Page 53 of The Princesses of Ruin (The Princesses of Ruin #5)

Chapter forty-nine

Lily

A red-haired woman covered in inky black drops through the belly of the massive beast. I scream her name as I command the stones to bring Scarlett toward us. The ground shifts like a wave, tumbling her along until she rests at my feet. Zane snatches her up and pulls her close to his chest.

The monstrosity of bodies and castle walls stomps up onto two feet again, trundling deeper into the Upper Kingdom.

Spiders scream, trying to evacuate the lingering citizens.

We should’ve done this days ago, but there wasn’t time.

There wasn’t breath. There wasn’t a spare moment we could give them to force them out of their homes.

We warned them all…and now here they are, feeding the monster with their foolishness.

Shitheads, the lot of them.

Reina calls for Alastair and he swoops low, plucking her off the rooftop she’d perched on to attack the beast. Her power is low, like us all, and each shot of hers is precious against this monster.

“You have to be certain it’s really her,” I say to Zane as we run.

“It’s her,” Alyse projects. “Part of Ashai is nestled deep inside, the insidious wretch, but this is Scarlett.”

“Will she be in control when she wakes?” Zane asks .

“I don’t know.”

I glance over my shoulder and judge the distance to the monster. Its hulking frog face is horking down an old merchant’s cart, then it drops another screaming person into its mouth with the other hand. Fear and anger wrap around my heart and squeeze.

We have to end its horrible rampage somehow, even if it’s a temporary fix. Anything will be better than this shitshow.

“Alastair! What are the runes your mother used to trap your demon curse?” I shout, knowing Alyse caught the sound and transferred it to him.

“You want to trap her behind the Wall?” Alyse asks as she also relays Alastair’s thoughts on runes. The multiple threads weaving through my mind are almost too much to follow.

“It’s better than losing everything,” I say, running toward the Underbelly.

Grenades of blue power sail overhead and smash into the beast. Its scream is like the blast of a thousand horns, trembling the earth and shattering my spirit.

Reina’s magic is effective in making a vanishing hole in its gut at best, and pissing it off at worst. We’ve already lost too many soldiers, too many citizens.

“It’s worth a try,” Alyse projects Alastair’s voice.

He swoops low, dropping Reina on Jasper’s back before reaching for me.

I extend my arms and jump into his grasp.

He pulls me up to his chest, securing me against him as he flaps his wings harder to gain altitude.

The kingdom is decimated. Fire has burned the city not once, but twice now.

Citizens run for their lives, screaming for help.

I want to save them all, but stopping for an individual could damn the whole population that evacuated south.

We bank hard along the Wall between the gates, and I let my magic flow, digging a deep furrow into it in the shape that Alyse projects into my mind. I am the nib of a quill, Alastair the feather, and Alyse the hand that guides us.

Icy cold batters my outstretched hand as we flow, creating the shapes of the gods above to halt the goddess from below. The monster is so close now its trumpeting bellow drowns out even the wind in my ears.

Droves of people swarm the only two gates out of the Upper Kingdom. The Spiders who can climb, or have utility hooks, take to scaling the Wall like Zane with Scarlett in his grasp. His teal magic tears into the stones as he ascends with maddening speed.

My sister still hasn’t woken up…

I swallow that thought and put my focus on my trembling arms. The strain of magic flowing through me is taking its toll harshly, like one too many drinks on too few hours of sleep. I want to curl up in Alastair’s arms and disappear forever.

“Just a few more moments,” Alyse says.

I open my eyes and flex my fingers out wide, ensuring the best distribution of my magic as possible. The Wall is so deeply lacerated it will never be repaired. Each runic shape glows bright green with sparks of gold.

Please, be enough to hold her back.

The monstrosity closes in on the Wall as it follows the crowd rushing to escape. People peel off from the line and run through the alleys toward the wharf. It’s a long run to the sea, and there are no ships there to carry them. They’ll drown throwing themselves into the ocean to escape her.

The creature drops to all four and bellows its horrific song.

When it lands, its mouth opens wide, and those closest fall into it as if gravity itself has changed.

Spiders who have successfully scaled the Wall hook into harnesses at the top and then drop back down.

They grab children first, but the people are so desperate they start grabbing at them, clinging to them—pulling them down and snapping their only escape.

The final rune is carved into the stone and Alastair twists away from the Wall with gut-clenching speed.

My head droops and I struggle to keep it up.

I realize why a second later as a glob of inky darkness splats against the stones where we were.

The runes light up like the sun and the black goo sizzles into ash.

We fly to the closest downed soldier and I shield him, pushing all the groping citizens away.

“Stand back! One at a time!” Alastair roars and the people flee from him.

The Spider adjusts his harness, but the pulley is broken at the top.

“We need to fix it!” I yell, pointing up to the top of the Wall.

I’m not sure if I can fix it, but I have to try.

It takes us time to pick up enough speed to get to the top.

“Drop me and get the others,” I say as we reach the landing at the top of the Wall.

Zane is fifty feet out, grabbing people as they come up to the top and scurrying them over the side. Scarlett lays close by. I can’t tell if her chest is moving. I want to go to her. I want to help her, but if she’s already dead…

I have to help those who are still alive. This is just one among many, but every life counts, and every second counts to getting them clear of the monster.

Alastair sets me down at the pulley and I get to work finding the issue.

The top block has ripped away from the arm, dangling down against the Wall.

I grab it and give the rope some slack before pulling it up to the wooden arm.

There’s no appropriate material for me to use to fix it, as all the wood that broke fell away, so I reach down into the Wall and grab stone instead.

My magic is near the sputtering end, but I rip apart the bits of the Wall I can use and shape them as best I can. The mend takes me a moment, but when it’s done, I tug on the rope to let the Spider below know it’s ready for use.

The creature bellows again and I yelp, my weary body worn through and rung out. I collapse against the side of the Wall and look over the edge. It’s so far down and there’s still so many people. So many lives.

My kingdom. Ruined. Because I couldn’t be better. Because I couldn’t be stronger. My throat aches as tears gather in my eyes unbidden.

“No one else is giving up,” I growl at myself. “You can’t either.”

I push against the edge and stand, my legs as wobbly as a newborn foal’s.

I have potions in my bag, one of Adrik’s special cocktails.

I stagger toward Scarlett, dodging screaming citizens and leaping Spiders as I get closer.

The vial of rejuvenating elixir thrums in my hand.

I want to drink it—I want to keep helping—but somewhere deep in my gut I know she needs it more.

I drop to my knees and pull her head onto my lap. Her face is covered in black gore that’s been smeared at her eyes and lips. I push her chin down to open her mouth and bite the cork of the vial. It thups like a bottle of wine when I pull it free.

I’m going to have a bottle of wine after this.

I dump the contents into her mouth and close it, praying to her since I know the gods are worthless.

“Wake up, sis.”