Earthbound, p.37
Earthbound, page 37
“Oh, Skies.” Emilia released him and ran to Knox’s side. She dropped to the floor, clutching his manacled hands to her chest. “Knox, can you hear me?” She swept the hair from his forehead, letting her fingers trace his jaw. “Knox?”
Knox’s eyes fluttered open under heavy lids. “Emilia,” he whispered with such reverence, Tehran’s mouth went dry.
In truth, Tehran wouldn’t have known his friend if not for Emilia. Knox’s body lay brutalized, his legs set at odd angles. His chest caved in unnaturally, and his face was distorted beyond recognition. How’s he still alive?
They had seen him swallowed by the earth itself back in Rikken. Now it looked as if the earth had its way with him and then spat him back to the living, broken beyond repair. Tehran dropped to his knees, his own tears threatening to join Emilia’s.
“You’re here,” Knox mumbled, a hoarse whisper.
“We are,” Emilia said, stifling a choked sob.
A twisted version of his half-grin pulled at the misshapen face. “I’m glad.”
His fingers twitched, and Emilia seemed to sense what he wanted and lifted his hand to her cheek. His thumb gently stroked her tears. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “I know.”
Sobs shook her shoulders. “I’m so sorry. I love you. I do.”
“Good,” he whispered. A wider smile tried to break through thick, broken lips and he chuckled. His breath wheezed and rattled as he fought to speak. “I—love you—too.”
She leaned closer and gently kissed him.
A dagger lanced through Tehran’s chest, guilt flaring. What have I done?
Emilia pulled back from Knox and softly caressed his face. Knox pulled his eyes from Emilia with effort and met Tehran’s gaze. Their normal silver had dimmed to a dull grey.
“Thank you,” his voice was a little more than a rasp.
Tehran pulled back as if he had been struck. “No. Knox—” His voice cracked with emotion. He wiped his eyes into his elbow and tried again.
Knox grunted and interrupted. “Look—after her. I—love you—both.”
Tehran gave in to the torrent of emotion coursing through him and dropped next to Knox, touching his forehead to his. “As long as I have breath.”
A spasm rocked through Knox.There was no talk of trying to save him. Of trying to move him. They all knew. Moving would only hasten death. Nothing could rescue a body so broken.
“You need to go,” Knox mumbled.
Emilia let out a cry of protest and clung to him. Knox’s eyes pleaded with Tehran. “I can help.” The air wheezed from his chest.
Tehran choked off a sob at the statement.
“Listen,” Knox insisted. “I learned—something about the—Sky.” In a barely audible whisper, he related everything between gasping breaths. Emilia kept glancing between them, as if trying to make sense of what was being said. As he finished, Knox sagged, as if relieved of a great weight.
Emilia squeezed his hand tighter, and Tehran made the sign of fists over his chest.
Strength flared once again in Tehran’s body, and he looked down at Knox’s broken figure, marvelling at the gift he was sharing. It defied logic.
Emilia collapsed onto Knox, refusing to let him go. Knox seemed to muster all his strength and lifted his bound hand to Emilia’s face. He spoke softly. Tehran stood, giving the two a moment of privacy even as Knox’s last remnants of strength burned within his chest.
Undone
Emilia
A world all wrong fell away as Emilia leaned close to hear Knox’s whispered words.
“I, Knox, son of the Sky, release you, Emilia, from our bond. You are your own once again, and I return to myself, and we both remain the Sky’s.”
Her hot tears dripped onto Knox’s hands, mixing with his dried blood and creating fresh rivulets.
“Shhhh,” he tutted, then grimaced. “I’m sorry—for everything.”
She lifted her head up and met his gaze. “You’re sorry?”
He tried to smile again through his swollen features, but a spasm of pain made him gasp. “Sorry we—didn’t have—more time. Sorry I wasn’t—there—for you—for our child.”
She bowed her head.
Shouts sounded outside, and Tehran flashed her a worried look.
