RAYA ▸ SHADOW AND BONE

02 | protect her

The First Army guards pushed Alina towards the Darkling's carriage, where Ivan stood holding the door open.

"You heard me. Get in," he ordered Alina. The girl glanced back towards the entrance of the black tent, where General Kirigan stood beside Raya.

"Go with her," he said to the girl beside him.

"What? No. The carriage is slow and cramped. And, what about Ronan?" she asked, eyes glancing towards her horse.

"Raya," the General sighed, turning away from Alina to face the girl beside him. "Right now, you are the only one the Sun Summoner trusts. You're the only one who can help get through this change. Protect her. I'll have one of the guards take Ronan back to the Little Palace. Please, for me..."

His hand grazed Raya's and it was enough to send goosebumps up her arm. She sighed defeatedly, handing Ronan's reins over to the General. "You owe me," she grumbled, kicking the dirt beneath her boots as she made her way over to the black carriage.

"Alina, please get in the coach," she stated, taking the girl's hand in her own. "We must get to the Little Palace as quickly as possible. Every spy in the area will soon hear what you did and our enemies will come for you. Os Alta is the safest place for you right now."

"But Mal—" Alina argued.

"I promise you we will find him and bring him to the Little Palace soon. Now, please," she nearly begged, sighing thankfully when Alina stepped into the coach. She stepped into the carriage after her, happy to see her favorite Heartrender enter the coach behind her. "Fedyor!" she happily greeted, reaching out to hug the man.

"Hello, krasotka," he said with a smile before turning to Alina as Ivan got in beside him and shut the door and the carriage started moving. "Pleasure to meet you."

As they rode to Os Alta, Alina tried numerous times to convince Ivan to let her go back—back to the cartographers, back to her friends, back to her old life. As Fedyor tried to explain to Alina why she can't simply go back, the coach suddenly came to a halt. Raya could hear the guards announcing that the road was blocked.

"Are you serious?" Raya asked, already pulling at the small blades strapped to her thigh and hidden along the inside of her dress. Ivan and Fedyor left the coach in search for any impending danger and for a moment, it looked like a false alarm.

Then, Raya caught sight of an arrow piercing through the sky and digging itself into the skull of a member of the First Army. "Fuck," she mumbled, turning to Alina. "Stay here. Stay hidden."

As she exited the carriage, Alina grabbed hold of her arm. "Where are you going?"

"I'll be back, I promise. Saints help me if I let you die; the General would be so pissed."

Peeking around the carriage, Raya saw a swarm of Drüskelle attacking the Ravkan soldiers. She saw an arrow graze Fedyor's side and ran towards the Heartrender, helping him find shelter behind a large tree.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she heard Ivan call for sharpshooters.

Fedyor nodded his head. "Yeah. Didn't penetrate."

Raya grasped his hand in hers, looking him in the eyes and, when the bond was fully formed, stating, "It doesn't hurt. You're okay." Suddenly, Fedyor wasn't breathing heavily or clutching his side in agony anymore. She stayed with him, even when Ivan and a few other Grisha found their way to the pair. Healers helped with Fedyor's wounds.

From her periphery, Raya caught sight of a Fjerdan soldier dragging Alina out of the Darkling's coach. She glanced back at Fedyor, who squeezed her hand and gave her a nod, before leaving her group and running after Alina.

Raya had no idea what she was going to do; she couldn't manipulate the elements like her fellow Grisha and she barely got through training with Botkin every day. Still, adrenaline pumped through her veins as she ran after the Sun Summoner.

Her hand grabbed the Fjerdan soldier's arm, ordering, "Get off of her!" when she felt the link form. That paired with her using all her strength to pull the soldier away caused her to tumble back and the soldier to land on top of her.

The moment her grasp slipped away from his arm, she felt the connection break and his hand, still clutching a large dagger, rose with the intent to bury the blade into Raya's chest.

"Stop! Stop!" she repeatedly yelled, trying to grab a hold of the man overpowering her so he would follow her orders without resistance. She reached for the hidden blade up her sleeve, ready to dig it into the enemy's chest. Before either could make a move, a black shadow cut clean through the Fjerdan soldier's midsection, splattering blood across the faces of both Raya and Alina as they laid beside one another on the ground.

His top half slid down the angle the blade had made, landing with a thump beside Raya's feet. She pushed his bottom half off of her body, hating the feeling of dead weight on top of her.

General Kirigan held a hand out to Raya, which she quickly took, and pulled her up. He gave her a disapproving look; she knew he didn't like it when she fought hand-to-hand. It wasn't one of her strengths but she was working on it.

"You said protect her!" she defended herself before he could even get a word out.

He sighed softly, using one hand to pull her into his body and run a hand through her hair. He could immediately feel her heartbeat slow down as calmness and protection radiated off of his body.

When they pulled away, he helped Alina up. "Are you hurt?"

She was still in shock, hands lightly shaking as she gazed at the parted body before her. "No, no."

Raya could hear the other Drüskelle fleeing as they heard the Darkling approach. She let out a sigh of relief before glancing at the General's horse and seeing a soldier bring Ronan to stand beside the black stallion.

"Ronan!" The brown-haired steed seemed to hear his companion and trotted towards her. "You brought him?" she asked the General as he helped Alina up.

"We're riding the rest of the way and you—" He turned towards Alina. "You ride with us."

Without waiting for further instruction, Alina hurried to her feet and tumbled over to Raya, ready to ride with her. The Grisha, in turn, gave the Darkling a victorious smirk, to which he only shook his head, a light smile breaking onto his face.

"By the way," Raya stated as the three started to make their way back to the Little Palace. "I had that covered."

"Really?" General Kirigan asked, raising a brow as he looked over at Raya.

"Yeah, I was ready to stab him but then you had to come in with that Shadow Summoner bullshit."

Alina had never heard anyone speak to the General the way Raya did—so openly, without worrying about how he would interpret her words or tone. She simply watched him smirk back at Raya, trying to figure out the complicated relationship between the Darkling and his favorite Grisha.