"Get up" Mal felt something whack his side and his eyes shot open, a hard grunt falling from his lips as he clutched his side. He rolled over onto his back, squinting up at the dark figure on top of him, the cane clutched in the right hand. Baghra stood with hard eyes and a scowl on her face to which Mal huffed.
Was she always like this?
"Alright you don't need to be crotchety" he murmured but it only earned his another hit of the cane.
"Stop hitting me" he shouted and yanked the Oprichniki coat off him, pushing himself of the floor. He was surprised he got any sleep with the hardness of the floor. The fire had kept him warm during the night but when it burned out, he felt the winter frost freeing him. It was getting colder and colder by the day and he and Baghra didn't have many supplies. He used the Oprichniki hat as a pillow and the uniform as a blanket. He had fallen asleep before Baghra so he didn't know what she used but her long black cloak seemed to cover her up well.
"No dawdling now, we need to get tracking if we're going to find the stag, now hurry up" he grumbled and brushed past him. Mal sighed and grabbed the coat from the floor, throwing it over his shoulder. It was early morning and the sun was still rising. He wished he had a few moments to get himself together but it seemed Baghra didn't want to lose a moment of tracking. She wasn't even the one tracking the stag, it was him.
"So, what's the plan for when we find it?" Mal asked as they trudged through the forest, leaves crunching underneath them.
"The stag's amplifier works by whoever kills it. They harness its power. If Kirigan kills it he can not only make his own power stronger but use on others to use theirs" Baghra explained with a condescending tone of voice, as if Mal should have known that.
"How can he do that?" Mal asked worriedly. He wasn't sure he wanted to know but it was important he understood so he could save Alina. he wasn't going to let The Darkling turn Alina into his slave for her power.
"The antlers, he'll make a collar and put it on Alina so that he can control her power. She'll be his slave to do whatever he wants. She'll be a puppet on strings for him" Baghra said and Mal looked in shock, mouth dropped open and eyes wide.
"Seriously, that's sick" he spat in disgust. There was no way he would let his best friend be collared like a dog to that man.
"So, what… we need to kill it" he suggested and Baghra turned to him, glaring
"Yes, that's exactly what we should do" she said sarcastically and then proceeded to hit him with the cane. Mal flinched back and groaned to himself. One more hit and he'd probably hit her back.
"Have you not listened to a word I said boy. Alina has to be the one to kill it otherwise she won't get its power" she said sternly and turned back to walking.
"When we find it, we need to detain it and keep it with us until we can get Alina". They were entering deep into the forest and Mal was beginning to look for signs of the stag. The leaves on the ground made it difficult to look for tracks and he wasn't exactly sure where he was. As he followed behind Baghra, a million questions ran through his head.
"How comes you're doing this" Mal said and Baghra stopped suddenly, glancing over her shoulder.
"What" she grunted. She surprised at the question. No one ever asked her anything. Everyone always thought of Baghra as cold and mean. She purposely put on that façade so she didn't have to deal with questions like these. No one knew that Baghra was Kirigan's mother expect for the tracker now. It did amaze her how no one ever made the connection.
"Trying to take down your own son, I mean you are his mother, did you know he was planning this all along" he asked and Baghra sighed gently.
"Yes… and no. That boy has been possessed by power and greed. He created The Fold out of anger and once he got a taste of it, he wanted more" Baghra said and Mal furrowed his brows.
"I warned him, said he would become a monster, that this would take over him and he wouldn't stop until he had it all" Baghra would always remember that day, the day he used Merzost and turned that army into the dreaded Volcra. When she looked up and saw that shadowy Fold splitting Ravka in half, she saw what had become of her son.
"He will not stop until he has everything. He will use Alina against the world, he'll take over the throne and then no one will be safe" she said quietly this time and Mal stepped closer to her.
"if you knew, why didn't you stop him earlier" Mal was a little angry. Alina could have been save by now if she had intervened earlier.
"It wasn't the right time. Alina was still learning her powers; she could barely summon. Without her, we can't take down The Fold and then the general still wins".
"Still, you left her there with him" he gritted and stomped through the leaves. Surely the plan would have worked if they brought Alina along
"Oh, don't be jealous, she still likes you I can assure you, and besides do you really think I could have brought her along without him realising she was missing. She is his top priority at the moment, he won't harm her if that's what you think" Baghra rolled her eyes at Mal, shaking her head.