Knox squeezed her hand, a faint pressure only. She looked back at him.
“Say the words,” he whispered.
She shook her head.
“I know you love me—” His body convulsed, and she held him through it. “You—have to let me go. Please—”
How could she deny him anything he wanted in this moment? Emilia pressed her forehead to his as gently as she could and whispered through her tears. “I, Emilia, daughter of the Sky, release you, Knox, from our bond. You are your own once again, and I return to myself, and we both remain the Sky’s. I will always love you.”
She pressed her lips to his as softly as she could, taking in his breath one last time.
Knox heaved a sigh and went limp.
Tehran pulled her to standing even as her body was taken by tremors. She could hear Tehran speaking, urging her forward, but she couldn’t make out the words. She tried to blink free the tears from her eyes, but as one spilled the next clouded her vision. Knox. Her heart imploded with grief.
Tehran’s hand around hers was her only link to this world as he led her through the curtain and step by step, further from where Knox lay, alone and breathing his last.
A part of her mind wanted to stand and stomp her feet, demanding the world halt and give her answers. But life did not stop for grief, instead spinning around her in a flurry.
Tehran entered the common space with a long pole in one hand. Any who drew near, fell. She should have been afraid, but no other emotion could squeeze its way through the numbing sorrow clouding her mind.
They drew up short, and Tehran cursed. She stumbled into him, and he reached to steady her. Two bodies lay at their feet, left where they’d been killed. Tehran gently pushed her backward to keep her from the blood slowly creeping across the floor.
She caught a glimpse of silver manacles binding their hands and ankles. The same as Knox was wearing. The clothing looked familiar—
Emilia sucked in a sharp breath. Hadin and Marel.
Each of the Overseers had been relieved of their heads, and the woven mats hungrily soaked up the pooling blood. She turned away as her legs turned to rubber and her stomach heaved.
“They weren’t killed long ago,” Tehran mumbled, and Emilia retched again, spilling the contents of her last meal.
“Hadin. Marel—” was all she could say through the shock. “Why are they doing this?”
“I don’t know,” Tehran said as he kept his head on a swivel, scanning the open space. No one was visible, but the sounds of scuffling feet and bodies moving echoed softly against the domed ceiling. His voice dropped to a rough growl. “They are not nearly as afraid as they should be, though.”
Streaks of blue energy cut through the air, next to them. Tehran moved with inhuman speed and flipped a heavy table, pulling her down behind it as bolts of energy sizzled against the barrier.
“Will you be okay here for a minute?” he asked, giving her a worried look.
She nodded and wiped her mouth on her sleeve even as her eyes strayed back to the fallen Overseers. Tehran pushed a thick, stunted pike into her hand and noticed her attention on the slow-moving puddle of blood. He gently tipped her chin away from the sight back to him. The warmth of his amber eyes held her for a moment.
“It’s going to be okay, Em. Hang on, okay?”
She looked at the worry lines crumpling his brow and the downward set of his mouth and felt her mind ground itself in his features. She felt the worn ridges in the wood under her fingertips and tightened her grip. A flicker of her earlier anger re-ignited. More Overseers paying the price for other’s ambitions. Knox had already paid the price—twice over. Now they would threaten Tehran? Hadn’t she set out to protect those who served the Mercurial selflessly?
Emilia’s thoughts cleared. Grief would have to wait. She needed to fight. Her vision narrowed and she met Tehran’s look. “I’m okay,” she said, pleased to find her voice steady.
“I’ll make them pay,” he assured.
She nodded as he leapt clear of the table, dodging another volley of fire smattering the barrier.
She watched him soar through the domed space and listened as the bolt fire first quickened, then stopped suddenly. She peeked over the table in time to see Tehran stalk towards two soldiers ducking behind a screen for cover.
He picked up the screen with such a casual motion, he could have been tossing a twig aside. The Tumultians scrambled back, but with a flash of speed, he snagged them both by their necks and held them aloft. They kicked against the grip, powerless against him.
