{Chapter one}
ADALINE DIDN'T WANT TO CROSS THE FOLD, but there was no chance she was going to leave her sister and Mal to do it alone. Watching Alina burn the Os Kerva maps and river systems made her plan her own escape.
Adaline, Alina, and Mal all grew up together in Keramzin, having met at the orphanage. The two Starkov sisters were left by their late grandmother who died when Adaline was a mere eight years old. The orphanage wasn't kind, either. The headmistress was heavily opinionated, the other kids were mean, and life was just outright hard. Especially for Adaline.
Her growing up was not easy by any means. She clearly remembered the day her parents died and the Starkov sisters were handed off to their grandmother. It was only two months after that that she passed as well. Adaline's time in the orphanage didn't help either.
As a way of reigning in her anger and learning to manage it, she used to fill old potato sacks with sand or dirt and hit them. Of course, it wasn't the most authentic way of teaching herself to fight, but it made do. Throughout the years her priorities were taking care of Mal and Alina, learning to protect herself, and writing.
When Mal joined the First Army, training from then on only got more intense. He was specially trained to fight, therefore giving him more experience than Adaline. That didn't stop the Shu girl from forcing her best friend to teach her how to fight properly any chance they got. And every time they sparred, Adaline got better and better.
Now here they were, destroying property just so the three of them wouldn't be separated.
Her eyes fluttered around the room desperately, looking for something to give her an opportunity. On the table sitting towards the back of the room, Adaline spotted an old and most likely outdated report on the Novokribirsk army. She snatched the parchment off the table and tossed it into the pit of burning paper Alina had started before she could convince herself otherwise.
"What are you doing?" Alina snapped, glaring at her older sister after blinking out of her little trance.
Adaline stared at the fire. "I'm not letting you go through the Fold alone."
"You could get killed!"
"And so could you, Alina." she grasped Alina's shoulders and met her eyes which were identical to her own. "We go down together."
****~****
"What was damaged?" The general of the First Army asked through gritted teeth.
Petya seemed anxious as she avoided his piercing gaze. "Nothing major. Just some records of the western coastline, Os Kerva's river system, and..." she flared her hand around to rid the smoke. "a report on our Novokribirsk armies. It's really not--"
"Critical?" The general took angry steps forward, not noticing the Shu girls passing and ducking into the tent. "Geographical data of the territory on the other side of the damn Fold? The only report we had on our supporting allies? Those records?"
Petya's eyes fell onto her shoes. "Yes, but I'm sure the First Army on the other side of the Fold has an–"
"You think I trust anyone else's intel?" The white-haired man sneered. "Now someone will have to cross the Fold to redraw these maps and write a new report."
Adaline made her and Alina's presence known. "We'll go. Put us on the skiff, we'll go."
The general's expression was unreadable as he stood and stalked toward the opening of the tent. "Yes, you will. Your whole unit will," he said to Alina. "Head of Reporters, I only want you out there. No need to risk a whole unit on one report."
Adaline nodded stiffly at the order. Alina's hands were fidgeting nervously.
Saints, what have we gotten ourselves into?
****~****
"What do you mean you're crossing the Fold, Addy?" Mikayla, Adaline's second in command as Head of Reporters, demanded while she watched her friend pack her bag. The girl was pretty with her golden blonde hair and blue eyes. You'd never expect her to be a part of the army, but here she was. "You're in charge of this whole unit, you can't just leave."
Adaline sighed exasperatedly. "I have to. And until I get back I'm leaving you to lead everyone." Stuffing her pack of pencils into her pack, she swung it over her shoulder and left their tent.
"Addy–"
"Leave it, Mikayla. I'll have Alina and Mal with me, I'll be fine." She placed her scruffed-up and scarred hands onto the blonde's shoulders. "I'll come back. But in the meantime, make sure Adrian doesn't have any more grammatical errors. He's been driving me insane."
The girl laughed sadly, her eyes glossing over. "Will do boss."
"Good, that's good." Adaline pressed her lips to her friend's forehead in a friendly way. "I'll see you when I get back."
Taking a deep breath, Adaline collected her nerves. She pulled a hair tie off her wrist and quickly put her hair into a low ponytail as she rushed onto the large boat. Above her stood a woman in a blue kefta, a Squaller. Alina's presence soon found her.
"You ready?" Alina asked.
"No, but Mal's too stupid to go by himself. I think all those muscles dulled his brain cells."
"Addy now's not the time for jokes."
"It's always the time for jokes, you just have no sense of humor," Adaline said as they boarded the skiff, trying and failing to lighten the mood. Especially failing when Mal caught sight of the two of them.
"What are you doing here?" he said, acting a little too calm and facing the younger Starkov.
"We've been assigned with you," answered Alina, looking up at their best friend with his shaved head, broad shoulders, and rifle placed across his back.
"No. Turn around right now."
Adaline scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Orders are orders."
Mal's glare turned to Adaline. "I could shoot you in the foot."
The girl hummed. "I quite like my feet thank you," she said and pushed past the man. "But you can certainly shoot Alina's."
"Hey!"
