Page 83 of Stars May Fall

Sir Chance saluted me as he intercepted me from the side. His tanned, stocky figure was surprisingly fast. “General. There are halfsouls around. A sudden influx of them just appeared. We’ve killed all the ones we’ve found. Also some of the royal guard have been fighting us ever since Frank let us through the outer wall. Whether the royal guards are attacking us due to their loyalty to Lyrason or because they think we’re behind the coup is not certain. Everyone is confused. Sir Philip sent a messenger saying that Duke James’s mansion has been burned to the ground. The duke has been confirmed dead by Lord Venerick. So far, the city guard hasn’t moved to the palace but is keeping the peace in the streets.”

I nodded but kept moving forward. “The halfsouls were likely to cover up Lyrason’s escape from the palace. He’s injured and trying to take in more vitality. He may already be healed. Lady Sophie went after him alone. Dame Meena has been killed. LadySophie is incredibly vulnerable right now, and the top priority of every single Kasomere soldier is her safety and capturing Lyrason and Gregane, dead if necessary. I want all our troops focused on reaching them as quickly as possible.”

Sir Chance’s forehead was creased with worry. “Our battalion is still scattered, but I will get our men to her as quickly as possible.” He swallowed. “One more thing, General. These halfsouls are different from before. They’re quicker and more aggressive. And they infected others much faster.”

I scowled.Great.

Sir Chance fell back a step to give orders to his battalion. Others joined us, sprinting across the lawn, my detector still giving off the signal to rally. From somewhere, a royal guard shot an arrow, and I returned a silver arc without stopping.

The long drive finished in an elaborate scrollwork gate set between two gatehouses and the garden wall. Guards were pushing it shut and bolting it while crossbowmen positioned on roofs of the small houses aimed at us.

Absolute fools. What did they hope to achieve by keeping me in the palace? If they thought I was staging a coup, they should want me out. I guessed these were Lyrason’s men, covering his retreat. No sound of detectors was coming from ahead, suggesting the area was clear of my own men.

I drew in a surge of power, not caring to limit it and sent an arc of silver light at the gatehouses. The people around me slowed to shield their eyes. Metal and stone were stretched and then decimated with a tearing, wrenching, shattering sound. Dust blew up in billowing clouds, sending jarring vibrations through the ground. My soldiers slowed but I only picked up my speed. Nothing, absolutely nothing would get between me and Sophie. She believed I would come and finish Lyrason. She always trusted me to keep her safe.

Nothing in the world mattered if she wasn’t in it.

Lyrason had been injured. He and Gregane must be moving more slowly. We’d catch up with them soon.

The dust cleared showing the gatehouses reduced to crumbling rubble. Sir Chase swore behind me but Callum whistled. “Now this is more like it. You’re getting closer to the spectacular havoc I unleashed earlier.”

The palace stood on top of a hill and the houses of the rich started not far beyond the walls. The normally busy road was wide and straight as it swept between grand mansions, fountains, and fruit trees. At last, I stopped running, pausing to assess the situation as the sunset turned the pale street crimson.

The road was filling with halfsouls, their jerky, manic actions clear from a distance, while citizens ran for the safety of their walls and homes. Carriages lay on their sides, their wheels turning in the air, and horses ran wild. What had Lyrason done? He wouldn’t have anyone left to rule at this rate. Sophie…

Sir Chase hurried up beside me, one hand holding a handkerchief over his mouth as the dust settled around us. With the other hand he handed me a spyglass.

I took it with a nod and scanned the road. The screams of the halfsouls on my detector coupled with the lower drones from the soldiers’ detectors behind me made Sophie’s detector difficult to pinpoint. “Where are you?” I whispered.

They had to be traveling to Lyrason’s mansion or some other safe house where he could be protected from his own halfsouls while he stole their lives.

I scanned the crowds again, starting to despair, when I caught a flash of white between the milling bodies. I moved the spyglass back to focus on the white material. It was her. It was definitely her.

I held my breath. Between the dirty, blooded, and torn clothes of numerous halfsouls, Sophie weaved through them in her spotless white dress, her hair glistening silver in the dusklight. The halfsouls ignored her, trying to get into houses or chase citizens. She had always been a star in the midst of terrible darkness to me. But that truth was plain for all the world to see; she would always be the light that guided. She was always hope.

Thank the kingdoms, she seemed unafraid and uninjured. It was hard to admit it, but her immunity made her the only person alive able to track Lyrason and Gregane through that hoard. She might be the only one who could stop them from getting away and creating endless halfsouls.

But I still hated that she had done it and treated her own life as if it were expendable.

I returned the spyglass. “I can’t see Lyrason, but Sophie’s close to the chestnut tree. We need to reach her and get her to safety. Lyrason and Gregane won’t be far away from her position.”

Sir Chase took the spyglass and rubbed his forehead. “General, there will soon be hundreds of halfsouls down there as they spread throughout the city. Our men are trained to tackle them two to one. We’ll be quickly overwhelmed if we’re not careful.”

I nodded, the sight of Sophie giving me strength. “And we are worth thousands of them. Think of what evil we fight against. Think how necessary it is to stand against them. We will prevail. I know it. Many have tried to kill us. None have managed.”

Callum patted me on the shoulder. “You’re getting better at inspirational speeches, you know. Slowly improving but better.” He pointed to the pouch on my belt. “You should put the bracelet on in case you’re bitten. I have mine. There are still only three.”

I started forward and fitted Callum’s bracelet that blocked haemalcomy. I instantly felt…strange. Weaker. Slower and not quite able to catch my breath. I shook my head to clear the dizzy sensation. I didn’t understand. I hadn’t been bitten, and thebracelet was meant to stop my vitality being stolen. Then why did I feel the opposite?

My body felt increasingly weaker by the second. I yanked it off and put it back in my pocket. At once my strength and focus was restored.

I’d worry about my strange reaction later. “All of you keep behind me.”

I broke into a jog down the hill and let out an arc of silver light that caused garden walls to crack and cobblestones to lurch.

SOPHIE

Islipped between the halfsouls, my heart becoming battered as it slammed against my ribs, but they still didn’t notice me. I’d been so scared when I was near them in the corridor in Lyrason’s house. I refused to be like that now. I kept moving forward, my mind focused on my quarry.

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