Author's Notes: I hope all of this makes sense and does not confuse anyone who has read the books. The show doesn't reveal that much about amplifiers and how they work so I just made stuff up that made sense to me!


Chapter 8

Listening in the common room had been mainly fruitless. She learned that many people did not trust General Zlatan. Some wanted their independence from East Ravka, but others just wanted the fold to be destroyed and to be one country again. There was the typical fear and hatred of grisha present, but whispers of the sun summoner seemed surprisingly hopeful.

"Sankta Alina, I am here to take you to the rally. It is not for a while yet, but we will take a very roundabout way to get there," the man, whom she still had not caught his name, said. She got up from the bed and followed him out of her room. She did not mention what she had heard in the common room. It was better if he thought she had been too afraid to leave her room.

"Here, I have some more food for you," he said as they left the inn. He handed her more bread, a hard lump of cheese, and an apple. Her stomach growled and she ate as she walked, which she thought might look suspicious, but there were others on the streets consuming their midday meal as well.

"What exactly am I supposed to say tonight?" Alina asked. The whole thing seemed like she was in a dream; from the amplifier in her chest to her being in West Ravka, to a religious fanatic leading her to a rally she was supposed to speak at.

"The words will come to you Sankta Alina. The people of West Ravka are seeking the light. You can give them courage to do what must be done," the fanatic said.

"And what must be done here?" Alina countered.

"The revolution of course," he replied. Alina considered running and losing the man in the crowd. She did not trust the Apparat. He would not care who died to accomplish his ends.

Alina lost track of time as they weaved through the crowds. It had to have been hours. The city was huge, and there were better off parts of it that the fanatic clearly avoided. Whenever a military man or woman came into view, he also altered course; however, there weren't many in this part of the city.

"This way," he said, finally leading them into a shoe maker's shop. The shop looked normal, but when they entered the owner seemed to recognize them and nodded towards the back.

They went through the rear of the shop to a back alleyway. At the end of the alley was what seemed to be a tornado shelter. Opening it, they went below and into a surprisingly large room.

They were forced to brush up against some of the people to make their way to the small stage in front. Pallets of wood had been stacked to create a raised area for the speaker to be seen by everyone. Another man with a white bandana was addressing the people as they approached.

"You deserve better than General Zlatan and his empty promises. I give you Sankta Alina, the sun summoner!"

Alina followed the fanatic onto the stage and faced the people, and all the noise in the room stopped as the people stared at her. Then, as if a bubble had burst, a cacophony of chatter erupted. People demanded to see a demonstration, to know she was really the sun summoner, while others rushed forward to touch her.

She quickly summoned her light, intending it to be a ball that would fit in her hand, but she had not summoned since the amplifier was attached to her chest. The ball of light encircled the whole stage instead, and the people took a step back, falling into awed silence again. Alina was shaken by the amount of light that had burst out of her. She would have to learn how to control her new powers better.

"I am Alina, the sun summoner. If the destruction of the fold is your desire, know that it is mine as well. General Zlatan doesn't want the fold destroyed. I know this because he has tried to kill me. He likes his power and wants to succeed and be the king of West Ravka. Is he the kind of man you want for your king?" Alina asked.

"No!" was the resounding answer. What she had learned was correct, Zlatan wasn't popular with the people.

"What should we do? Zlatan is a monster, but has the army behind him! Are you going to save us? Will you destroy the fold soon?" questions were thrown out, and soon she could not distinguish any of the voices. She looked at the people, there were over a hundred present. What could she say to them?

"I have been training and getting stronger. I hope I can destroy the fold soon…," Alina said. Before she could continue, the man who was on stage when she got there started his speech again.

"Good people of West Ravka. The Apparat is coming, and he and the sun summoner will free you from General Zlatan. They will bring the light, and those that support the light will be rewarded."

Alina stared at the man. How were they going to free West Ravka? She had a very bad feeling about the Apparat's plans. There was a tug at her arm and the man who had brought her was encouraging her to leave now. Most kept a respectful distance, as much as the space allowed, but a couple bold Ravkans touched her arm as she passed.

Avoiding eye contact, she quickly left the shelter and was back in the quiet shoe shop. 'What am I going to do?' she thought as she blindly followed the man in front of her out of the shop and back to the inn. She had no way to contact her friends and nowhere to run. She found herself feeling more helpless and alone than when the Darkling had captured her.


It had been almost a week, and there was still no sign of Alina. Anything could have happened in that time. It took all of his self control not to ride out looking for her on his own, but he knew he needed to stay in the Little Palace. All of the rumors from his grisha abroad and the ones he sent out would come back here. He let his darkness follow him around like a cloud wherever he went. All the grisha held their breath when he walked by. Anyone who knew him, knew the darkness could cut you to shreds if he chose to let it.

There was a knock at his door, which surprised him. He hadn't arranged any meetings and almost everyone had avoided him when possible this week. Aleksander shuffled his papers aside and bid them to enter.

"General, I had an idea," David said as he entered. The man was slightly awkward, but brilliant and he never minced words.

"About finding Alina?" the Darkling asked eagerly.

"Yes. If we install the remaining antler piece into your hand now, I don't think it will have its full effect as we cannot tune the two of you, so to speak, without Alina present. Assuming Alina is wearing the amplifier though, it will provide a connection. You might be able to reach her. It was foolish of me to not think of this sooner," David said.

"That is a brilliant idea. Are you prepared to do it now?" Aleksander asked.

"Of course. I brought everything we need here," David said. The man really was brilliant.

They set up an area, and the general let David work. It was painful, but he was used to pain. Pain was all about perspective. It took an hour of David making slight adjustments and examining it from different angles. He finally nodded his approval.

Aleksander moved his hand. The antler was secure. His puckering red skin throbbed, but he ignored it and focused on Alina. He tried thinking of her, casting his thoughts to her, and visualizing her standing next to him, but nothing seemed to work. He felt like tearing the antler out in frustration.

"General, it might take a day or two to connect with Alina. It will also work better if she is awake, and she could be sleeping now. You should keep trying to reach her. If it has been a couple weeks of trying, then you should give up on it working, but not before then. This has a seventy five percent chance of success; that you will feel her presence on some level. I would say a fifty five percent change of you being able to communicate with her," David said matter-of-factly. Then he gathered his things and left.

"Alina, I will reach you," Aleksander said, and decided the rest of the day he would devote to trying to use the amplifier.