Page 141 of Skalterra By Nightmare
She leaned heavily on me, but green fire sparked in her hand.
“I will not let you die in a fight you didn’t sign up for, Just-Wren,” she grunted. “They killed my mother. Let them kill me too. Promise me you’ll run.”
“No!”
She shoved me off her, and I collapsed on the ice. I begged my limbs to move, but I was too weak to give chase. I screamed at Orla’s back as she staggered forward to face the Grimguards.
Ciarán and the woman converged on her, weapons of orange blazing against the white of the frozen lake.
“Orla!”
Orla lifted her green flame. It expanded until she was a dark silhouette against a backdrop of emerald. I screamed her name again.
Purple light flickered at the core of her flame and then expanded outwards to swallow the lake in a mosaic of amethyst fire and ice.
33. Genetics
Bright purple light seared across my vision, and hundreds of tiny ice shards bit into the skin of my face and arms. I hid against the ground, still screaming Orla’s name, as heat licked at my back and the ice rolled beneath me.
The blast settled, but the lake continued to groan, and I looked up through snow-dusted locks of blue hair. Snow and Orla’s lilac sparks hung in the air, and I fought to see through the haze.
A body lay on the ice several yards ahead me, horribly still and lifeless.
“Orla!”
I scrambled through the ice debris, ignoring the cracking of the ground beneath my bare feet. I rolled her onto her back, and my heart plummeted.
The wound in her chest had partially cauterized, but blood still seeped from the edges of the gash, staining her tunic and armor. Her goggles had completely shattered, and her eyelids fluttered over ruddy, chapped cheeks.
The woman Grimguard screamed Ciarán’s name somewhere behind me, and when I prodded at the tether between us, it felt weak and brittle.
If he was injured, he wouldn’t be able to follow us, but a distant worry for his wellbeing nagged at the corners of my mind.
Orla shuddered, and I wadded her cloak against her chest in an effort to stem the bleeding.
“Orla, can you hear me?” I pulled her broken goggles off her face, and her head lolled back in my hands. “Orla, please!”
She groaned softly, her eyes still closed, and my heart hitched.
“Come on, we can’t stay here.” When I tried to lift her, however, my legs gave out, and we collapsed back on the ice together.
I needed Skal.
I pushed through Orla’s cloak in search of the bottles at her belt. Two bottles were shattered, one was empty, but the fourth glowed with Skal.
The bottle was warm in my hand, and the Skal inside swirled blithely. I needed it to save us both, but I hesitated with my fingers on the stopper.
What if the hunger came back? Judging by the sound of the woman still yelling his name behind me, I didn’t think Ciarán was in any condition to stop me if I veered back towards rotsbane territory.
Orla’s breathing was shallow and rapid. She didn’t have long.
I uncorked the bottle and took a swig of the glowing liquid.
It heated me from the inside, electrifying every nerve. Strength returned to my arms and legs, and while I craved more, it wasn’t the same unbearable hunger as before. I formed a new pair of boots over my bare feet as I lifted Orla onto my back.
Her head slumped against mine, and she groaned again.
“Nightmare!” the woman screamed behind me, and I twisted around to face her.
