The Squaller turned in the air, stirring the storm into a frenzy, ice struck their faces and blinded them. "I need a distraction!" Jesper shouted "Get down!" Wylan cried. Niklaus ducked down into the snow, pressing as low as he could. He could only faintly make out the others. A boom sounded overhead, and an explosion lit the sky just to the right of the Squaller. The winds around them dropped as the Squaller was thrown off course. It was barely a few seconds but it was enough time for Jesper to aim and fire. A shot rang out and the Squaller was hurtling towards the earth.
Another slab of ice slid into place, they were being herded and trapped like animals. Jesper aimed between the slabs at a distant stand of trees. There was another Grisha there, a boy with dark hair. Before Jesper could get off a shot, the Grisha rammed a fist upwards, and Jesper was thrown off his feet by a shaft of earth. He rolled as he fell and fired from the ground.
The boy in the distance cried out and dropped to one knee, but his arms were still raised, and the ground still rumbled and rocked beneath them. Jesper fired again and missed. Nina lifted her hands and tried to focus on the Grisha's heart, but he was well out of her range.
Niklaus shot at the Grisha and at the same time he stabbed the boy in the back with a tendril of shadow. A moment later, the ground went still. "Wylan" Jesper panted, pushing to his feet. "Get us out of here" Wylan nodded and pulled out a putty-coloured lump from his pack, and gently placed it against the nearest rock. "Everybody down" he instructed.
They crouched together in a cluster as far away as the enclosure would permit. Wylan slapped his hand against the explosive and dove away. They waited... Nothing happened.
"Are you kidding me?" Jesper asked. Just as he said it, the slab exploded. Ice rained down over their heads. Wylan wore a slightly dazed, deliriously happy expression. Nina started to laugh. "Try to look like you knew it would work" They stumbled out of the corral of slabs. Kaz gestured to Jesper. "Perimeter. Let's make sure there aren't more surprises" he instructed.
Nina, Inej and Niklaus approached the Grisha he had 'shot'. The Grisha's eyes were glassy. Blood spilled from the bullet wound in his upper thigh and there was a small bullet sized hole in his chest where the shadow had struck though it had missed anything vital. Nina kneeled beside him. 'I need a little more" the Grisha mumbled. "Just a little more" He grabbed at Nina's hand. "Nestor?" The heartrender asked.
He twitched at the sound of his name "Nestor, it's me, Nina" Nina tried "Please, I need more" Nestor begged "Parem?" The shadow summoner asked "Yes" he sobbed. "Yes. Please" he pleaded desperately "I can heal your wound, Nestor, if you stay still" Nina said gently.
"I don't want your help," he snapped, trying to push away from her. She tried calming him, lowering his pulse "Please, Nestor. Please be still" Nina pleaded. He was screaming now, fighting her. "Hold him down" she said. Matthias and Niklaus moved to help which prompted Nestor to throw up his arms. The ground rose in a rippling sheet, thrusting Nina and the others back. "Nestor, please! Let us help you" Nina begged.
Nester stood up, staggering on his wounded leg, "Where are they? Where did they go?" He screamed. Niklaus was thoroughly disturbed as he watched the Grisha boy "Who?" Nina asked "The Shu! Where did they go? Come back!" Nestor wailed. He took a wobbling step, then another. "Come back!" He fell face first into the snow and didn't move again. Nina rushed to his side and turned him over. There was snow in his eyes and his mouth. She placed her hands on his chest, trying to restore his heartbeat, but it didn't look like it was doing any good.
Kaz and Jesper returned, panting. "Anything?" Matthias asked Jesper nodded. "A party of people heading south" he said "He was calling out for the Shu" Nina said. "We knew the Shu would send a team to retrieve Bo Yul-Bayur" Kaz said. Jesper looked down at Nestor's limp body. "But we didn't know they'd send Grisha. How can we be sure they aren't mercenaries?" He asked.
Kaz held up a coin emblazoned with a horse on one side and two crossed keys on the other. "This was in the Squaller's pocket" he said, tossing it to Jesper. "It's a Shu wen ye. The Coin of Passage. This is a government mission"
"How did they find us?" Inej asked. "Maybe Jesper's gunshots drew them" Kaz said. Jesper bristled and pointed at Nina and Matthias. "Or maybe they heard these two shouting at each other. They could have been following us for miles" he defended "I don't understand, if they have jurda parem, why go after Bo Yul-Bayur?" Nina asked "It's possible they have a stash of it, but can't reproduce his process" Kaz pointed out. "That's what the Merchant Council seemed to think. Or maybe they just want to make sure Yul-Bayur doesn't give the formula to anyone else"
"Do you think they'll use drugged Grisha to try to break into the Ice Court?" Inej asked. "If they have more of them, that's what I would do" Kaz said. "Would save us all the trouble of this freezing hellscape" Niklaus said. Matthias shook his head. "If they'd had a Heartrender, we'd all be dead" he remarked "It was still a close thing" Inej replied. "Wylan earned his keep" Jesper said, shouldering his rifle.
Wylan gave a little jump at the sound of his name. "I did?" He asked "Well, you made a down payment" Jesper said "Let's move" Kaz ordered "We need to bury them' Nina said. "The ground's too hard, and we don't have the time. The Shu team is still moving towards Djerholm. We don't know how many other Grisha they may have, and Pekka's team could already be inside" Kaz said. "We can't just leave them for the wolves" Nina protested
"Do you want to build them a pyre?" Kaz asked scathingly "Go to hell Brekker" The heartrender spat. Niklaus, who wouldn't usually care much about Kaz's insensitive remarks, bristled. "Do your job, Zenik" Kaz shot back. "I didn't bring you to Fjerda to perform funeral rites"
"How about I crack your skull open like a robin's egg?" Nina said, lifting her hands "You don't want a look at what's inside my head, Nina dear" Kaz said darkly. She took a step forward, but Matthias moved in front of her. "Stop. I'll do it. I'll help you dig the grave" He said. Nina and Niklaus stared at him incredulously. Matthias took a pick from his gear and handed it to her, then took another from Jesper's pack. "Head due south from here" he said to the others. "I know the terrain, and I'll make sure we catch up to you by nightfall. We'll move faster on our own"
Niklaus was tempted to volunteer to stay with them, to help bury it. But he hesitated and only half because he didn't want to get caught up in their lovers quarrel. He knew what his mother would advise him. She'd tell him to leave them, to continue the job. Now that he thought about it, his mother would have gotten along great with Kaz.
Kaz looked at Matthias steadily. "Just remember that pardon, Helvar" he said. "Are we sure it's a good idea to leave them alone?" Wylan asked as they moved down the slope. "No" Inej replied. "But we're still doing it?" The merchling asked "We trust them now or we trust them later" Kaz said. "Are we going to talk about Matthias' little revelation about Nina's loyalties?" Jesper asked. "Pretty sure most of us don't have 'stalwart' or 'true' checked off on our résumés" Kaz reminded as the Drüskelle and the Heartrender disappeared from view.
•~•~•~•
Okay but Kaz and Baghra would either be besties or enemies. Or besties pretending to be enemies
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