A chill snaked down Emilia’s spine seeing the raw, unleashed power of the Sky.
Tehran could have easily crushed their windpipes, but instead he clanged the two raiders together and released them in a senseless heap. He moved through the room as a tempest, dropping all who stood against him.
Emilia eyed the path to the main entrance. For the moment it was clear. Tehran held the full attention of those within the building. Using what little cover she could find, she crept across the open space until she reached the heavy canvas of the outer wall. Tension gave way to relief as she pressed herself behind a pillar.
Sounds from outside caught her attention and she pressed her eye to a loose seam and looked out. Their hovercraft was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Konr. Her heart sank. He was so young. The mostly empty courtyard at their arrival was now a mass of movement. Troops ran in ordered groups, forming lines, orienting themselves around the structure.
“For stone’s sake,” she muttered as the heavy hovercraft started moving from the perimeter towards them. She turned from the peep hole and looked for Tehran. He jumped over one of the dividing screens, surprising another group from above. As he landed, he stumbled to his knee and Emilia’s stomach clenched.
Tehran regained his footing and engaged the small group, but what had looked effortless moments earlier was now subdued as he relied on skill, not brute strength. As he swung a long pole into the last raider, his arm blurred with speed, strength clearly returning.
Crushing grief pressed in on her at the reality of what was happening. Knox. She looked across the space to the curtain-doored room. Inside there, alone on the floor, he was dying. She couldn’t leave him behind like a story of the past. With desperation she could no longer restrain, she darted from cover, back into the open.
Across the room, Tehran saw her and shouted a warning. Two sentries stepped from behind a screen and stood between her and the curtained door.
She dashed to a stack of dividers folded for storage and pressed her back to solid wood as she turned to face her attackers. She lifted her pike as she would a small knife and set her stance.
The first soldier laughed and made a comment in Tumultian to his partner. He dragged a shard of metal that looked more scrap than weapon, but against its dark patina, dried blood caught the light. He killed Hadin and Marel with that. Emilia’s stomach churned.
The other sneered at his friend’s joke and spread his arms as they closed in, obviously expecting her to bolt. The long pole he carried extended his reach by more than double. A tingle of fear ran through her, but she squeezed the pike tighter and raised it high.
With a bellow, Tehran descended through the air towards them. He crashed into the first raider, tackling him from behind. The bloodied piece of metal clattered to the ground as the two tumbled in a heap. As they rose, they were evenly matched, strength once again leaving him.
Emilia cast a fearful glance at the curtained room. Hang on, Knox. The other raider closed the space between them and swung his long pole in a dangerous arc.
She caught the motion at the last moment and lifted her pike, parrying the blow. She caught the shaft enough to redirect it, but the brunt of the momentum slipped to the side and took her in the shoulder. She grunted as her clavicle seared with pain and her left arm hung numb.
A cruel grin split the angular features of her attacker as he circled. She followed his movement, but he held the advantage of angles and cut her off with a step. Her eyes darted towards Tehran, still wrestling with the other raider.
Breathe. Knox’s words from a lifetime ago flooded back. Move slow, think fast. He’d demonstrated the various positions for defending against long pole attacks and had walked her through them countless times.
Emilia channelled the calm of those moments. She’d been safe; secure. Knox’s encouraging smile had always melted her frustration. Watch their feet. Her breath loosened and she brought the pike back up into a defensive position, settled.
The raider gloated in his thick tongue. Emilia’s eyes narrowed. She waited. The raider thrust forward in a fully committed strike. She slipped the blow, trusting the laws of motion, and spun through. Unable to readjust, the man drove himself onto her awaiting stake. A stunned expression replaced the smug certainty.
He stumbled back, dropping his pole and ripping the piece of wood from under his ribs.
Emilia stepped back out of range and clucked her tongue. “That was a mistake,” she said, raising a brow at the pike in his hand.
The man dropped to his knees and clutched at his chest before toppling over.
