Part 1 (The only part lol)

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"Cress," Cinder croaked. "The queen, Cress. Shoot the queen!"
Though she whimpered, Cress's aim leveled slowly to match the queen's heart. Cinder's attention snapped back to the gun that had been shot from Thorne's hand a moment ago. Thorne saw her looking, and his body jumped for it, too, his injured hand still clutched to his chest. Cinder lunged, feeling the cold metal around her fingers just for a second before Thorne ripped it away.
".....Let....go!" he exclaimed suddenly.
Cinder stood as fast as she could and backed away.
"Fight it, Thorne!"
"I....I can't!"
Cinder risked a glance at Levana, and then, Cress. Levana was smirking, her glamour too mixed and bright for Cinder's internal processor to look at. Cress was shaking, her aim on the queen slipping away.
"CRESS! SHOOT IT!" Cinder yelled. Thorne was raising the gun now, leveling it to match Cress's stomach.
"Cress!" he yelled. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Cinder saw what was happening and leaped up to tackle Thorne before he could fire the gun. His grip was clenched to the handle harder than Cinder's glamour ever was and would ever be.
"CRESS!"
Cress fired the gun, the bullet catching on Levana's ankle. The queen cried out and leapt behind the throne again, her grip on Thorne never loosening.
Cress collapsed to the floor, clutching her stomach. Thorne's controlled aim on Cress never wavered as she lowered to the ground.
"Cinder!" Thorne cried. "Get this gun out of my hands!"
"Shut up Thorne! I'm trying!"
Cinder kicked Thorne hard in the back of the legs with her metal foot, and he fell to the ground, grunting. She raised her metallic leg again and let it crush his hand, and the gun clattered on the ground. She picked it up. "Sorry, that must have hurt."
Still on the ground, Thorne grabbed Cinder's ankle with his good hand tightly..
"Cress.....Cinder!" he sputtered, blood dripping down the side of his face. "Don't let her die!"
"I have to kill Levana." Cinder whispered. "Cress is going to be okay, Thorne."
A clattering came from the other side of the room as the heavy doors banged open. Scarlet and Wolf stood in the doorway.
"Wha-"
"No! Don't come in here! Levana--" But it was too late. The false queen had a grip on both of them already, her glamor burning into Cinder's vision.
Cinder wrenched out of Thorne's grip and was behind the throne in half a second, the gun cocked and aimed at Levana.
The queen simply smiled in a sick sort of way.
Arms wrapped around Cinder from behind, nearly crushing her neck in his grip.
"Wolf! Stop it!" She tried with all her might to slow his suffocating movements, but she could feel her insides beginning to crack.
ERROR 645: POWER DIVERSION. IF NOT STOPPED, REBOOT WILL ENGAGE.
5.........4.........3.......
Cinder's glamour finally snapped, making Wolf let go of her neck. She gasped for air loudly. Pulling herself together, she quickly caught a hold on Wolf's familiar thoughts, energy crackling.
ERROR 645 CANCELLED.
"NO SCARLET, NO!" Thorne bellowed from the other side of the room.
Scarlet, still controlled by Levana, had gotten out her pistol and aimed it at Cress, lying fetal on the ground. Thorne had not moved from his bloody puddle on the ground, and Cinder guessed he was too injured to attempt to stop her.
She reached for Scarlet's thoughts, but they were too far away, so she grabbed a stronger hold on Wolf instead.
Cinder directed his thoughts to take the gun from Scarlet. He leaped up and the gun was removed from Scarlet's grip immediately, nearly disappearing in his large fist.

Turning quickly, Cinder fired, and the racing bullet finally found it's spot in Levana's heart. The snap of the glamour releasing Scarlet was so strong, she fell over on top of Cress.
Cinder dropped the gun and released Wolf, feeling the need to look away from Levana. Wolf helped Scarlet up from the ground.
"I almost....I almost killed.." she sputtered. Wolf silenced her with an embrace. Scarlet looked down at Cress and then up at Wolf again.
"Do you think...."
"No. She's going to be okay." He lowered to the ground beside Cress and picked her up, cradling her to his chest as gently as he would an injured butterfly.
She hissed anyway, her clothes and hands soaked through with blood.
"You're going to be okay, Cress," Scarlet said.
Cinder turned to Thorne, forgotten on the floor and worried about Cress.
"Cinder...I think...." he started in a raspy voice. Cinder shook her head.
"Cress is going to be okay, Thorne. Can you walk?" She outstretched her hand and he grabbed it with his good hand. His fingers were very cold. He offered no momentum.
"I don't......think so."
Cinder pulled him to his feet with a sudden burst of glamor, and he fell onto her shoulders. Cinder straightened him, her metal arm clamped around his back.
Scarlet took Thorne's other side and they shuffled out of the palace, leaving Levana's body behind the throne for someone else to find. Wolf walked behind them, still carrying Cress.
The snow was still falling steadily outside, the white slush mixed with red and purple gore from the battle. Jacin, Winter, and Kai were nowhere to be seen.
Medical hovers and many people were gathered around the various contorted bodies on the ground, offering bandages and medical supplies.
Scarlet and Cress led Thorne to the back of one of the hovers.
"Put Cress in.....instead." He protested weakly.
"There will be another one soon," said Scarlet. She gently pressed him back down on the bench.
A medic closed the door and the hover sped away. A moment later, just as Scarlet said, another group of hovers pulled up.
"I'm worried about Aimery." said Cinder to Scarlet. "I haven't seen him, and he could still be alive. I have to find him before he hurts anyone else." Scarlet nodded.
"I heard from someone passing by that he was running into the city. Aren't Jacin and Winter there?"
"That's right. We should look for them, too."
Cinder turned back to the empty medic hovers. "Hey, where's Wolf? Wasn't he following us?
Scarlet turned and surveyed the crowd. "There he is."
He was sitting on the edge of a dry fountain with a statue of Levana on the top, his back to them, about thirty feet away.
Cinder and Scarlet weaved through the chaos and found him.
He was still holding Cress, the little blonde looking so frail and cold in his large hands.
"Wolf, there are more hovers open at the......"
Cinder looked at Cress again, realizing suddenly that the little blood-stained body didn't have any life left in it. Wolf inhaled sharply and curled around her more, as if trying to protect her body from the cold. Scarlet let out a sob and grabbed Cinder's hand.
Wolf looked up at them, his bright green eyes suddenly sad.
"She told me that...........she was afraid to die. She told me that she wanted me to protect her." He looked down at his hands, stained from Cress's blood.
"I.......I couldn't protect her."
They sat in silence together for a very long time, looking at the fountain and the snow falling softly around them.
"What are we going to tell Thorne?"

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