He shook his head, the movement labored. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. It’s too late,” he said. “Too late.”
“No. No! It’s not. Because we’re together. I’m going to get you out of here, I just need you to stand for me. Okay, Rhyan? Can you do that for me? Just keep leaning into me. Put all of your weight on me, it’s okay. I’ve got you. We’re getting out of here.”
“I can’t. I … I can’t. Lyr.” His voice broke on my name, and he shook his head. “It’s done. They’ve taken it. Taken it all.” He started to sob.
“No, they haven’t! They haven’t. Because you’re still alive!” I yelled. “You survived!”
But he wasn’t listening.
“I’m going to heal you,” I said, letting more of my aura reach him, imagining the red light in my heart pouring into his aura.
Bring his magic back, I commanded it.Bring it back. Heal him. Heal him.
Every inch of him was shaking, trembling. He eyed my cloak warily. It was paining him, every piece of the material that touched him hurt him, and I couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t undo it. I wasn’t sure my magic was doing anything anymore to soothe him.
“I’m sorry. Sorry about the cloak. I know it’s hurting you. But we need to keep you covered. Okay? I’ll get you cleaned up as soon as I can. I promise. I’ll make the pain go away. And I swear on all the Gods, no one else will hurt you. No one else will lay a fucking finger on you. I’m going to take care of you, Rhyan. I swear!”
He stared at the ground, his eyes closing.
“Rhyan! Hey! Hey! You look at me. Stay with me.”
I saw the effort it took for him to barely lift his head. I couldn’t ask any more of him. Not until we were safe and I could heal him fully.
I reached for his knees, and swept my arm beneath them. With a surge of energy rushing through my legs, my thighs shaking, I lifted him up, cradling him against my chest.
His head fell against my shoulder with a groan. My calves burned. I was strong enough to hold him, but he was so big that it was impossible to get a comfortable angle. I leaned back, and with a grunt, moved his arm around my neck for extra support.
He made a wheezing, pained sound.
“Partner,” he said, his lips moving against my armor. “I’m dying. Leave me. Get out of this place, away from my father. Emperor. Before he returns. Before … before the magic runs out.”
“No.” My vision blurred with tears. “You’re not dying! It’s just a rope! Just a fucking rope.” My voice shook, as I climbed down from the stage. I just had to keep my focus, keep the dome strong, keep it going until we left the arena, then I’d find us a horse, and we’d be out of here. I just had to keep going. Keep walking. Keep holding Rhyan. He wasn’t going to die. I wouldn’t let him.
“Always … stubborn.” Rhyan’s face fell, but his eyes met mine. “I love you.” He flinched as I stumbled onto the field.
“I love you, too.” I readjusted him in my arms, my chest heaving with exertion. “Gods. You make this look so easy.”
Despite the pain he was in, he managed to curl his lip into the semblance of a smile. “It was.”
I ran. The soturi around us were starting to give up on breaking into the dome, as were the mages, and we began to move faster, moving inside to one of the enclosed stalls. A row of benches lay ahead of us, and a low stone ceiling provided some shade from the sun.
We were going to make it. I was sure of it. Rhyan had been stripped, a process said to be nearly impossible to survive but he’d survived. We were doing the fucking impossible. And we were going to keep doing it, no matter what the cost.
Someone shouted in the distance. “Prisoners escaped!”
My stomach twisted, but then they began running away from us, out of the Katurium.
And I remembered the keys Morgana had taken from the dead soturion.
She was freeing the vorakh, creating just enough of a distraction, that there was hope. That we could sneak out.
“It’s the vorakh,” I told Rhyan. “They’re being freed.”
“How?” he croaked.
I bit my lip, not wanting to tell him, but knowing I had to. “Morgana. She … I gave her the shield. She’s using it to free them all.”
“They have two shards now?” he asked.