Emilia turned to see Tehran on top of the other soldier. A sheen of sweat covered his face. He kept his weight low, his legs managing his balance while the man beneath him struggled.
She stood frozen, watching the contest unfold before her. Tehran hazarded a look in her direction, but the momentary distraction was all the Tumultian needed. With a violent lurch the man arched to one side, and the two rolled. With Tehran flat on his back, the soldier came at him like a man possessed, and it took his whole attention to keep the wild man from pinning his arms.
Emilia shouted a warning as she realized the Tumultian’s intention. He had angled Tehran towards the fallen shard of metal. In a quick motion, he lunged from Tehran’s torso and seized the weapon, heaving the blade overhead and down toward Tehran.
Emilia squeezed her eyes shut against the inevitable impact, but instead of the sound of metal embedding in flesh, she heard an empty clang. Her eyes opened to Tehran standing a few feet away. It defied explanation.
Knox.
Tehran wiped at his brow and levelled the raider with a deadly look. “You killed those Overseers, bound and helpless.”
The soldier’s throat bobbed as he swallowed in fear. With effort, he lifted the metal scrap aloft in a defensive pose. Tehran grabbed a folded screen panel. Twisting his whole body, he flung the solid piece of wood, two-handed. It cut through the air like a skipping stone and took the soldier in the chest. Hardly slowing, it pulled him across the room and crashed into one of the makeshift walls. The sound of wood splintering and panels collapsing echoed throughout the dome.
In the silence that followed, they could hear shouts of command being given outside.
Tehran straightened and heaved a breath. “We have to go,” he said. “He may only have moments. I can feel it.”
“I can’t leave him,” Emilia said, trying to pull away.
Tehran wrapped her in a hug. “I know,” his voice cracking, “but it’s now or never, Em.”
“He deserves more than to be left on a dusty floor,” she choked out.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I promised to see you safe, and I’m not failing him again.” He scooped her into his arms and ran for the door.
Last Breath
Tehran
Tehran steeled himself for the crushing guilt at leaving Knox, but it didn’t come. Instead, the heat running through his veins intensified.
Save her.
“Hold on,” he instructed Emilia. As soon as his stride broke the threshold of the tent, he pushed them skyward.
It took no more than a glance to see the entire camp had prepared for his exit, and a barrage of bolt fire filled the air. The notoriously inaccurate weapons thankfully tracked a split second too late, leaving only a couple energy pulses zipping past them. He landed behind the first line of attackers on one of the large hovercraft decks.
Without engaging the soldiers, he quickly angled himself towards the barricade itself. The power pulsing through him flickered. Hang on, Knox. I almost have her clear. The hum of strength stabilized. He launched them back into the air before the startled soldiers on the craft could adjust.
The barricade grew large as they dropped through the air and into its mass of tangled tree limbs and branches. He curled his body around Emilia as they crashed through the surface brush and deep into its knotted heart.
Tehran clung to the wavering strength, pulling everything he could to fortify them. Emilia gripped to his neck as branches whipped. Momentum alone broke them through several layers of thick limbs before Tehran landed flat-backed on a thick trunk, Emilia atop his chest. The air pushed from his lungs and they both lay stunned. Debris rained down through thin beams of light. Dust motes spun through the air.
Tehran coughed and released his hold on Emilia. She groaned and rolled free. They were wedged in a small hollow, the close-pressed air smelling of fir. Sputtering heat ran down his spine, mending fractures. He took a slow breath, testing his ribs. Bruised but whole.
With a muted groan he pushed himself from the trunk, relieved to find clay beneath his feet. No further to fall. If they could find their way through these logs, the caravan awaited. He ducked to keep from hitting his head, peering through the gloom for a way forward.
Emilia sat on the trunk, making careful movements.
“You okay?”
She glanced up at him with red-rimmed eyes and a haunted expression.
“Em?”
