Nikias had saved her life.
More than once in that battle.
When the last boulder was lifted by the Runai, Aimilia banished her shield and slumped against the ground. She brought her hands down, shifting to Nikias’ body. She found the wound with one hand, bleeding from his side. With the other she reached up to his neck and felt for his pulse. It was faint, but it was there.
She cupped his face, brushing her thumb across his cheek. “It’s going to be alright. You’re not going to leave me. You’re not going to let the Stonai do you in.”
But his eyes remained shut, his skin streaked with dirt.
Finally, the men were lifting Nikias off of her, and Aimilia could do nothing but watch as they pulled him up back to the surface.
Her eyes never left the wound on his side. It couldn’t be too late.
Nikias wasn’t allowed to die on her.
But after holding up her shields for so long, Aimilia didn’t have much strength left within her. She’d exhausted almost all of her vitae. Her physical strength wasn’t far behind.
Once Nikias was out of her sight, one of the guards appeared at the edge again and called out, “Commander, are you injured as well?”
She lifted her hand and waved it, saying, “Just a few scratches. Nothing serious. I just need to catch my breath.”
Aimilia managed to get herself propped up onto her elbows and flash a grin at the guard, hoping that proved her point. The chasm wasn’t so big that she couldn’t stand up and be able to touch the surface. When she did manage to stand up, two guards reached down and helped haul her out.
They were careful with the scratches on her arm, but Aimilia still hissed anyway. She huffed for a breath as she hit the ground again. It was uneven thanks to all of the dirt and rocks now covering it. Aimilia looked over to where Nikias lay in the dirt, but the two healers in their group blocked him from view. All Aimilia could see was the red staining his chiton.
“While His Highness is being treated, what are your orders, Commander?”
Right. With Nikias down, she was the next highest-ranking officer. One of the guards immediately began doing basic first aid on her, wrapping her scratches and examining the throbbing bruise on her leg. She looked around and said, “We can’t afford to move Nikias until he’s stable, and I don’t expect the Stonai will be back soon. Even so, we’ll cast an illusion over our camp in case they do return. But we will set up camp here, at least for the night.”
Aimilia glanced around at the debris once again. If this was anything like the landslides Konstantin had been talking about…
“Did any of our horses make it?”
The guard nodded. “A couple, the others ran off. One or two weren’t so lucky.”
“Then have the fastest rider take whichever horse is in best condition and ride back to the Desero estate so they can be informed of the situation. Have someone else try to locate our missing horses. We’re going to need them.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Aimilia, wanting to ensure she was still useful, began to help set up the camp, despite her sore, aching limbs protesting every move she made. Anything to keep her distracted so she didn’t spend all her time watching the healers treat Nikias and holding her breath. She was a commander. Even if she hadn’t gotten the chance to prove it before now, she would still conduct herself appropriately.
She had a few tents set up, waiting for her vitae to replenish enough for her to be able to cast an illusion over them all, when one of the guards, leading one of the horses back, called out, “Commander, you’ll want to see this!”
Aimilia dropped the rope she was holding, leaving it to the guard who had been helping her as she moved across the rubble, away from the stable clearing they had chosen to make their camp. When Aimilia approached, he knelt down and gestured to something in the ground. Aimilia leaned down, and that was when she saw it.
Blood.
Someone was under there, and every single Runai was accounted for.
It could only be one of the Stonai.
Aimilia whistled. “All available hands to me! We have to get him out.”
The guard closest to her obeyed, immediately beginning to cast, using vitae to move the rubble. “Commander, the chances that he’s still alive?—”
“Are slim. Still, if there’s even a chance he’s alive, I want him out. Not only did they attack us in the heart of Imperia, but they nearly killed fifty children, and now they’ve almost killed our prince. If the Stonai is alive, I will have him answer for it.”
The other guards joined her, and it wasn’t long before they were pulling the Stonai out as well. He had a deep olive complexion and dark straight hair, but it was hard to be sure with how much dirt covered him.
