Chapter 10
As they sat in the cave, recovering from the devastating blows of their recent encounter with the Darkling, Tamar focused on testing her new abilities. She could sense everything in her companions—their heartbeats, the breath moving in and out of their lungs, the blood pumping through their veins. It was all so vivid, she could almost reach out and touch any of it…but she didn't dare.
Tolya huddled close to her. "Can you feel it?" he whispered.
She nodded.
"Try something on me."
She pursed her mouth in consideration and tentatively extended her senses to his lungs, the way they automatically swelled and deflated with each breath. She raised her hands, summoning the molecules to her will and…made them stop. Tolya's eyes went wide, and after several moments, his chest hitched. Tamar immediately released him.
"Now me," she said.
His brows furrowed in concentration and he moved his hands. Tamar doubled over with a gasp as fire coursed through her blood, burning. Then it was gone in an instant.
"I'm not sure you two should be doing that," Nikolai interrupted. "You could seriously hurt each other."
Tamar straightened at that. "Then it reasons we should be able to heal too." She turned her senses to her brother's wounded shoulder. She could feel every tear through skin and down to muscle from where the arrow had sundered tissue, the places where the nerves were still raw. Connecting with the injured flesh, she began to knit it back together.
Tolya's eyes widened as he sat there, and when Tamar drew back, he tugged the side of his vest down to look. The wound had completely healed. Now his expression lit up with excitement and he turned to Nikolai.
"May I?"
Nikolai looked hesitant but nevertheless gingerly removed his arm from its sling and held it out. Tamar unwound the bandages to reveal the gashes, and they all watched as Tolya was able to seal the open wounds before their eyes.
"That's very useful," Zoya commented.
Tolya sighed. "But it doesn't help us end the eclipse."
They all shifted their gazes to Alina at that. If the situation felt impossible before, it truly was now. Alina was the only one who could fight the Darkling and end the eclipse, but she couldn't do that if she was dead, and Amplifiers could only be harnessed through killing the source.
"What now?" Zoya said, voicing what they were all no doubt thinking.
"It's hopeless," Alina responded desolately.
Silence and defeat hung as heavily as the shadows. Then Tamar perked up with an idea.
"What if Tolya and I can bring Alina back to life?"
The others looked doubtful at that.
"Who would do it?" Alina asked thickly. "I mean, absorb the Firebird." She glanced at Nikolai, the last of them to not have any power.
He raised his hands and shook his head. "Absolutely not. If you're seriously considering this, then Alina can still gain the Amplifier."
"Kill myself?" she said dubiously.
"We need the Sun Summoner. We had no choice with the first two; we can't fail with the last. That being said, I am fully against killing Alina on a maybe."
"Then we'll have to practice," Tamar concluded, turning to Tolya.
Her brother pursed his mouth. "Something like that, I think it will take both of us. Practicing on each other won't be enough, and we don't have weeks or months to devote to mastering it."
She nodded; he had a point.
Nikolai let out a heavy breath. "Then you'll have to practice on me."
"What?" Zoya interjected. "No way."
"They can't practice on Alina; it's too risky if we lose her."
"You're the king of Ravka; we can't lose you either." Zoya's lips thinned. "Which means it has to be me."
"No," Nikolai shook his head vehemently.
"I can take it," she insisted.
"I don't like this," Alina interrupted. "What we're talking about is insane."
"But it's the only option left to us," Zoya replied and turned to the twins. "Do it."
Tamar gave her a sage nod. "We'll try to not make it painful," she said.
Zoya's throat bobbed as she lay down. Tamar shared a dour look with her brother, and then they raised their hands and synced their movements, slowing down Zoya's heart and lungs until there was no breath, no pulse.
Nikolai knelt beside her, taut as a bowstring, though he didn't interrupt.
After waiting a few moments, Tamar and Tolya worked quickly to bring her back. Zoya's body convulsed with a ragged inhalation of air. Nikolai pulled her upright into his arms, rubbing his hand down her back as she coughed and gasped.
"I'm fine," she managed to get out. She flicked a harried look at the twins. "Again?"
Tamar nodded grimly. They would have to practice until the process was as natural and easy as breathing. They stopped Zoya's heart again, let it be for a few moments, then got it started again. Nikolai was pale with worry the longer it went on, but they all knew it was necessary.