“Is Knox—”
He searched for any sign of the Sky’s gift within him. A cool emptiness replaced the borrowed power. No heat burned in his veins, no warmth gathered in his core. The carved out feeling made him want to shrivel up and curl into a ball. “He’s—gone.”
Knox’s eyes fluttered open under heavy lids. “Emilia,” he whispered with such reverence, Tehran’s mouth went dry.
In truth, Tehran wouldn’t have known his friend if not for Emilia. Knox’s body lay brutalized, his legs set at odd angles. His chest caved in unnaturally, and his face was distorted beyond recognition. How’s he still alive?
They had seen him swallowed by the earth itself back in Rikken. Now it looked as if the earth had its way with him and then spat him back to the living, broken beyond repair. Tehran dropped to his knees, his own tears threatening to join Emilia’s.
“You’re here,” Knox mumbled, a hoarse whisper.
“We are,” Emilia said, stifling a choked sob.
A twisted version of his half-grin pulled at the misshapen face. “I’m glad.”
His fingers twitched, and Emilia seemed to sense what he wanted and lifted his hand to her cheek. His thumb gently stroked her tears. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “I know.”
Sobs shook her shoulders. “I’m so sorry. I love you. I do.”
“Good,” he whispered. A wider smile tried to break through thick, broken lips and he chuckled. His breath wheezed and rattled as he fought to speak. “I—love you—too.”
She leaned closer and gently kissed him.
A dagger lanced through Tehran’s chest, guilt flaring. What have I done?
Emilia pulled back from Knox and softly caressed his face. Knox pulled his eyes from Emilia with effort and met Tehran’s gaze. Their normal silver had dimmed to a dull grey.
“Thank you,” his voice was a little more than a rasp.
Tehran pulled back as if he had been struck. “No. Knox—” His voice cracked with emotion. He wiped his eyes into his elbow and tried again.
Knox grunted and interrupted. “Look—after her. I—love you—both.”
Tehran gave in to the torrent of emotion coursing through him and dropped next to Knox, touching his forehead to his. “As long as I have breath.”
A spasm rocked through Knox.There was no talk of trying to save him. Of trying to move him. They all knew. Moving would only hasten death. Nothing could rescue a body so broken.
“You need to go,” Knox mumbled.
Emilia let out a cry of protest and clung to him. Knox’s eyes pleaded with Tehran. “I can help.” The air wheezed from his chest.
Tehran choked off a sob at the statement.
“Listen,” Knox insisted. “I learned—something about the—Sky.” In a barely audible whisper, he related everything between gasping breaths. Emilia kept glancing between them, as if trying to make sense of what was being said. As he finished, Knox sagged, as if relieved of a great weight.
Emilia squeezed his hand tighter, and Tehran made the sign of fists over his chest.
Strength flared once again in Tehran’s body, and he looked down at Knox’s broken figure, marvelling at the gift he was sharing. It defied logic.
Emilia collapsed onto Knox, refusing to let him go. Knox seemed to muster all his strength and lifted his bound hand to Emilia’s face. He spoke softly. Tehran stood, giving the two a moment of privacy even as Knox’s last remnants of strength burned within his chest.
Undone
Emilia
A world all wrong fell away as Emilia leaned close to hear Knox’s whispered words.
“I, Knox, son of the Sky, release you, Emilia, from our bond. You are your own once again, and I return to myself, and we both remain the Sky’s.”
Her hot tears dripped onto Knox’s hands, mixing with his dried blood and creating fresh rivulets.
“Shhhh,” he tutted, then grimaced. “I’m sorry—for everything.”
She lifted her head up and met his gaze. “You’re sorry?”
He tried to smile again through his swollen features, but a spasm of pain made him gasp. “Sorry we—didn’t have—more time. Sorry I wasn’t—there—for you—for our child.”
She bowed her head.
Shouts sounded outside, and Tehran flashed her a worried look.
Knox squeezed her hand, a faint pressure only. She looked back at him.
“Say the words,” he whispered.
She shook her head.
