The Shadow Crow (A Shadow and Bone: Season 2 Fanfiction)

Chapter 14: Ambushed

We took off easily into the skies on the flying ship, sailing alongside the Shadow Fold. After a while of smooth sailing, we heard some commotion at the side of the ship. 

'Commander, what's that?' one of the soldiers called out. Dominik came to the side of the ship, looking down through a small spyglass. I came up, and he handed it to me. I looked down, seeing several Grisha down in the trees. 

'They're not at Keramzin,' I said. 'Kirigan's Grisha's here!' I exclaimed. 

'Brace yourself!' Dominik yelled. 

'It's an ambush!' Nikolai called. Two bolts of fire came sailing past us, but the third one hit, sending the flying ship careening to the ground. 

Later... 

We ran to the top of the hill, overlooking the fort. Nikolai had been badly injured in the crash of the flying ship, as was Nadia and me, but even so, we had run, looking to get to the others. 

'Keep Nikolai in front,' Dominik ordered the soldiers. 'Protect the King.'

'If we can get in through the moats and front gate before they catch us, we might stand a chance,' Nikolai gasped. We suddenly felt the ground rumbling underneath our feet, and we looked directly ahead of us to see the Fold growing rapidly. 

'Saints help us,' I muttered, as the Fold began to swallow up the fort that we'd been taking up shelter in. 

'Alina,' I heard Nikolai say. 'Run!' he screamed, and we darted into the shadows looming before us. 

We took up defensive positions in an alleyway, and as Kirigan's Grisha ran at us, some fell by the bullets of the First Army, others fell from Tamar's Heartrending powers, and some fell by my Cut of shadow. But it was not enough. More and more of us were slain, until Nikolai, Adrik, Nadia, Tamar and I made our final stand against the last three Grisha in Kirigan's army. One of the females walked forward, a ball of fire gathering in her hands. She was about to launch the fire, but just then, a small bomb sailed over the gates and landed at her feet. Seconds later, the bomb exploded, throwing her back and killing her within moments. 

'Where did that come from?' Nikolai called out. We looked beyond the gates to see three familiar figures: Wylan van Eck, Jesper Fahey, and Kaz Brekker. I gave a grateful smile, my eyes filling with tears of relief. Jesper came to the gate and touched his hands to the molten metal, breaking the gates apart, and they gathered behind the barricades where we were stationed. I gave Kaz a grateful nod, slumping against the barricade in relief, vaguely feeling blood seep out of my shoulder wound. 

'Why is Sturmhond here?' Jesper asked. 

'Around here, he goes by Nikolai,' Tamar replied with a confused look on her face. Jesper did a double take, and made a face of realisation. 

'Nikolai Lantsov. All this time,' he replied, spinning his twin revolvers with ease, 'close personal friend.'

'And you are?' Tamar asked. 

'You must be Tamar,' Wylan piped up. 'We came with your brother.' Suddenly, the other female Grisha began to gather multitudes of water, and her and Jesper faced off. His guns were soon frozen by her power, and he let go of them. 

'If only you'd been born Grisha, you'd know what it's like to be -' 

'To be blessed?' Jesper replied, and plucked the buttons off of his coat, sending them flying towards the male and female Grisha. She tumbled to the ground weakly, but the male Grisha with a scarred face began to gather lightning in his hands. Kaz threw his cane, and it became a conduit for the lightning. 

'I have Datura Meloxia,' Wylan exclaimed. 

'Wylan, now!' Kaz called out, and Wylan got up from the barricade, sending the poison gas straight to the man. He cried out, and after a second, began to smile. But it was in vain, for as soon as the hallucination hit, Tamar's axe found its way into the man's head. The female Grisha looked up in panic, and tried to summon, but she only saw bloody stumps for fingers. 

'You're a -' she said in shock to Jesper, who only shrugged in response, and turned to hear the cocking of a gun, Nikolai standing in front of her. Wordlessly, he pulled the trigger, and she collapsed to the ground, a hole in her throat. 

'It's done,' Nikolai muttered. Kaz limped forward to retrieve his cane, staring at the slightly disfigured head of the crow. 

'I didn't realise you were patriots,' Nikolai remarked. 

'Well, if you die, we don't get paid,' he replied. Suddenly, Tolya leaped over the fence, and ran to Tamar. 

'Sister!' he cried out. She let out a squeak of delight as he swept her up in his arms, the two hugging. 

'The blade. Did you find it?' Nikolai asked. 

'Inej has it,' Kaz replied. 'They've gone to find Alina and Mal. We have to do the same. If Kirigan brought the fight here, he's gunning for her.'

'I've cleared us a way into the fort,' Tolya spoke. 'Come on.' Tamar ran after him, as did the rest of us.