Here's my second chapter for my double chapter day! In my opinion, I think this is a splendid chapter you will all enjoy! Above is a super epic version of Rue's Farewell. (Hunger Games Theme) It makes me so happy when you star and comment!
Enjoy! "The power is in me and I don't want to let go. It feels better than pain."
Mare
In the corner of the dim room, which smelled as if someone had died, sat Iris Cygnet, Princess of the Landlands. Iris was supposed to be dead. The silvers believed she was savagely murdered by a crazed red blood. I believed she murdered by Maven.
It turns out we were both wrong.
For a moment I consider leaving her here, to let Iris's fate be decided by the king. But it occurs to me that the Scarlet Guard could use the princess as a bargaining chip, or a display of power.
"Iris, I need you to get up right now. I'm here to save you."
Weakened by the silent stone, Iris weakly moves her leg at the sound of my voice but keeps her eyes shut. She's probably been in here for about a week, I guess, based upon news reports. Not enough food or water, either.
Deciding she doesn't have nearly enough energy to move, I realize I'll just have to drag her out of the room. Hopefully, then, enough energy will return so we can get out together quickly. But as I enter her room, an all too- familiar sense washes over me. The crushing sensation of silent stone, that I've come to know just as much as I hate.
Mumbling obscenities, I drag Iris's limp form out of the room, my skin and blood feeling much lighter. I push the wide door shut, a feeble attempt to erase the evidence I was ever in the room. To erase the evidence that Ada's pill wore off, something I didn't anticipate. If Maven finds out about this, I'll wear that woeful metal collar around my neck, and have my mind dug through by any whisper he can lay hands on.
I stick a syringe of ADRENALINE into Iris's neck after I grasp the fact that we would need a healer for her to recover so quickly. Iris reacts similarly to how the newbloods took the elixir, bolting into a sitting position, even raising her palms as though she were prepared for battle.
She jerks her head all around the space, her eyes finally landing on me. "The Little Lightning Girl," she breathes. "The girl Maven faked my death for. Sometimes in my hours of endless and dark solitude, I think why he didn't murder me yet. I'm still attempting to come up with a decent reason," she explains, glaring at me, as if this is my fault. Iris's tone is littered with bitterness, varying from her usually light attitude. Although I can't blame her, she was punished for the king's madness.
"Careful Iris, lightning doesn't mix with water," I tell her, as I see water gather in her palm. The last time I had battled with a nymph was when Cal and I were to be executed in the Bowl of Bones. As I sent a streak of lightning at Lord Osanos, I watched the sparks of lightning ripple through his water shield, killing him. "I had nothing do with this, I'm here to help you. But by all means, if you'd rather stay here, that's okay. It's up to you."
"Thank you," she whispers, getting up from the floor, gaining back just a little bit of her gentleness.
I swear as we climb out the window, seeing it has begun to snow heavily. I glance at Iris's dainty, threadbare dress and her feet, which are shoeless. Thinking back to the freed newbloods, they didn't have any shoes either and wore only skimpy lab gowns.
"What are we waiting for?" Iris questions, impatiently raising one leg up at a time, trying to keep her feet out of the snow.
"It's just a terrible night for snow, that's all," I say, explaining.
We run down the side of the palace, keeping to the shadows of the hulking structure. Turning the corner, I can see the garden in the distance, but not before I see the newbloods dueling a couple of Sentinels about a third of the distance down the way to the garden.
"Shit," Iris mumbles. I raise an eyebrow at the girl, who under first impression, seemed as though she'd never call a housefly stupid. The silent stone has changed her.
Advancing towards the battle through the shadows, I notice the rapid pace snow is falling at. At this rate, there will be over a foot, of fluffy, bitter cold snow against their bare feet, in an hour.
A scream echoes through the courtyard, pulling me from my thoughts, My eyes rake through the battle, seeking the fallen man or woman. In the middle of the mess, Ella kneels on the ground, clutching her abdomen, a red blotch staining the ground below her.
Iris, sensing my next move, clamps a hand down on my mouth and wraps her free arm around my midsection.
"You're going to get yourself killed. You can't possibly think you can drag her out of the middle of that battle," she rumbles, suddenly concerned about my safety.