“I know you love me—” His body convulsed, and she held him through it. “You—have to let me go. Please—”
How could she deny him anything he wanted in this moment? Emilia pressed her forehead to his as gently as she could and whispered through her tears. “I, Emilia, daughter of the Sky, release you, Knox, from our bond. You are your own once again, and I return to myself, and we both remain the Sky’s. I will always love you.”
She pressed her lips to his as softly as she could, taking in his breath one last time.
Knox heaved a sigh and went limp.
Tehran pulled her to standing even as her body was taken by tremors. She could hear Tehran speaking, urging her forward, but she couldn’t make out the words. She tried to blink free the tears from her eyes, but as one spilled the next clouded her vision. Knox. Her heart imploded with grief.
Tehran’s hand around hers was her only link to this world as he led her through the curtain and step by step, further from where Knox lay, alone and breathing his last.
A part of her mind wanted to stand and stomp her feet, demanding the world halt and give her answers. But life did not stop for grief, instead spinning around her in a flurry.
Tehran entered the common space with a long pole in one hand. Any who drew near, fell. She should have been afraid, but no other emotion could squeeze its way through the numbing sorrow clouding her mind.
They drew up short, and Tehran cursed. She stumbled into him, and he reached to steady her. Two bodies lay at their feet, left where they’d been killed. Tehran gently pushed her backward to keep her from the blood slowly creeping across the floor.
She caught a glimpse of silver manacles binding their hands and ankles. The same as Knox was wearing. The clothing looked familiar—
Emilia sucked in a sharp breath. Hadin and Marel.
Each of the Overseers had been relieved of their heads, and the woven mats hungrily soaked up the pooling blood. She turned away as her legs turned to rubber and her stomach heaved.
“They weren’t killed long ago,” Tehran mumbled, and Emilia retched again, spilling the contents of her last meal.
“Hadin. Marel—” was all she could say through the shock. “Why are they doing this?”
“I don’t know,” Tehran said as he kept his head on a swivel, scanning the open space. No one was visible, but the sounds of scuffling feet and bodies moving echoed softly against the domed ceiling. His voice dropped to a rough growl. “They are not nearly as afraid as they should be, though.”
Streaks of blue energy cut through the air, next to them. Tehran moved with inhuman speed and flipped a heavy table, pulling her down behind it as bolts of energy sizzled against the barrier.
“Will you be okay here for a minute?” he asked, giving her a worried look.
She nodded and wiped her mouth on her sleeve even as her eyes strayed back to the fallen Overseers. Tehran pushed a thick, stunted pike into her hand and noticed her attention on the slow-moving puddle of blood. He gently tipped her chin away from the sight back to him. The warmth of his amber eyes held her for a moment.
“It’s going to be okay, Em. Hang on, okay?”
She looked at the worry lines crumpling his brow and the downward set of his mouth and felt her mind ground itself in his features. She felt the worn ridges in the wood under her fingertips and tightened her grip. A flicker of her earlier anger re-ignited. More Overseers paying the price for other’s ambitions. Knox had already paid the price—twice over. Now they would threaten Tehran? Hadn’t she set out to protect those who served the Mercurial selflessly?
Emilia’s thoughts cleared. Grief would have to wait. She needed to fight. Her vision narrowed and she met Tehran’s look. “I’m okay,” she said, pleased to find her voice steady.
“I’ll make them pay,” he assured.
She nodded as he leapt clear of the table, dodging another volley of fire smattering the barrier.
She watched him soar through the domed space and listened as the bolt fire first quickened, then stopped suddenly. She peeked over the table in time to see Tehran stalk towards two soldiers ducking behind a screen for cover.
He picked up the screen with such a casual motion, he could have been tossing a twig aside. The Tumultians scrambled back, but with a flash of speed, he snagged them both by their necks and held them aloft. They kicked against the grip, powerless against him.
A chill snaked down Emilia’s spine seeing the raw, unleashed power of the Sky.