Mal said nothing as he took in what Baghra had just said.
Alina still likes me
Did that mean she liked him more than a friend, more than she liked Kirigan. It agitated him, knowing that right now Alina was probably being brainwashed by that evil man. She didn't have a clue what was in store for her and Mal didn't know what was happening at the little palace. He prayed and hoped that Alina wasn't going to be manipulated in to his evil plan and fall to be his slave.
Mal took a deep breath and focused on his tracking. That was his priority and he wasn't going to rest until he had a trace.
…
Kirigan pushed the doors open to his office, strolling inside as two Oprichniki stood in front of his desk, hands behind their backs and chins up high as they waited for the general.
"You wanted to see us Sir" one of them said and Kirigan stepped behind his desk, looking at the two guards. They were fairly young and the effect he had on them just by walking in showed that they were a little nervous but they stood their ground, acting fearless.
"Yes, I'm assigning you two as Miss Starkov's personal security. As you know, we lost one of our inferni Marie at the winter fete. She was disguised as Miss Starkov to protect her and was killed by the assassin" Kirigan said and frowned at little at the thought of one of his Grisha dying. None of his Grisha deserved to die, especially at the hands of an assassin trying to gain money from general Zlatan.
"You are to guard her at all hours. During the night you may work on a shift as long as one of you is there. If she wishes to leave the little palace you are to go with her and if anyone wants to see or speak to her, they come to me first. No one sees her without my permission".
Kirigan had decided that night of the winter fete to increase Alina's security. He didn't want to risk anything with what had just happened. He wasn't too keen on the young guards but he thought it was better than having two of the older and more ill-tempered Oprichniki guard her. at least she would feel comfortable with someone around her age watching over her. the last thing he wanted was her uncomfortable. Not to mention he wanted to save his more experienced guards for other duties like finding Mal and Baghra.
Kirigan looked down at the document in his hand, checking it over before handing it to the one of the Oprichniki who took it and both of them looked down.
"I have sent out a warrant for the arrest of Malyen Oretsev, he's a tracker with the 36th army. He was here at the night of the winter fete but has now disappeared. He is a threat to Miss Starkov. He was last seen wearing an Oprichniki uniform so he could be lurking anywhere pretending to be one of you" Kirigan explained. The document he handed was a wanted poster with a drawing of Mal on the front. It said at the bottom, if found to be brought to General Kirigan at the little palace.
"You want us to find him" one of them said and Kirigan glared forward. Had they not been listening to a word he said.
"No… you are to protect Miss Starkov. I already have a team out looking for him but that doesn't mean to say you shouldn't be careful. If you see anything suspicious or anyone acting out of order, report to me" he said sternly and the two Oprichniki nodded nervously, gulping down the hard lumps built in the back of their throat.
"Yes Sir" they said in sync and Kirigan gave them a swift nod, granting them their dismissal and they turned on their heels to march out his office. The doors closed and Kirigan slumped at his desk. That morning he had round up a team of his most trusted Grisha and Oprichniki to locate Mal and Baghra. He made it perfectly clear to them the tracker was to be arrested and brought back here. As well as sending out the warrant and word of his arrest, the guards he assigned to Alina were also to stop Mal from getting near her.
Kirigan had been not stop thinking about the stag and Mal and Baghra. He couldn't seem to relax… only when he was with Alina. After their training and little kiss in the forest, he was constantly on his mind. If he wasn't the leader of the second army, he'd purposely spend his day with her but he had other things to do… like locate the stag.
The door to his office opened and Ivan walked inside, holding the bundle of mail that had been delivered to the little palace and strolled to his desk.
"Any news" Kirigan asked, referring to the hunting team.
"Not yet, they've headed on foot to Chernest, and the Oprichniki are scowering the towns, they'll meet up together later on, they'll send intel when they find something" he handed the bundle of mail to Kirigan who pulled open the string binding them together and flicking through.
"Good, report to me as soon as they find something, we don't know what their plan is but it obviously involves the stag. They are either going to kill before we get there or use it themselves" Kirigan was certain it was mostly like the first option. He couldn't imagine Baghra using the stag for her own power. She was too old to use another amplifier.
Ivan gave a nod and turned back, leaving Kirigan alone as he opened the letters and documents. He was hoping that his team would find them quickly so he could move forward with his mission. Until then, he'd have to try and relax.
Hey so I hope you like it, what do you think will happen next, let me know in the reviews what you think