As I approach, I see the remaining soldiers standing near it scatter in all directions.
I fire, then turn and hurtle back to the others. My wings stretch out, ready to shield Adena and Talin’s mother where they stand. Nearby, Jeran sees my move and throws himself flat to the ground. “Aramin!” he screams out.
The word is cut off by the blast that follows.
The explosion rocks the ground.
The heat of the flame is so hot that it looks white.
I feel it scorch my back and throw me forward. My wings bend from the force of it, and I shriek in agony as the pain lances through my entire body. I hit the ground and tumble over and over again. The world spins all around me, a blur of orange and white and blue fire. I force myself back onto my feet, then throw my wings open as far as I can and shield the crouched figures of Adena and Talin’s mother.
Rubble hits my back, tearing against my body. Everything blurs around me. The pain sears me, white-hot, and I think for sure that my back must be on fire. I squeeze my eyes shut and scream. I’m going to die.
My ears ring. Sounds muffle.
I don’t know how long it’s been. Time seems to stand still.
I open my eyes a little. When I glimpse my wings, arched protectively over Adena and Talin’s mother, I see that the edges of my steel feathers have melted from the heat.
It’s supposed to be impossible to melt this steel.
For a horrifying moment, I think they’ve died.
Then I see Talin’s mother stir, her eyes blinking up at me. Adena shifts against her, her arms still thrown protectively around the woman.
We stare at one another, breathing heavily.
“Are you all right?” I murmur to them both.
Adena nods tentatively, then glances between my ruined feathers at the carnage behind me. I glance over my shoulder to see the shed completely destroyed, the artifact lying in fragments all around the district. The scattered, ruined little cylinders bring to mind the wood engraving I’d seen at the museum. The sides of the buildings nearest it are scorched. And as for the soldiers caught in the heat of that blast—
—they aren’t just dead. They are charred to ash.
The destruction stretches across the prison district and into the buildings and streets beyond, in a massive radius.
Never, among all the weapons I’ve ever witnessed the Federation use, have I seen one that can cause this level of destruction with a single blow.
Fire, as if sent from the sun.
I search frantically for Aramin and Jeran. At first I can’t find them—but then I see Aramin stumble out from a crumbled pile of bricks near the side of the hospital, where one wall has partially collapsed. He is bloody, injured in a dozen places, but alive. At his side, wounded but still breathing, is Jeran. We are all burned, scalded by the explosion of this strange object. Maybe we are all injured even more than we know.
I should be relieved, but all I feel is numb. All I see in my mind is the image of those bleeding workers. This is your fate, a creature of destruction. You will always find a way.
But for now, I hurl myself forward. We are alive. We will live to fight another day. And we have Talin’s mother with us.
I go to Adena and lift Talin’s mother into my arms, ignoring the agony of my own injuries. The others hurry beside me. No one says a word. We only know we have to get out of here before reinforcements arrive. Along with that is a singular, searing goal.
Tell Talin about her mother. And see Talin burst free of her chains.
As I think this, a few soldiers appear at the destroyed entrance to the prison gate.
I feel exhaustion course through me at the sight of them. Constantine’s soldiers have arrived at the scene already. But even as I think it, one of the soldiers comes up to us holding his arms out, no weapon in sight. Another does the same.
As they do, a woman with silver-gray hair hurries between them toward us. She nods at me as she reaches us. Her silks are fine, her stance regal. A Karensan noble. And her eyes are fixed on me with an intense urgency.
“Hurry now,” she says to us. “Come with me. We don’t have much time.”
32