"You would be surprised at some of the things I've accomplished," I growl, after she moves her hand from my mouth to further restrain me. Moving my own hands, I grip each of her wrists and send little shocks down her arms, which forces her to let go.
Iris backs away from me, rubbing her wrists. "You're pretty confident in yourself."
I pull out two syringes of the adrenaline. "As I should be," Raising the vials to my eyes; I look at the clear liquid, pondering what it will do to me. While it seemed to give energy to the weakened, I have my full strength.
Before I can think about my choice any longer, I jam both syringes into my arm.
I don't feel the pain of the needle; only the fluid rushing through my bloodstream, giving me power. Before I know it, I'm sprinting across the courtyard a little faster than usual, bolts of bright purple lightning illuminating the sky before me.
A Sentinel notices me sprinting towards the battle, yelling "It's the Lightning Girl! Seize her unharmed!"
But before he gets the chance to complete his goal, I send an enormous spiral of electricity at the man. And like a massive current of air has pushed him, he flies high through the bitter cold air, and lands ten yards away with a sickening thunk.
I stare at my quivering hands, which have begun to send of uncontrollable sparks, which fly into all directions. The Sentinels stand limply for a moment, in fear of my new powers. But after only seconds of shock, they raise their bulky guns, and beginning firing again.
"Mare, behind you!" Iris cries, running through the snow to meet me. I turn around to meet a guard who had the back of his gun raised over his shoulder, about to knock me unconscious. However, before he ever is given the chance, the gun is send flying across the snow covered grass by my lightning. And then I shoot another straight at his chest.
Turning, only one Sentinel is still standing, his shaky arms raised, and his gun at his feet. The strongarm woman comes up behind him, ready to break his neck.
"Don't," I command. "I have plans for him."
The woman nods, backing away from the boy, who looks no older than I am.
I shift my focus from the Sentinel to Ella, who still kneels on the frozen ground, teeth chattering, the metal buried in her. "Are any of you healers?" I ask, desperate. Everyone shakes their head, but the Sentinel boy holds a guilty look upon his face. "But you are," I utter, with hungry eyes. "Fix her, or we will slaughter you to the point there will be no corpse for your family to bury," I seethe, trying to paint a graphic image into his young mind. To terrify him until he will do anything to escape death. A Sentinel is not trained to act like how I wish the boy would act. A Sentinel should sacrifice his life over helping the rebellion, but the boy is so young, so naive, and so selfish.
He merely nods, stumbling to Ella, who's breathing heavily and fighting to remain conscious. The boy yanks the metal from Ella, then laying hands on her stomach. Ella shivers, not from the cold, but from the silver's hands on her. It's evident she feels uncomfortable and scared, not trusting him with her life one bit. But the boy doesn't pull any tricks, and a few seconds later, she appears as though she wasn't ever stabbed.
"Thank you," she whispers.
The boy nods again, then asking "What are you going to do to me?"
"I want you to deliver a message. Tell every last soul in the palace about what happened. How the Little Lightning Girl's ragtag experimental escapees murdered this troop of Sentinels. Savages, aren't we?" I quote the silvers, mocking them. "And tell everyone Iris Cygnet is alive, you saw her in the flesh." I gesture to Iris. The boy's mouth drops into a horrified expression. "And tell them that the Scarlet Guard has her."
The boy gapes at Iris, unable to get words out. "Your, your Majesty," he stutters, "you must come back to the palace at once, we had no idea you were alive. There was a corpse." I shiver at the idea of the corpse, hoping it was a fake.
"She's not coming back with you," I growl. "Go deliver your message if you want to keep your head." I maintain my cold expression while looking at the Sentinel, trying not to feel sorry for him. In a way, the boy reminds me of the Maven I first met at Summerton. He was so quiet, and acted small and insignificant.
Turns out quiet boys are capable of murder.
"Why did you let him go? Now he'll be able to alert them of our location," Ella conveys, running through the snow alongside me.
"It doesn't matter. I'm sure my lightning gave away our location," I mutter, picking up our pace. For the rest of time, we run in silence, the only sound being the violent snow spilling against our backs.
It doesn't take long for us to reach the royal garden, where I notice a single set of footprints in the snow. The prints lead from the forest, parallel to Whitefire, and stop in the middle of the garden, near the bench I had sat on, beside Maven. The footprints are constantly shifting, but new ones are never made. As soon as we get close enough, Harrick materializes and raises an eyebrow.