Between bouts, Zoya slumped in exhaustion against Nikolai and rasped, "This won't be exactly the same as healing a wound."
"No," Tolya agreed, "but one of us can keep the heart going while the other heals the killing blow. We can do this," he assured them.
"Mal should have found us by now," Alina spoke up, watching the cave opening anxiously.
"Maybe he doesn't want to lead the Darkling to us," Nikolai offered.
Tamar could tell it was hollow comfort. Unfortunately, they couldn't devote any effort to rescuing Mal until the eclipse was banished.
She and Tolya practiced a few more times before declaring themselves as ready as they would ever be. They all turned to Alina then. Now it was up to her to consent to this crazy plan.
She looked frightened and nervous but gave a shaky nod.
"Did you take part of the Stag?" Nikolai abruptly brought up.
Tamar straightened; they hadn't.
"We need to do that first, solidify your powers."
Tolya nodded. "Then we should return to Raven's Crossing for the deed. In all the readings, there's mention of great power in the places of beginnings and endings of things."
With that, they gathered themselves and headed back out into the darkness. Tamar tried to listen for a trailing presence, but either she couldn't sense the vitals of a demon or Mal wasn't nearby.
They returned to where the dead Stag still lay, and Tamar and Tolya got out their daggers to saw off some antler tips. They didn't even need to discuss how they'd wear them—Tolya pressed the pointed end of the antler against Tamar's ear and struck it with blunt force that pierced the thin cartilage. She immediately felt the difference as the magic inside her settled into something more solid. She could only imagine what they'd be able to do now.
Tolya healed the freshly torn skin, fusing the earring firmly into place, and then Tamar did the same for him.
"At least you won't have to worry about doing anything like that," Zoya remarked to Alina. "Your bones already belong to you."
Alina shook her head at the ludicrousness of it all.
Fortunately, they didn't run into any more Fjerdan patrols as they made their way south back into Ravkan territory. It took several "days" before they reached Raven's Crossing. The eclipse stood directly above them, pulsing with the malevolent force of the Darkling's power. Tamar couldn't deny she was nervous as they gathered around in preparation for what they had to do, and she could sense the anxiety thrumming in everyone else.
Alina took a dagger and shifted uneasily.
"We won't let you die," Tolya promised.
She huffed humorlessly. "That's the point though, isn't it?"
"You don't have to do this," Nikolai spoke up. "We can keep looking for another way."
Alina shook her head. "There is no other way. Besides, Kirigan might change his mind about killing me himself. We need to do this."
She lowered herself to the ground to sit, and Tamar and Tolya knelt down beside her. Nikolai and Zoya took out the pieces of the crystal and mirror to have them at hand.
Alina was shaking as she sucked in several steeling breaths. Then she let out a cry and stabbed herself through the heart. There was a brief flare of power, but it stuttered as Alina fell limp.
Tamar yanked the knife out and immediately began working on mending the sundered tissue and blood vessels. Even so, blood was pouring from Alina's chest and her eyes had gone dark and distant. Tamar could sense Tolya working frantically to slow it down and keep it inside her body. Tamar managed to heal the severed artery and heart chamber, and then she had to focus on making the organ beat again. It was sluggish at first, but she kept at it. Her brother continued to mend the surface damage, until the wound was closed and all that was left was for Alina to come back to life…
Nikolai and Zoya hovered anxiously, holding onto each other as they watched. Tamar felt a flicker of doubt, but she shoved it down and focused with all her might. The magic was strong and firm inside her; she could do this.
Finally, Alina's body gave a violent heave as she gasped in life again. And in that moment, there was another burst of power around her that knocked the rest of them flat to the ground. Tamar scrambled upright onto her knees, reaching out to keep healing Alina, but there was no need. The Sun Summoner stood there, wreathed in a wash of swirling gold and red. Sunlight and fire. Her hair billowed in a radiant halo.
"Are you okay?" Nikolai carefully asked.
Alina slowly nodded. "I'm good."
She turned her attention to the broken enchanted objects and summoned light to pour into them. Their surfaces remained dull.
Alina took a breath. "I guess I'm on my own this time," she said before lifting her gaze skyward at the eclipse high above.
The others backed up several feet as power gathered around her, building in intensity before a stream stretched up into the sky. It was several long moments before the eclipse pulsated in response.
"Is it working?" Zoya asked.
