A/N: Sorry for the delay! I have the next couple chapters written, but I've been working on the last chapter and wrapping things up. Writing the ending is always the hardest part for me! So thanks for continuing to read, and please leave a review if are enjoying this!
Chapter 16
"Now!" Commander Yuri shouted and Alina threw up her light barrier as she ran hard. It was a massacre. General Zlatan's forces hadn't formed up yet so they were able to push forward quickly, but anyone in the way was mowed over. The West Ravkan peasants along the edge of their attack force quickly got separated and away from Alina's protection. They were killed before Alina could intervene.
Her focus had to be keeping her barrier on the main group, as it was effective at keeping them from being shot down, but it was so painful to hear the screams of the people dying. People dying in her name.
"We're almost to General Zlatan Alina," Commander Yuri shouted.
Then, to her horror, two tanks rolled out in front of them and fired. Alina tried to stop it, but didn't have time to make a strong enough shield, and the explosion broke her concentration.
She coughed and tried to push herself from the group. Dust was everywhere. A hand reached down and helped her up. It was Mal.
Looking around, she saw that their troops were scattered everywhere. There was no way for her to protect them now. Looking behind them, she saw a swarm of even more people fighting. The West Ravkans were not doing well against the trained soldiers. The only advantage the peasants had was there were more of them.
"General Zlatan is dead!" Commander Yuri screamed in triumph, emerging from the building directly in front of them. He had General Zlatan's head raised in his hand.
Alina watched horrified, as a man came up behind Yuri and stabbed him in the back. Looking around, she saw the tanks getting ready to fire again, felt the chaos around them, and she had never been more helpless. What could she do?
Whoever won the battle, the Apparat would use the situation to his benefit. He would probably collect her bones and bring them to all his future battles, saying how the Sun Summoner was on his side. Aleksander was right. The Apparat would use her as a martyr, just as easily. It might even be more convenient for him.
Suddenly the world darkened. Alina began to suspect the cause and looked around frantically. A small group emerged from the dust and debris behind her. She gasped.
The Darkling, bringing shadows with him, went to one of the nearby tanks, cut shreds in it, then stood on top of its remains.
A woman, who Alina realized to her amazement was Zoya dressed in her kefta, went after the other tank. She hopped on top of it, tore off the top hatch and disappeared inside. A minute later she reappeared with a smile on her face, then sat languidly on the tank. 'Only Zoya,' Alina thought wryly.
Another woman with beautiful blonde braided hair stood near the Darkling on the ground. She must be the healer Alina realized.
"You will stop your fighting now!" the Darkling commanded. He seemed to have one of those devices the Apparat had that projected his voice.
Those close to Alina stopped, but farther out they kept fighting. The Darkling yelled again and dark shapes flew from the sky, swooping over the military encampment. It shortly became a nightmare, and everyone looked up in horror. The creatures flew to the Darkling and landed behind him.
"I said you will stop fighting now! Where is the Apparat?" he demanded. There was silence for a while.
Finally someone shouted from near the back, "I saw him leave a couple minutes ago."
"Then you people of West Ravka are without a leader besides your Sankta Alina here. And you army men are without your leader as General Zlatan has been killed. You will put down your weapons and leave now. Anyone who does not, I will make them regret it," the Darkling said. There was a minute of silence, then some angry murmuring.
"We don't have to listen to you Darkling," one of the fanatics shouted. The Darkling seemed ready to tear the man apart, but Alina spoke up.
"Will you listen to me, your Sun Summoner?" Alina said, turning to address all of the people. "I want you to stop this fighting. There is no need to continue. Let no more people die this day!" She shouted, hoping enough people would hear her.
There was a tension in the air, but finally the peasants started to disperse. The Apparat's men slowly followed them. The military men were last, after all the grisha were standing in their military district.
"We are leaving now. If you even think of attacking us or going after the peasants, I'll make you wish you were having a nightmare," the Darkling stated calmly. The shadow creatures behind him giving his words further weight.
Aleksander hopped down from the tank and walked over to Alina. As he got closer, Alina noticed his gate wasn't normal. His wounds had been bad, but he was hiding it.
"What do you care if the army goes after the peasants as soon as we are out of sight?" Alina asked.
"That is part of our agreement. I said I would stop the fighting. I have, and now you must fulfill your part of our bargain," Aleksander said.
"What agreement?" a voice asked from beside her, and Alina realized Mal was there. 'Oh no. He won't understand.'