"You said you were bringing Ella to escape. You did not say you were bringing seven newbloods, Ella, and a fallen princess," he says, eyeing Iris wearily.
"I wasn't planning on it. But I found all of them, and what was I supposed to do? Leave them to die?"
"No, of course not. But cloaking a total eleven people is going to be extremely taxing, if not impossible."
"You'll have the snow for cover. Once you're a good distance away from here, you won't have to exert yourself."
"But what about the footprints?" one of the newbloods pipes in. "We have to erase them, otherwise we'll basically give the Sentinels a map to our location."
"Does anyone have an ability that could help with that?" I ask, glancing around, certain Sentinels will swarm us at any moment.
"I'm a telkie. I could drift snow to cover our tracks," the young girl explains, raising her hand and blowing a flurry of snow off the ground.
"Perfect." I cram my hand into my pocket and pull out the three vials of serums. "I need you to give these to Ada. Tell her the vial labeled two robs newbloods of their abilities, while two-point-five is the cure. The third one's called adrenaline, and as far as I can tell, it's a power heightener. Weaponize them."
"Why can't you give them to Ada? Don't tell me that you have grown an attachment to that king," Harrick spits, angry.
"Of course not," I utter, astonished that he would assume something like that. Although I don't tell him how for a couple days, I believed he had been capable of becoming better. Because I am ashamed that I was so foolish to trust him, even for a second. "I cannot leave for as long as Maven holds Cal. He's threatened Cal's life if I leave."
"That silver has betrayed you multiple times, Mare. Please, come with us," Ella pleads.
"He had good reasons," I retort, my shuddering hands generating sparks. "I can't leave, Ella. I must stay here, and accept my fate."
Ella bursts into tears, wrapping her arms around me. I stroke her back, struggling to calm her. "We will both be fine. You're going to go back to the Guard, get your strength back, and you'll grow into an even tougher woman than you already are. Now go!" The Sentinels begin to spill out of the palace doors, though by the time they locate us in the thick downpour of snow, it appears as though they never stood next to me. Only I remain visible.
"Search! They can't have gotten far," the head Sentinel barks over the wind. The man also makes a gesture towards me, which I can assume translates to capturing me. The lightning bolts overhead loiter in the black sky, never ceasing to stop, and only grow larger with my rage.
"You will never find them!" I scream loud enough to get everyone's attention. Guards begin to charge at me, raising their guns and aiming at my legs.
I send bolt after bolt of lightning, all flinging Sentinels of their feet. But as reinforcements show up, I begin to feel overwhelmed with their numbers, all pointing their guns at me, ready to fire.
I can't possibly eliminate all of these guards, even with the boost of power.
But I must keep those newbloods safe. Those vials could be our key to victory, and if I fail lives will have been taken in vain.
So instead of raising my arms in surrender, I draw energy from the lightning that illuminates the sky, from the palace's vast electrical grid, and from my own heart, which I know I can't fail. The surge of power I absorb sends shivers down my body, yet generates heat in my blood. I place both of my hands on my chest, and take a deep breath, before violently casting each of my arms out to my sides, making a cross formation. My motion created a semi- circle of solid electricity, flowing through each of the Sentinels, bringing every last one to the ground.
At least one hundred Sentinels. Dead.
I stare at the hands that own not a single bruise or cut. No evidence that I slaughtered a hundred Sentinels. One hundred individuals who probably all had families. But they are all dead now, because of me.
I drag myself up onto a nearby bench, my entire body shaking. I realize this is the same bench I sat on only days ago when the weather was still warm and the earth wasn't frozen. When I sat on the bench next to him, cradling onto that razor thin wire of hope I still had. Now when I look to the spot where I once saw the monarch butterfly flap its wings, and land on my finger, I only see the snow. The butterfly is presumably dead now, killed by the cold air.
Winter and I are similar. We kill things, more than we should.
I hear the crunch of feet against the ground, stomping towards me. But I continue to stare at the ground, afraid I might see Sentinel's ghosts if I look up. But the man is not a ghost who is coming for me. He radiates warmth, something a ghost could never do.
"You, Mare Barrow. Are the best liar I have ever met."