Page 119 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
“But Niels—” Hallie started, “—and the King. And…and…the sun…”
Stars. She didn’t even know what she was trying to say.
“I’ll be fine, Hal.” Niels looked too pale, but he sat up fully. “It’s mostly numb now.”
“That’s not a good thing!” Did no one else realize that it was clearly midday?
“I can give him some Soul from the plant life here to get him through until we find help.” Fely looked to the sky as if trying to gauge their location as well.
“What?” Hallie asked blankly. Stars, she needed some sleep. “But the King’s dead.”
“My unique ability to harvest plant Soul was the reason I was chosen as his bride and vessel. It complimented his Essence power, though I do not possess that myself.” Placing her hand on the grass, Fely muttered something under her breath. Her hand glowed, and the grass browned and went brittle. Dead. “Not much, because spring is still trying to make its way here, but it will work for now.”
“And the grass? You just…took its Soul?”
Chronals had abilities that were unique to themselves, and all could be used to defend the Gate. The embroidery on the ceremonial togas they wore were a way to showcase their specific skills. But she still didn’t understand this one.
Fely siphoned more power. The brown grass surrounding her glowing hand was disconcerting. “It’s best to use this sparingly. No grass or plants will grow here again.”
Terrifying. And intriguing. Hallie wished she could ask more questions, but now was not the time.
Fely crawled over to Niels and pressed her glowing hand to his forearm, just above the shirt-wrapped wound. “We still have a mission. We need to find the General. He’ll know what to do.”
Like thestarswould Hallie ever try to find Correa. She needed to find Kase.
“Thank you,” Niels said, adjusting his bandage.
“Of course,” Fely said. “It should stop the bleeding for now, but that is all I can spare.”
Hallie felt a little relief. She shouldn’t be thankful for the woman’s terrifying power, but at this moment, she didn’t care. It had worked, and she could debate the ramifications or ethics of it later.
Warmth radiated from Fely’s touch on her shoulder. “It’s not as potent as human Soul, but this should help a little.”
With Fely’s power bolstering her, Hallie’s breathing slowed. They had a job to do. They had to find Kase—and Jove, hopefully. She’d even take the Stradat Lord Kapitan if he could help her make sense of what was to come.
“The General is unlikely to have made the journey so quickly unless he found a hover.” Fely paused again and looked to the sky. “And if we are in Kyvena as you hoped, Asa will be here as well.”
She couldn’t worry about Correa or Filip’s brother right now. She had more pressing matters on her mind.
A small copse of trees surrounded them, their branches beginning to show hints of spring, blossoms and green leaves finally sprouting. A few of the trees were fuller than others. Some were thicker. All cast shadows on her hands and arms asshe stumbled toward them, searching between their close-knit trunks. The smoky scent floating on the air was still pungent, stinging her nose. Above the trees, she spotted black clouds.
“Something’s on fire,” Niels said, looking around.
Hallie nodded. But what? The city?
Just beyond the tree trunks, she spotted the outline of the capital. The trunks scratched the pads of her fingers as she brushed by them. It felt like a dream. She could make out the familiar stone city wall, and what should have been the airfields, except…
It was wrong. Everything was wrong.
Charred craters marred the hover runways. Twisted hunks of metal were barely recognizable from this distance, but with dawning horror, she realized exactly what they were: hovers.
What remained of them, anyway.
Huge swaths of the wall had been scattered as if kicked over by school children playing sport. Dark, ugly smoke rose like a horrible specter from the far side of the city. Some other blaze roared to the right.
She brought a shaking hand to her mouth.
It was Kyvena. Unmistakably.
