Page 207 of The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King

His smile soured.

“Just a human,” he said. “That’s all.”

A fighter’s death,I promised myself, as Simon raised his sword, and I raised mine.

His strike was devastating.

A burst of magic blinded me. A deafening crack left my ears ringing. Something sharp flew back against me, opening little cuts in my cheeks, my arms.

I barely felt them, because the pain was everywhere.

Simon had staggered backwards, doubled over, but it was too late.

I was falling, too. My body went over the railing in what felt like slow motion. The last thing I saw was Raihn, his eyes wide and terrified, as he yanked his sword from a body and ran for me—

He looked so, so scared.

I reached for him, but I was already falling.

Worlds blended together in my weightlessness.

In one world, I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of screams and explosions and desperate commands.

In another, I could hear nothing but my father’s voice from an old memory. Could feel nothing but his grip, so firm it hurt—but then again, that was Vincent’s love, hidden in sharp edges and always just as painful.

I told you not to climb that high,he said, voice harsh.How many times have I told you, you can’t do that?

I know,I wanted to say.I’m sorry. You were right.

“Oraya!”

Raihn’s scream cleaved through the air, even through the sounds of a kingdom falling. I forced my eyes open to see smears of blurring color.

He was diving down after me, wings spread, covered in blood, a single hand reaching out for me.

Something about this image looked so familiar, and then it clicked—the painting of the Rishan man falling, one hand outstretched. I’d always thought he was reaching for the gods.

He was reaching for me.

Everything went black.

60

RAIHN

Retreat.

I flew over the battlefield, a sea of carnage, Oraya’s limp body in my arms. She was covered in so much blood I couldn’t even tell where she was injured, only that whatever Simon had done to her had been devastating.

She wasn’t dead.

She couldn’t be dead.

I could feel her heartbeat, slow and weak. I refused to accept the possibility that it would stop. That was not an option.

She was not dead.

I knew Simon was not far behind me, launching himself down into the fighting. And I knew—I knew the minute he landed, it would be over for all of us.

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