Tehran could have easily crushed their windpipes, but instead he clanged the two raiders together and released them in a senseless heap. He moved through the room as a tempest, dropping all who stood against him.
Emilia eyed the path to the main entrance. For the moment it was clear. Tehran held the full attention of those within the building. Using what little cover she could find, she crept across the open space until she reached the heavy canvas of the outer wall. Tension gave way to relief as she pressed herself behind a pillar.
Sounds from outside caught her attention and she pressed her eye to a loose seam and looked out. Their hovercraft was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Konr. Her heart sank. He was so young. The mostly empty courtyard at their arrival was now a mass of movement. Troops ran in ordered groups, forming lines, orienting themselves around the structure.
“For stone’s sake,” she muttered as the heavy hovercraft started moving from the perimeter towards them. She turned from the peep hole and looked for Tehran. He jumped over one of the dividing screens, surprising another group from above. As he landed, he stumbled to his knee and Emilia’s stomach clenched.
Tehran regained his footing and engaged the small group, but what had looked effortless moments earlier was now subdued as he relied on skill, not brute strength. As he swung a long pole into the last raider, his arm blurred with speed, strength clearly returning.
Crushing grief pressed in on her at the reality of what was happening. Knox. She looked across the space to the curtain-doored room. Inside there, alone on the floor, he was dying. She couldn’t leave him behind like a story of the past. With desperation she could no longer restrain, she darted from cover, back into the open.
Across the room, Tehran saw her and shouted a warning. Two sentries stepped from behind a screen and stood between her and the curtained door.
She dashed to a stack of dividers folded for storage and pressed her back to solid wood as she turned to face her attackers. She lifted her pike as she would a small knife and set her stance.
The first soldier laughed and made a comment in Tumultian to his partner. He dragged a shard of metal that looked more scrap than weapon, but against its dark patina, dried blood caught the light. He killed Hadin and Marel with that. Emilia’s stomach churned.
The other sneered at his friend’s joke and spread his arms as they closed in, obviously expecting her to bolt. The long pole he carried extended his reach by more than double. A tingle of fear ran through her, but she squeezed the pike tighter and raised it high.
With a bellow, Tehran descended through the air towards them. He crashed into the first raider, tackling him from behind. The bloodied piece of metal clattered to the ground as the two tumbled in a heap. As they rose, they were evenly matched, strength once again leaving him.
Emilia cast a fearful glance at the curtained room. Hang on, Knox. The other raider closed the space between them and swung his long pole in a dangerous arc.
She caught the motion at the last moment and lifted her pike, parrying the blow. She caught the shaft enough to redirect it, but the brunt of the momentum slipped to the side and took her in the shoulder. She grunted as her clavicle seared with pain and her left arm hung numb.
A cruel grin split the angular features of her attacker as he circled. She followed his movement, but he held the advantage of angles and cut her off with a step. Her eyes darted towards Tehran, still wrestling with the other raider.
Breathe. Knox’s words from a lifetime ago flooded back. Move slow, think fast. He’d demonstrated the various positions for defending against long pole attacks and had walked her through them countless times.
Emilia channelled the calm of those moments. She’d been safe; secure. Knox’s encouraging smile had always melted her frustration. Watch their feet. Her breath loosened and she brought the pike back up into a defensive position, settled.
The raider gloated in his thick tongue. Emilia’s eyes narrowed. She waited. The raider thrust forward in a fully committed strike. She slipped the blow, trusting the laws of motion, and spun through. Unable to readjust, the man drove himself onto her awaiting stake. A stunned expression replaced the smug certainty.
He stumbled back, dropping his pole and ripping the piece of wood from under his ribs.
Emilia stepped back out of range and clucked her tongue. “That was a mistake,” she said, raising a brow at the pike in his hand.
The man dropped to his knees and clutched at his chest before toppling over.
Emilia turned to see Tehran on top of the other soldier. A sheen of sweat covered his face. He kept his weight low, his legs managing his balance while the man beneath him struggled.