"Alina is going back to the Little Palace with me, permanently. You can come along. I believe I have some unfinished business with you," the Darkling said maliciously.
"Alina you can't!" Mal started to say, while Alina said on top of him, "Mal is not coming with us."
"Your tracker is the one who helped the Apparat find you. You know that right?" Zoya asked, bemused.
"What!" Alina said, not believing Zoya until she saw the guilty look on Mal's face.
"You don't understand Alina! When the Apparat found me, he said his condition for taking me to you was I had to report everything to him and obey his orders. If I didn't, he wouldn't let me see you and I had to get to you to keep you safe! He had men eavesdropping on our conversations and following us that day you wanted to leave. There was no escaping him Alina, and he promised to help you fight the Darkling; which is what I thought you wanted," Mal said bitterly.
"Mal, I appreciate your friendship and how you've been there for me in the past, but I want you to leave now. Go back to the army, find a pretty girl, and move on with your life," Alina said. She couldn't believe he had betrayed her like that. She should have known that he got the sleeping drug from the Apparat, and how he had been behaving made much more sense now that she knew he was acting on the Apparat's orders.
"I won't let you go with the Darkling," Mal said.
"You will let Alina make her own decisions, and she has already made them. She is going with me and she wants you to go away. Now leave or I'll have to help you go. I don't think you will like that. You know you can't keep me from taking her so stop being a fool," the Darkling said. The Darkling took a threatening step closer to Mal.
"Mal, go! I'll write to you ok, but go now!" Alina said. She didn't feel like writing to her friend, but she didn't want him slaughtered by the Darkling either.
"Fine, but this isn't over Darkling," Mal said, and turned and ran off.
"Of course it's not," Aleksander said darkly, then turned back to Alina. "Let us go home. How about the normal way. We can take a skiff and go back to the Little Palace. Kara here said she would come with us to take care of my wounds while we travel."
"Fine, but you look like you aren't dying. Wouldn't Kara be better off here taking care of all the injured West Ravkan's?" Alina asked.
"The general may pretend he is fine, but he will need me to monitor him over the next few days and renew the healing. He lost a lot of blood," Kara said. "Also, these people don't usually come to me. They are afraid of our kind." Alina nodded. It made sense unfortunately.
"And just to be clear General Kirigan, I agreed to go to the Little Palace with you. I did not agree to go along with everything you say," Alina said. Zoya snorted.
"We'll talk more about that later Alina. Let's just get you on the skiff," Aleksander said. Alina let a small smile grace her lips. She wasn't sure what things would look like when she got back, but it almost felt like she was going home.
Aleksander sighed, leaning against the side of the skiff. He was grateful that they were safely on their way back to the Little Palace. He was never going to let Alina be kidnapped again, and the Apparat was going to pay when Aleksander found him. Alina was creating a light tunnel to keep them all safe. He glanced at his Sun Summoner and smiled. He felt content for the first time in what felt like eternity.
The Apparat's disappearance did concern him. He knew the man had plans to take the throne and to start an uprising against him. Well he could try, but the Sun Summoner was on his side now, and eventually his followers would have to realize that.
Then there was Mal. He had every intention of taking some revenge on the man for how he had treated Alina, and because the fool had dared touch what was his. It would be better if Alina didn't know about his revenge though.
Zoya was standing nearby on the skiff, helping navigate. She had found him as soon as he reached the battle and led him to Alina. It wasn't too hard to find her after the battle started. Zoya had always had a bit of an attitude problem, but she had proven useful during this mission, even if she hadn't gotten Alina away. He might even promote her.
"Alina, how do you feel?" General Kirigan asked, stepping up next to her.
"I'm fine. I could do this all day, although I'm glad we don't have to. I don't like being in the fold. I'm still planning on destroying it," Alina said. "I don't think I'm powerful enough yet, but soon." She paused. "Will you help me?"
"We'll see Alina. We need to take care of the Apparat and bigger problems at home. The Apparat poisoned the King," the general said.
"What? But Mal said that you were plotting against the king because you wanted the throne," Alina said. Aleksander frowned.
"That must be the story he is planning on telling people. That I killed the king, and the Apparat had to take the throne before I did. Yes, that makes sense." Alina looked horrified.
"Focus on the fold Alina. We'll take care of things when we get back," Aleksander said.
Hopefully he would have time to deal with things before the Apparat decided to strike again.
