabelle’s shadowed form up one of the trees. She gestured to the bushes on either side of the gate. I pulled Sophie back and pushed her behind me, shielding her with my body.
Sure enough, sticks creaked and something shot out from between the dark leaves. It looked like it had once been a large dog, but its fur was ragged, and it appeared half dead. My device remained silent.
A crossbow bolt thudded into its side as it lunged at Meena. The impact pushed it to one side, but it kept coming just as quickly. Meena crossed her blades in front of her, shielding herself from its teeth, then kicking it back. It twisted in the air, however, catching her in the face with its back claws as it jumped off her, forcing Meena to duck.
She took a blind swipe where the creature had just been as she staggered back. One of her eyes stayed closed as she regained her balance in a defensive position just before the creature barreled into her again.
We trained endlessly to fight soldiers and Kollenstar soulless and my elites were trained against halfsouls, too, but we had never trained to fight crazed beasts.
I ran to help Meena, my steps taking too long, and managed a blow to its side with my sword as it pushed her to the ground. Meena had abandoned her own swords, using knives instead to swipe at the beast, now it was at such close quarters. Her freisk knife seemed to have no effect. Another bolt thudded into its side. Still, it attacked without slowing, its jaws snapping in Meena’s face as she blocked its teeth with the thick gauntlet on her forearm so it didn’t reach her throat.
I straddled the beast and slipped my sword between Meena’s arm and its throat, yanking upward. Its neck cracked, and finally, the beast went limp. I noticed a thick leather collar covered in smooth metal studs.
I dragged the strange dog off Meena and helped her to her feet. She was shaken and covered in black sticky blood. “Did it bite through your skin?”
She shook her head and wiped the blood from her eye. I turned to hack off the collar so Callum could study it later.
“Kasten!”
I whirled at the sound of Sophie’s shout. She was pointing behind us as more creatures came out of the bushes; two more dogs and three halfsouls. Why hadn’t they set off my detector? The only difference I noticed was that the halfsouls also wore studded leather collars around their necks. Had Lord Lyrason realized we were able to detect their kryalcomy somehow and had worked to counteract it? I shook my head to focus and aimed for the nearest creature. Two already had crossbow bolts in their heads. Where had Annabelle learned to shoot like that? And from a tree no less. The force of each shot should be sending her crashing down.
I decapitated the closest dog, then ran to the next. Meena stayed next to Sophie, but her hands were trembling from exhaustion even as she held her sword. I had pushed her too hard. My own limbs were slower than normal. Where were Sir Tristan and the other three men? I really needed them right now.
I lunged at the halfsoul dog with my sword, a blow to its lateral flank that would have killed a normal beast. It turned and snapped at the hilt, and I let go before it could bite my hand. Would I become a halfsoul if it did?
I cut its throat with my dagger before launching at the next, halfsoul human, far easier to kill than the dog. As I pulled my sword free, I saw Meena kill the last one near her, which had driven her back closer to the house.
Sophie screamed, and the blood in my veins went ice cold. I sought the origin of the sound and saw a soulless woman leaning against her. Sophie’s dagger was embedded in her stomach, but the creature’s mouth was on her arm.
Biting her.
Everything in the world stopped, like I was trapped between heartbeats, unable to move fast enough, unable to reach her, unable to undo what had been done.
I pushed everything I had toward her, but I was still too slow. An eternity passed as I watched the blood trickle down her arm. Watched her fate sealed by yellowed teeth and frenzied eyes.
There was no cure. Every single person who had been infected had died.
No, no, no.
I caught the halfsoul woman with a clean, killing blow, then grabbed Sophie. She was shaking, her eyes fixed on the jagged semi-circle of wounds as sobs erupted from her throat. I pulled the sash from her dress and used it as a tourniquet, hoping it would stop the spread of the poison, yet knowing deep down everything I did was pointless.
No. I wouldn’t give up. I had to save her. Frantic energy possessed me, desperately fighting panic.
Sophie’s eyes flickered to mine, filled with terror. Pain lanced my chest as I helplessly drank in her fear. “Don’t let me kill anyone, Kasten. Please. I don’t want to kill anyone.”
I grabbed her shaking hand and kissed her knuckles with trembling lips. “You won’t. You’re going to be fine. I will fix this. I…I will fix this.”
Her responding smile was sad as peace seemed to settle over her, even as tears poured down her beautiful cheeks. “I love you, Kasten. Thank you for letting me into your life.”
Tears choked my breath as I traced my fingers across her cheekbone before pulling her into my chest in a fierce embrace and pressing my face into her hair. “Don’t give up, Sophie. Don’t you dare give up. You will fight this.” I gripped her as tightly as I could, tangling my fingers in her hair, refusing to let the evil kryalcomy take her away from me.
I should never have married her. Never have dragged her into this. This was all my fault.
I loved her. And I had killed her.
A convulsion made me loosen my arms in horror. Sophie’s head lolled back over my arm and her eyes rolled back into her head. I stared down at her, limp in my arms, unable to process what was happening. Agony made my hands shake as tears streamed from my eyes, and my chest felt like it was tearing apart. I screamed in denial.
Meena dropped to her knees beside me, sagging to one side. “General, she’s going to turn. We need to restrain her quickly. If we administer the sedative now before she has time to weaken, it should be safe.”
I shook my head. “No. She’s going to fight it. She’s not going to turn. She’s so strong. She’ll fight it.”
“Kasten!” The word hit me like a slap. Meena pulled Sophie from my arms, and Annabelle rushed to help her, supporting Sophie’s head.
I dug my fingers into the soil as my whole world collapsed around me. I could only watch, fighting to hold myself together and not pull Sophie back into my arms, as Meena tied Sophie’s wrists and smashed a glass vial to drip the sedative down her throat. Emptiness filled me as I saw her skin grow pale, the tendons in her arms begin to stand out.
I stared at her face and saw pain there. I clenched my fists and bellowed.
Meena’s back hid Sophie from view as she restrained her.
I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
I would not sit by helplessly and watch this happen.
They had pushed me to the breaking point again and again. Baited me. Killed my people. Stolen my humanity. Threatened my friends. Done everything they could to end me. And I had endured.
But they couldn’t have her.
Something snapped inside me and a torrent of rage so old yet so fresh coursed through my veins. Everything I’d held back, every emotion I’d suppressed in the past fourteen years now reared its head and roared in rage.
I didn’t care about the consequences anymore. I only cared about her.
If Lord Lyrason couldn’t save Sophie, the whole city would burn.
To be continuedin Stars May Fall…