Page 60 of Swords of Soul and Shadow (Gate Chronicles #3)

HUNG THE MOONS

Hallie

A RUMBLING SOUNDED IN THE distance, the ground shook, and the grass tasted like soot.

Hallie had no clue why, or where she even was, but she prayed to Toro or whoever might hear her that she was in Kyvena.

She couldn’t handle anything less. A sob stuck in her throat, but it wouldn’t release. She couldn’t fall apart now.

She had Niels, Fely, and some answers. And a sword.

And she’d witnessed the Cerl King’s death.

She hadn’t expected that to hit her as hard as it had. All her life, she’d hated the shadow king she’d only heard horror stories about. She’d seen him kill Yarrow with his power, but in the end, he’d helped her.

She didn’t know how to feel about that.

Unwittingly, he’d sacrificed himself to save Hallie and Niels, and she would never get to tell him thank you. That felt odd to even think.

Everything hurt.

She’d managed to get them somewhere, but for all she knew, they were still in Myrrai, or trapped somewhere in Tev Rubika. She’d been screaming whatever she thought might work, thrusting power into empty stone. It could have taken them anywhere.

But they were no longer in the Gate chamber, so that had to be an improvement.

Pushing herself to her knees, she spit out dirt and grass.

Pouring her power into the stone of the Gate chamber, she’d tried her best to focus on Kyvena, on the airfields, on Kase.

But the use of her power made her feel alive and drained in the same breath.

She was probably only still conscious because of Fely’s help.

Or the Gate’s. She still wasn’t sure what had happened.

Fely. Niels. His bloody wrist.

Hallie turned her head to find Niels lying face-down in the grass.

He rolled over, clutching his arm. Blood stained his abdomen and sleeve and pretty much anything close to him.

Hallie fumbled in her pack for something that could be used as a bandage.

Niels groaned, “Just use the shirt in my pack. I don’t care. ”

Hallie found the shirt in question. She hastily tied it around his wrist. Niels gritted his teeth.

Hallie looked over at Fely for help.

The Rubikan woman panted heavily on her other side and stared up at the sky.

Sunlight made her dark hair shine like glass, though flecks of dirt and who knew what else decorated the strands.

Whether or not the blood was hers or Filip’s, Hallie wasn’t sure.

All she felt was relief, tinged with guilt.

“I can heal you,” Hallie said, the sun burning her eyes as she looked up at the sky. “I just need to…”

Wait. It’d been night when they’d fought Loffler in the Gate chamber. Or maybe…

Hallie’s head hurt.

“No,” Fely said, rolling to her side and pushing herself to her knees.

“You used too much power, and the only reason you didn’t die was because you had the Gate to aid you.

” She sat back, pushing hair from her eyes.

Her hand stumbled over the bandage still wrapped around her own head. “It’s a miracle it worked, truly.”

“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 the stars would 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 as she 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.

She had to find Kase. He had to be here. She needed him to be here. That thought alone was enough to blot out her injuries and her exhaustion and her horror. She needed his arms around her, holding her tight, because only then would she know if she was all right.

Would he even have made it to the capital yet? How long had she been in Myrrai? Had it really only been five days since she’d said goodbye? Had the Gate shifted things somehow?

She needed him. But with another look at those decimated hovers, her heart dropped from her chest, stopping her breath.

She prayed he hadn’t been here when that had happened. That none of those hovers hid…

She couldn’t even think it.

“Fates and glory,” Fely breathed.

Hallie’s eyes stung with new tears.

What had once been a glittering capital made of whitewashed stone buildings with a mix of slate and thatched roofs was now a grotesque pit of despair. The longer she looked, the more ravaged it appeared, evident even from her distance.

It was as if a vengeful god had cast fire and brimstone from the heavens for forgotten sins.

She’d known that the city was under attack per the conversation with Correa and Filip in Achilles, but seeing it here in person was an entirely new horror.

What were they dealing with? What weapons did the Cerls have at their disposal?

Was there another Essence wielder that had caused this?

Surely the destruction wasn’t simply from hovers or those cannons.

If so, Jayde didn’t stand a chance. Nothing Hallie could do would fix the lives lost and nightmares written here.

“I didn’t know,” Fely said, her voice small. “I swear I didn’t…I’m so sorry. I didn’t know about the attack until that horrid display at Achilles.”

Niels made his way slowly over and swore under his breath.

Hallie swallowed her emotion best she could, but it leaked into her words despite her effort. “Why?”

It was war. The Cerls had declared that when they’d attacked Stoneset and taken over Achilles.

Only a small child at the time of the Great War, the only recollections she had were fleeting feelings of terror, dark corners of the basement, and the stories older villagers told her.

Thankfully, the bulk of the fighting had been elsewhere, but Stoneset was no stranger to rogue Cerl bands.

Fely’s only answer was silence. She’d lived through a civil war in her own country, and she knew the reality. But that didn’t give Hallie any comfort.

The rumbling she’d been hearing grew louder. Hovers. Her heart pounded.

Maybe…maybe it was the Crews’ pilots. Maybe it was a rescue team come to collect survivors, though almost a week had passed since the attack if King Filip’s words at Achilles were to be believed.