Page 80 of Stars May Fall

Gregane pulled off the blanket to reveal a caged halfsoul. As soon as it could see the people around it, it threw itself at the bars and screeched. It looked like Lyrason wanted more vitality for when he pulled the arrow free.

I licked my lips and aimed for its heart, but I couldn’t get a clear shot; the solid top of the cage protected much of its body from my elevated angle.

Gregane grabbed a weakly struggling Clarence and started to drag him over to the cage. I changed my bow’s aim and shot at Gregane, but the two were moving too much in their struggle for me to aim centrally, and the flash of Gregane’s kryalcomy shield deflected it far away.

In response, Gregane pushed Clarence between us, using him as a human shield in addition to his kryalcomy one. I swore and looked down for Kasten, hoping he was close enough to rescue Clarence. But he was still too far away, cutting through line after line of densely packed soldiers.

No, no, no! I’d never felt more useless.

Gregane presented Clarence’s arm to the halfsoul. My brother kicked and flailed, trying to escape. The halfsoul bit him. I covered my mouth in shock.

Clarence fell backward, and I watched as he rapidly lost consciousness, his limbs shaking and becoming rigid. Lyrason hovered beside him, breathing deeply, then reached to pull the arrow from his own abdomen. Anger and grief bubbled hot inside me. I’d managed to keep my emotions under tight control since I’d heard of my parents’ deaths, but now barely anything was holding me together.

I had nothing to hold me back now.

I fired at Lyrason, the bright white explosion shattering my arrow. I fired again, as quickly as I could load. Jared fired too.

I only needed one bolt to get through or at least delay them long enough for Kasten to reach them and finish this.

As the next explosion cleared, I saw Lyrason had pulled the bolt from his stomach. His tunic was drenched with blood, and a second bolt had injured his arm. Gregane was flapping around him.

Kasten was getting close now.

I fired again. When the explosion cleared, my heart plummeted. Lyrason and Gregane were gone, leaving only abright smear of blood to show where they’d been lying. I let out a cry of frustration. We had been so close.

Kasten finally reached Clarence and fitted a bracelet around his wrist. At once, Clarence’s muscles relaxed, his expression becoming calm, though he remained unconscious.

An inhuman screech made me turn. Somebody had left the halfsoul loose. I blinked. Lyrason would do that to his own men? Even when he needed vitality and a distraction to cover his escape, it was shocking to see how little loyalty that man had.

I shot at the halfsoul and missed. I reloaded as fast as I could and shot again, this time finding my target square in the chest, but not before another person had been bitten. I cursed. Things were becoming more and more out of control.

And wild beasts were always the most dangerous when they were injured.

SOPHIE

We peered at the chaos in the throne room while keeping plenty of distance between us and the door. Tilly was right. There were dozens of soldiers between me and Prince Clarence, we would never reach him. I gasped, helpless, as Gregane dragged the prince kicking and screaming to the halfsoul. The halfsoul bit.

I put my hand in my pouch for Callum’s chain bracelet. If I got it on the prince quickly enough, he wouldn’t have much of his vitality stolen, or too much violence injected. I hoped. It was the only way I could save him. His vitality already had to be low from his injury.

Bolts rained down causing bright explosion after explosion that made me look away. I was wasting time. I opened my pouch and added powders to distilled water, working methodically with shaking fingers while Meena kept watch at the door. Kasten would clear a path to Clarence, Lyrason, and Gregane. That was his job. I had to focus on mine.

I held up the mixture: bigsweed to prevent infection, pigsmoss and birdsfoot for the pain and inflammation as well as being a mild sedative to keep him calm, and arnica, ephedra, and tensworth to stabilize his blood pressure and stop him fromgoing into shock. Once again, I internally thanked Kasten for giving me that swamp.

The door behind me crashed open. We had no time to hide. Gregane and Lyrason stumbled into the corridor. Lyrason was bleeding profusely from a stomach wound and had his arm around Gregane who supported him. He seemed to be in strangely little pain but swayed from weakness.

They froze when they saw me and Meena, and for a strange couple of heartbeats, we only stared at one another. Gregane frowned at the mixture I had in my hands. Then Lyrason shook his head as if in decision, and they hurried to a tapestry, shoving it aside to reveal a door.

My heartbeat didn’t let up. Nobody was following them from the throne room. They were going to get away unless I did something. No, no, no. If we didn’t stop them, the fighting wouldn’t end. I couldn’t let them make anyone else into a halfsoul.

I pointed to the men. “Meena, stop them!”

My guard didn’t hesitate but launched into a sprint, reaching them within seconds. Her blade was raised and aimed at Lyrason.

She collided with a blinding white shield of kryalcomy. This time there was no explosion of power like when Kasten’s arcs hit them. Instead, it was like Meena hit an invisible wall that flashed with energy. She staggered backward, dazed and unsteady. Gregane stepped forward and plunged a needle into her arm, before she regained her balance.

Meena crumpled.

I screamed and started to run forward, though it felt like my limbs were moving through honey.

---