“Protective shield, Lenna,” her twin ordered before opening her hands and Giving herself one.
Right. Protective shield, so at least they would stand a chance of coming out alive. Lenna Gave herself one before she scanned the scene in front of her, checking for damage.
Hope and Ciaran were back to back against non-stopping sangins who attacked them before ending up in piles of corpses. Daggers, shadows, and red sparks flew in all directions around them at an unnerving, unnatural speed. Lenna had seen them fight together before, but Cardinals above, the coordination and speed of this couple were something never seen before. It was as if their two bodies were governed by one mind, as if the thoughts or intentions of one were instantly complemented by the other.
Hope had minor cuts on her sleeves, revealing broken skin underneath the black leathers. Ciaran bled from an incision from his cheek to his metallic shoulder. The talons of the sangins had to be as sharp as Hope’s own blades.
There was so much movement in front of Lenna that it was difficult to focus, to find what she was looking for. She saw Ciaran’s grandfather, Stevian, using his shadows alongside the other ten courtrades who had traveled in this navia.
Despite his elderly appearance, with pure white hair and wrinkled skin, wisdom and experience shone in his blue eyes. Usually, there was a humble kindness in those eyes, too. Now, however, the familiar similarities were more obvious than ever. Like his grandson, there was only destruction and darkness in him.
The tight knot in her gut released when she spotted Jake fighting by himself at one end of the platform. His back was protected by the metallic wall of one of the crescent-shaped peaks of the navia. The extended arms in front of him guided his hands as he Harmed the approaching sangins incessantly, his silver eyes so bright they almost looked like cloudy mist. He was the farthest from her, but Lenna couldn’t see any wounds on him. Damn, even his hair was in the right place, his shirt as immaculately tucked as always.
A loud screeching noise made Lenna jump as the beak of a sangin slammed against the protective shield mere inches from her face. Cardinals guide her, if it weren’t for the shield, she wouldn’t have a neck attached to her head right now. The shield didn’t harm the sangin, though, it only made it fly up again, one of its black wings not fully extending.
On the floor, near where Ciaran and Hope fought, she saw a black, spherical shadow block protecting a small space. Lenna sprinted towards the sphere head first, knowing that it wouldn’t prevent her from entering.
The moment she trespassed the shadows, her breath caught in her throat, not going in or out. Her feet froze on the spot.
She was not ready for what she saw.
Nothing could have prepared her. Not even Ayla’s warnings.
Brendon kneeled on the platform, his body shaking as he held the hand of the woman in front of him tightly enough to cut any circulation. But there was no possibility of any vessels still carrying blood in the state of such a dismembered being. His green eyes didn’t look at Lenna or Ayla, who entered this protected space right after.
Lenna tried not to fixate her gaze on the different organs splayed on the ground, on the dark red liquid pooling inside the shadow sphere.
There were blood and flesh everywhere.
The only sign—the only proof—that this woman was Sasha was her black curls and the rings on the hand Brendon was not holding. Lenna’s knees felt weak, and she felt too dizzy to fight the need to sit next to the broken body.
The memory of Sasha’s voice echoed in her mind, louder than the sounds of aggressive fighting, wings ripped and blood dripping as the battle between sangins and panoms and courtrades didn’t cease.
We will do this together. Together, Lenna, okay?
Goosebumps covered Lenna’s skin with a freezing, paralyzing coat of sweat and panic.
You are not alone. I’m here for you. Anytime you need me, I’ll be there for you. I promise.
Her shaky fingers caressed Sasha’s immobile, limp ones, the tips of her fingers stopping over the rings her best friend loved to wear.
Together, Sasha had promised.
She would be there for her, she had also promised.
And there she was, but she was dead.
6
Hope
It didn’t seem to matter how many sangins they killed, the incessant black cloud above them didn’t reduce at all.
One glance behind her was enough to confirm Ciaran could continue aiming shadows at the beasts for as long as he wanted. The way his solid, powerful swirls of darkness emanated from his fingers was breathtakingly magnificent. Breathtakingly effective. The magic he wielded, blessed by Llunal, could destroy two and three sangins in one strike.
Ciaran met her stare, and for a second she thought small trails of shadows encompassed the blue depths of his irises. Even as she admired the way he moved, she didn’t stop directing herblades at the throats of her targets, red sparks aimed at their hearts as she Harmed them.
On the other end of the platform, navy sparks, product of Jake’s panom magic, left dead sangins behind him. His silver eyes were focused on the beasts, the slight curl of his top lip one indicator that he was either bored or fed up. The other indicator was the impressive pile of broken wings and ripped talons next to him, so high it was threatening to fall on top of him. As if Jake had read Hope’s thoughts, he glanced at the pile and with a nonchalant movement of his hand, he pushed the remainings over the edge of the platform, dropping them to the Radel Sea.
