Her Balance | Nikolai x Reader x Darkling

~ Chapter 21 ~

The Squallers raised their arms, summoning current and dropping the pressure as Zoya had done back in the caves.

My ears crackled as they layered the acoustic blanket. If it didn't hold, Harshaw and I were ready to summon light and fire to drive the volcra back.

Nikolai unsheathed his sword which David had made and asked me to fortify with light. It was a sword that supposedly could cut through any nichevo'ya that came at us.

We spread out in a line, and with measured steps, we entered the darkness of the Fold.

It took everything in me not to raise my hands and wrap all of us in safe, protective light. I listened closely, expecting to hear the beating of wings, one of those horrible, inhuman shrieks, but I heard nothing, not even our footsteps on the sand.

Whatever the Squallers were doing was working. The silence was deep and impenetrable.

"Can you hear me?" I whispered.

"We hear you," said Zoya's voice.

We moved at a steady pace. I heard a click, then almost ten minutes later, a double click. We'd gone a mile.

At one point, I heard the distant flap of wings above us, and I felt fear move through our ranks like a living thing. The volcra might not hear us but they could scent prey from miles away.

Were they circling above us even now, sensing that something was wrong, that someone was near?

The absolute madness of what we were doing struck me at that moment. We had dared what no one else ever had: We'd entered the Fold without light.

But I guess when in a war against an ancient power, dare is all you have.

We kept moving. Two clicks later, we stopped and took up our positions to wait. As soon as we sighted the Darkling's skiff, we'd have to move quickly.

My thoughts turned to him. Cautiously, I tested the tether that bound us.

I felt the hunger that he felt. He was eager to unleash the power of the Fold, use it to become the most powerful person in Ravka. And he was ready to fight for it.

That was the difference between me and him. He along with everyone else believed that the amplifiers had to be brought together because it would give me power that I would never give up, but I was willing to let it go.

The little machine David had built to rid the amplifiers of their power was in my pocket. Ready to be used at any moment.

The minutes ticked by, and my nerves began to jangle. The Squallers could maintain the acoustic blanket for only so long.

What if the Darkling waited until night to attack?

"Where are you bastard?" I whispered and I felt a nudge.

The answer was in the distance, a pale violet glow, moving toward us from the east.

Two clicks. We fanned out in the formation we had practiced.

Three clicks. That was my signal. I raised my hands and set the Fold ablaze. In the same moment, I bent the light, letting it flow around every single person in our line like a stream.

The Darkling would see nothing. We were invisible.

The skiff slowed. As it drew closer, I saw its black sails marked with the Darkling's emblem, the glass quality of its hull.

The students must be belowdecks. The Darkling stood at the prow, surrounded by his shadow horde. I didn't know what I expected to feel but the sight of him had caught me off guard. Since I last saw him, so much had changed.