“Three!”
Cullen thrust his hands upward with a grunt. A mighty rush of air roared in Eira’s ears, ripping at her hair and clothes. The flames instantly diminished. They wavered, sparking, sputtering, burning through what little air still lingered on the ground of the cavern. Noelle swept her arms and legs, almost like a dance, as she sent out tongues of flame to extinguish the rest.
Eira charged forward to the back half of the caverns. The Lightspinning had stopped with Cullen’s removal of air. Flinging out her arms, she sent jets of water to the smoldering embers that might flare back up when the air returned.
But the exertion was too much. Her chest burned. Her lungs screamed. And every curse word Eira knew flung across her mind as she stumbled and took a heaving breath.
It was a raspy wheeze. Eira swayed, head spinning. She tried to take another breath, but there wasn’t any air.
Cullen, she mouthed. How much longer would he hold the air? Eira swayed, her knees hitting the ground as she collapsed. This was what Marcus had felt.
Keep going, Eira, her brother’s voice echoed in the darkness of the cavern, the darkness behind her heavy lids.
At once, like an invisible weight crashing down on the room, the air returned. Eira pushed herself up, heaving lungfuls. Fires sparked, flaring back up. The first was extinguished by Noelle almost as quickly as it formed. The second Eira doused with a small wave fueled by rage and frustration.
Trusting the rest to her friends, Eira charged into the tunnel. She saw men in pale robes, standing as well, swaying, rubbing their heads.
“Time to go,” one of them grunted, seeing her. He didn’t seem to recognize her. She was a sopping mess of soot and ash. But Eira recognized him. The man was one of the Pillars who had been with the Champion the day she’d displayed her power.
The three Pillars fled into a hole in the wall that had been blown in. They hadn’t infiltrated the court through the normal passages. They’d found a way to a tunnel—or a secret passage of their own that paralleled the court—and exploded straight into the main hall. Then, they’d removed the main door, no doubt to get others through.
Eira skidded to a stop by the hole, glancing between chasing the Pillars into the hole, and the ransacked war room. When her eyes landed on the bodies of Lorn and Deneya, her choice was made. She summoned a thick sheet of ice to plug the hole in the wall and sprinted over, dropping to her knees by Lorn.
“Lorn, Lorn!” She shook him and held a hand by his face.Still breathing. He’d merely passed out.
She scrambled over to Deneya.
The woman was in much worse shape. Gnarly burns covered her arm and side. Her other arm was limp and flattened, as though the bones and muscles within had been shattered. She had two crossbow bolts—one in her abdomen, the other in her leg.
“D-Deneya.” Eira stared at the brutality her ally had endured, at a total loss for what to do. “Deneya, wake up, please,” Eira whispered.
She held a quivering hand by Deneya’s nose and mouth. An inhale. An exhale. Slow and weak, but there.
Eira ran back to Lorn, flipping him over with a grunt. “Lorn, wake up!” she shouted. “You have to wake up! I don’t know Lightspinning. I can’t heal her!”
The puddle of blood around Deneya’s body seemed to grow larger by the second. Eira’s heart raced. No, this was wrong. Deneya was the strongest among them. What had Taavin said? She’d dined with the divine. A person like that couldn’t…couldn’t…
“Deneya!” Eira rushed back to the woman. She was pulled back and forth by her emotions—lurching between getting help, and being at the woman’s side for however many more breaths she had. “Please…”
Deneya let out a soft groan and Eira’s heart skipped several beats. The woman’s eyes fluttered half open. Her left eye was bloodshot and gory from the burns she’d endured.
“E… Eira…” she rasped. A small smile crossed her lips. “Didn’t… Didn’t I tell you not to come back?”
“I’m sorry,” Eira hiccupped. “I’m bad at following orders. You know that. But the flames are under control now. It’s all right. We’re going to heal everyone. You’re going to be all right.”
Deneya winced. “The relics… They took…the dagger.” Ducot must have said something. He was still on Eira’s side, despite all odds.
“Save your words,” Eira pleaded. She gripped Deneya’s burnt hand as gently as she could. “Use them for Lightspinning. Heal yourself, please.”
“You have to get…” Deneya whispered.
“Deneya, Lightspinning, now!”
She sighed and closed her eyes. “Hal—Hall—Halleth ruta—Halleth ruta toff,” Deneya finally managed. Her words were raspy and the sounds weren’t perfect. She opened her eyes to stare up at Eira again. “I don’t have the strength.”
“Yes, you do,” Eira insisted, trying to will it into existence. “You’re the strongest person I know and you’re not dying here.” Eira gripped Deneya’s hand harder and the woman grimaced, but Eira didn’t let up. She’d pour magic into Deneya herself if she had to. “Try again.”
“I can’t.”