Mal turned and gently but firmly grabbed Adaline's wrist while still blocking Alina. "Tell them you're sick."
Adaline scoffed. "I'm never that sick. Besides, do you think they'd believe both of us being sick at the same time?" The black-haired girl looked over Mal's shoulder to glance at her sister. "I told you the muscles dulled his brain cells."
"Lie if you have to." Mal insisted, shaking his head vigorously.
Alina grew tired of Mal's persistence. "And what's your lie? We're with you."
The two got lost in the eyes of each other. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence, in fact, Adaline more times than not felt like a third wheel. She didn't mind, but she certainly did want them to get together already.
Mal finally broke the silence, not looking away from the brown void of Alina's eyes. "Get off this boat now, or I'll carry you off."
Adaline felt like this wasn't directed at her as much as it was at Alina.
Just as she was going to make another smart-arse remark the sergeant spoke first, telling the Grisha to raise the gates. They watched in silence as the skiff closed their exit. The only other way off was over the side.
Mal let out what sounded like a mix between a sneer and a growl as he stalked to his station, leaving the Starkov sisters for themselves.
"You two are the most oblivious humans, I swear," Adaline muttered under her breath.
After a brief explanation about the blue light at the mast of the ship, the rich-skinned Inferni gloved her hand and signaled something to the Squaller at the top of the skiff who manipulated the wind to push off the boat and descend into the Fold.
Both Alina and Adaline's hair whipped around them as the Seargent gave them orders to stay at their stations. Adaline looked back at their camp as it faded from view, but her eyes wandered to find a spot of black color watching the skiff from the docks.
Whatever, or whoever that was, it blended into the color of the Fold as Adaline's body was engulfed in it for what could be the last time.
****~****
Not even two minutes into their journey did things go wrong. Growling emitted from the shadows the second they entered the Fold, and Adaline didn't even notice when their blue light died, as she could see perfectly through the darkness.
Out of instinct, everyone grew quiet. Mal looked over to his friends, mouthing "Get down," and for once, they did as they were told. Adaline gripped her bag tightly while her open hand searched for her sisters'. Once she found it they entwined their fingers as Mal cocked his rifle and took aim.
It was silent besides the terrifying sounds of volcra flying. Then, one of the cartographers lit a lighter under a lantern. The Inferni's eyes grew wide as something big and leathery moved around behind him. "Blow it out! What are you doing?" she demanded, her voice trembling.
The boy looked up with his mouth agape, finally seeming to realize his mistake as he whipped around to find himself face-to-face with a volcra that attached itself to his chest through its claws and flew off with him in its grasp. The lantern he had held fell onto the deck and created a scorching fire that spread quickly. Adaline immediately grabbed her sister and began moving backward. They watched as the volcra picked off their Squaller with a scream.
Another cartographer was taken away straight through the side of the skiff, creating a large hole through the wood as the fire grew larger. Mal stood calmly at his station, shooting the Volcra as they picked off their victims. A mangled and bloody body dropped next to Adaline and Alina.
The soldiers shot and used their Grisha powers to the best of their abilities as they fought. The Inferni that directed the ship earlier stood in the middle of the deck, waving her arms around and creating flames as she yelled for the volcra to test her before it took her by the chest and dragged her off.
One of Alina's cartographer friends, Alexei, panicked and dove out the side of the skiff despite Alina's protests. Adaline wrapped her arms around her sister as tightly as possible and held her close in fear that this would be the last time she'd get the chance to do so.
Adaline's eyes widened when she heard a familiar voice yell out. Looking towards the front of the boat, both Starkov girls found their best friend in the claws of a volcra. Mal made eye contact with a panicky Alina, before looking behind her to his older best friend. Adaline had tears in her brown eyes, but Mal ignored them as he nodded at her like a silent last wish.
Adaline was frozen, watching as the boy stabbed his knife repetitively into the monster's foot. Alina's face contorted into one of anger as she scrambled out of her sister's arms and to the rifle lying at their feet.
With a bang, Alina fired the gun and shot the volcra in what looked like the head before dropping the weapon and crawling to her friend. Adaline followed soon after, fearing Alina's ignorance would get her killed.
Alina sat at Mal's chest with a hand tightly gripping his while Adaline placed his head onto her lap. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for the three, Alina and Mal especially. Adaline refused to listen to anything he had to say about his death, as she refused to let him go.
Mal was her first fight, her first win in a fight. He taught her every good defensive move she now knew, he gave her the advice she needed, he did some foolish thing to shove her out of writer's block, and he even punched some random man just for catcalling her.
And when the words, "Take care of her for me, Addy," left his bloody lips, something in Adaline snapped.
Literal darkness that she had always felt came pouring out of her as she cried, and she didn't realize the wall of darkness that formed around the skiff.
She didn't see her sister get picked up by a volcra, or the streams of light leave Alina's body.
She lost consciousness once her shield of shadows dissipated.
a/n
Welcome back! As you can see, I've just started editing in preparation for season 2. Updates will be semi-frequent as I don't have too much time on my hands nowadays. But I hope everything is well and can't wait to see you all next season :)
Until next time my lovelies <3