She stood frozen, watching the contest unfold before her. Tehran hazarded a look in her direction, but the momentary distraction was all the Tumultian needed. With a violent lurch the man arched to one side, and the two rolled. With Tehran flat on his back, the soldier came at him like a man possessed, and it took his whole attention to keep the wild man from pinning his arms.
Emilia shouted a warning as she realized the Tumultian’s intention. He had angled Tehran towards the fallen shard of metal. In a quick motion, he lunged from Tehran’s torso and seized the weapon, heaving the blade overhead and down toward Tehran.
Emilia squeezed her eyes shut against the inevitable impact, but instead of the sound of metal embedding in flesh, she heard an empty clang. Her eyes opened to Tehran standing a few feet away. It defied explanation.
Knox.
Tehran wiped at his brow and levelled the raider with a deadly look. “You killed those Overseers, bound and helpless.”
The soldier’s throat bobbed as he swallowed in fear. With effort, he lifted the metal scrap aloft in a defensive pose. Tehran grabbed a folded screen panel. Twisting his whole body, he flung the solid piece of wood, two-handed. It cut through the air like a skipping stone and took the soldier in the chest. Hardly slowing, it pulled him across the room and crashed into one of the makeshift walls. The sound of wood splintering and panels collapsing echoed throughout the dome.
In the silence that followed, they could hear shouts of command being given outside.
Tehran straightened and heaved a breath. “We have to go,” he said. “He may only have moments. I can feel it.”
“I can’t leave him,” Emilia said, trying to pull away.
Tehran wrapped her in a hug. “I know,” his voice cracking, “but it’s now or never, Em.”
“He deserves more than to be left on a dusty floor,” she choked out.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I promised to see you safe, and I’m not failing him again.” He scooped her into his arms and ran for the door.
Last Breath
Tehran
Tehran steeled himself for the crushing guilt at leaving Knox, but it didn’t come. Instead, the heat running through his veins intensified.
Save her.
“Hold on,” he instructed Emilia. As soon as his stride broke the threshold of the tent, he pushed them skyward.
It took no more than a glance to see the entire camp had prepared for his exit, and a barrage of bolt fire filled the air. The notoriously inaccurate weapons thankfully tracked a split second too late, leaving only a couple energy pulses zipping past them. He landed behind the first line of attackers on one of the large hovercraft decks.
Without engaging the soldiers, he quickly angled himself towards the barricade itself. The power pulsing through him flickered. Hang on, Knox. I almost have her clear. The hum of strength stabilized. He launched them back into the air before the startled soldiers on the craft could adjust.
The barricade grew large as they dropped through the air and into its mass of tangled tree limbs and branches. He curled his body around Emilia as they crashed through the surface brush and deep into its knotted heart.
Tehran clung to the wavering strength, pulling everything he could to fortify them. Emilia gripped to his neck as branches whipped. Momentum alone broke them through several layers of thick limbs before Tehran landed flat-backed on a thick trunk, Emilia atop his chest. The air pushed from his lungs and they both lay stunned. Debris rained down through thin beams of light. Dust motes spun through the air.
Tehran coughed and released his hold on Emilia. She groaned and rolled free. They were wedged in a small hollow, the close-pressed air smelling of fir. Sputtering heat ran down his spine, mending fractures. He took a slow breath, testing his ribs. Bruised but whole.
With a muted groan he pushed himself from the trunk, relieved to find clay beneath his feet. No further to fall. If they could find their way through these logs, the caravan awaited. He ducked to keep from hitting his head, peering through the gloom for a way forward.
Emilia sat on the trunk, making careful movements.
“You okay?”
She glanced up at him with red-rimmed eyes and a haunted expression.
“Em?”
“Is Knox—”
He searched for any sign of the Sky’s gift within him. A cool emptiness replaced the borrowed power. No heat burned in his veins, no warmth gathered in his core. The carved out feeling made him want to shrivel up and curl into a ball. “He’s—gone.”