Alina's face scrunched up in concentration. "I'm trying," she grunted. "It's not as easy without the objects."
"You can do it," Nikolai encouraged.
"It's doing something," Tolya echoed. "Just keep going."
Alina's jaw ticked as she summoned more power. She was practically glowing now, bathing the surrounding landscape in amber and crimson as the aura swelled and the eclipse radiated black shadows in an apparent battle none of them could do anything in but stand back and watch with bated breath.
Kirigan hissed as he dabbed a wet cloth over a gash across his face, his hand shaking with both pain and rage. He had failed to get the Stag, and Alina. And he had underestimated her boyfriend, who had somehow managed to break Kirigan's control over him. In all his centuries, no one had ever made him look incompetent or less than all-powerful. Even worse were the visible marks of his defeat when he stormed into the military fort back in Ravkan territory. The men had cowered away from his visage, though Kirigan didn't miss the hushed whispers.
A knock sounded on the door.
"What is it?" he snapped angrily.
A soldier nervously poked his head in. "Moi soverenyi," he stammered. "Something's happening with the eclipse."
Kirigan surged to his feet and pushed past him and out into the courtyard where a crowd of soldiers had gathered, all gazing up at the eclipse. Kirigan looked up and saw it pulsing, and there was a red aura around it. His jaw actually slackened in shock. He couldn't believe it—the Firebird. But that was impossible. Only the Sun Summoner could wield the sun, but she would have to be dead for the Firebird's Amplifier to have been released.
"Arm yourselves for battle," he ordered. "We head for Raven's Crossing. Bring the wagon."
The men shifted nervously as they moved to hitch a mule to the cart. The Sun Summoner's boyfriend lay inside an iron cage in the back, wheezing as blood trickled from multiple wounds.
As the soldiers mustered, Kirigan summoned shadows to rise up into his nichevo'ya. Time to snuff out the last light in this pathetic world.
Alina had been locked in that position with the eclipse for a long time, but it was working. The sun and moon were ever so gradually shifting apart, and more light suffused across the land. Enough so that Nikolai could see the small army approaching.
"Incoming," he warned and drew his sword.
The twins unsheathed their weapons as well, and Zoya's hair billowed as the elements stirred in response to her summons. They lined up in front of Alina to protect her as she continued to fight the Darkling's curse on the sun.
But they were woefully outnumbered.
Nikolai clambered up onto some rocks and projected his voice to carry as loudly as he could. "Soldiers of Ravka, my brothers and sisters in arms, do you follow this man out of loyalty?" He gestured to the Darkling at the head of the train. "A traitor and destroyer of worlds?"
"You are a fool if you think me a mere mortal," Kirigan replied. "None of you can stand against me and my power."
Nikolai kept his gaze at the soldiers as he gestured to Alina. "The Sun Summoner can. She will restore the sun. Stand with me here today against this evil. I know there was little love for my brother and father, but I served in the trenches with you. I have shed blood for this country alongside you. If this moment decides the fate of Ravka, the fate of the world, where will you choose to stand?"
"Enough!" Kirigan snapped. "Kill them!"
Some of the foot soldiers charged, but many others hesitated.
Nikolai jumped down to meet the first wave alongside the twins, and Zoya summoned a storm that swirled up with battering gales and the rumbling threat of thunder. But the Darkling's shadow monsters also surged forward into the fray, and neither blade nor wind could fight against them.
Zoya summoned lightning that cracked the air as it shot down to pierce the shadow creatures. That at least made them stagger, though not enough to stop them. Only Alina's sun summoning had been able to kill them, and she was occupied.
But then a shard of sunlight finally peeking free caught on one of the broken pieces of the enchanted mirror and lanced up through one of the monsters. It screeched and jerked back, a fizzling hole in its wispy shape.
Nikolai's eyes widened and he dove to snatch up one of the pieces, angling it just in time to pierce the shadow monster and explode it into dust. He spun to angle the glass at another, cutting off an amorphous arm before it could clobber Tolya.
"Here!" Nikolai shouted, tossing the piece to Tolya and then dropping to the ground to grab another.
He heard a rallying cry, and the soldiers who had hung back now joined the battle, fighting against their own comrades in order to side with Nikolai and the Sun Summoner against the Darkling's aims. They might have a chance now, at least to buy Alina enough time to finish ending the eclipse and end Kirigan's reign of terror…