𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗
ⓉᕼE ᑕᗩᖇᖇIᗩGE SᑕᖇEEᑕᕼEᗪ to a stop and the doors opened, waking me up from my restless slumber. My fatigue was beginning to show as I had bags under my eyes and it was getting harder to move my creaky joints from being crammed in the cab for nearly four weeks after the drüskelle attack. Luckily, we lost the group of Fjerdans near the Petrazoi Mountains and there have been no other incidents. Nonetheless, I woke up many times each night in fear of being attacked.
"We are close to the outskirts of the Fjerdan Forest, sir," Ivan announced to the Darkling. "We will need to start walking from here to remain undetected." I groaned internally at the thought of tracking the Stag Saints know how deep into the Fjerdan Forest on foot. If there were such things as Saints, let them be on our side during our journey. We would need all the help we could get.
"Thank you, Ivan," the Darkling replied. Before Ivan had appeared, Aleksander and I had been talking in the carriage. He seemed to soften and relax when he was around me, but it could change with the blink of an eye when someone else was present. His face hardened and he spoke in a formal, emotionless tone. I wondered what happened to make him so guarded. "Gather all of our equipment and meet me at the beginning of the procession." The Darkling waved his hand to dismiss him.
The Heartrender bowed and scurried away. I just sat there awkwardly, not knowing where I was needed. Aleksander observed me as he always did until he broke the silence with a sudden question that caught me off-guard. "Have you had any recent dreams of the Stag?"
I had never been open about my dreams of the creature. When I brought it up to Mal, he would always laugh and say it was just a myth, my imagination, a fable. But then again, wasn't the Sun Summoner all those things too? Now, there was a panic amongst regular people and grisha because all of the fairytales and lore were back on the table.
"I only had one recent dream a few nights ago," I explained. "It was... different than the other ones I've had." The Darkling listened to me attentively, unlike Mal. "With the others, it felt like the Stag was calling to me, but this one—the look in its eyes—it seemed to be warning me of something. Then it started to walk away from me. After it disappeared into the fog, I woke up."
I fidgited uncomfortably as Aleksander scrutinized me, pondering my dream. Something about hiz gaze made me feel like he was dissecting me to discover some great unknown knowledge. "Well, let us hope the Stag does not disappear before we track it in the woods." He offered his hand to help me out of the carriage with an warm smile, but his eyes told a different story. He was worried about my dream and its meaning. "Shall we?" he asked. I nodded and chose to ignore his concern about my dream. After all, it was just a dream... right?
I ᖇOᗪE ᑎEᗩᖇ TᕼE ᖴᖇOᑎT of the procession on a white mare alongside the Darkling who had one of his large, black steeds. As soon as we entered the forest, it became hard to tell time. The trees blocked sunlight from reaching the ground. The occasional sunbeam snuck through, but otherwise, it was eerily dark. When we entered the forest, the sun was low in the sky, so I guessed that it was getting close to sunset. It seemed odd that it was sunny in Ravka, while here, the earth was blanketed in thick snow. The snow muted nature sounds that usually livened up a forest, but animals' footprints were silent, and the birds remained too frigid to sing their tunes. It was as if we were in a secluded bubble that sheltered us from the rest of the world.
"I think it is time we consider losing our horses," one of the trackers said after the horizon showing through the treeline had long since disappeared from view. "We are getting farther into the woods and should not risk scaring away the Stag if we are close." Hearing the First Army tracker speak made my heart ache for Mal. He would have found this stag faster.
Aleksander nodded and slid off of his horse. I followed his actions and handed the reigns to an Opriknik. We began to walk deeper into the Fjerdan Forest on foot until we could no longer see the beginning or end of wintery birch trees and cottonwoods. A few times, I felt like we were being watched. Once, I had glanced over to a cluster of trees and swore that I had seen the snowy antlers of the Stag poking through the branches. Maybe the hunt was getting to my head. However, when this happened a few more times, I believed that I was going crazy.
My feet were becoming sore and hard to walk on as time passed. Aleksander was getting more irritable too. He would occasionally snap at his men to keep moving. It didn't help that we were all on edge from being in enemy territory.
Just when I began to think we were chasing a lost cause, I felt it. I could sense the presence of the Stag closer than ever before. There was a soft ringing in my ear as if it were calling out to me as a mother calls to her child.
"We're close," I whisper to the Darkling.
"Are you sure?"
I nodded confidently. He looked at me for a moment and then muttered something to one of his trackers. They advanced at a slower, cautious pace. As we trekked through the snow, the ringing became louder and closer until we entered a clearing encircled by white birch trees on all sides. My attraction to the Stag felt like a magnet pulling me further into the forest. The dying glow of twilight lit the clearing enough for us to see. I let out a shakey breath; the puff of air was visible in the cold. This place is where all of my dreams occurred. Every curve of the trees' branches and slope of snow on the ground was the same as I had seen for so many years, and now, I was living it. I searched for the most important part of my dream: the Stag. The thing that could make me strong enough to tear down the Fold. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.
And there it was. The enormous white Stag standing over to the left of the clearing was as magnificent as in my dreams. Its ivory antlers conjoined to form a sun, and his stark-white bristles seemingly glowed through the shadows. My breath was taken away as I stared at the beautiful animal. It was better than I could have imagined, and if it were not for the brittle, prickling air on my cheeks, I would think I was in another dream and would wake up at any moment.
I inched forward towards Morozova's Stag in a trance-like state. When I looked into the creature's dark eyes, they were calling to me; he almost looked sad in a way, pleading, which made me want to go to him even more. After taking a few steps closer, I felt the Darkling put a hand on my shoulder to stop me.
"Stay close. We do not want to scare it away," he whispered while urging me back. The Stag snorted and looked at me. I could not help but think it was begging me to save its life.
I replied, "What if we did not have to kill it. Maybe there is another way—"
"There isn't," he cut me off sharply. "We cannot risk something as important as this, Alina. We must have the Stag and its bones."
I knew he was right. We needed this amplifier if we were to ever act on the hopes of destroying the Fold. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that killing this animal wasn't the right move. It was so beautiful, and it had lived in my mind since childhood. To think that it would no longer exist made my heart ache.
My hands were shaky as I took the rifle offered to me by a tracker. I was never skilled with guns. If I was being honest, I couldn't hit a bright red target from a few feet away. Aleksander stepped closer and guided the muzzle up. He led my hand to the trigger and clasped his hand on top of mine, trapping it in place. "Relax your arm," he whispered in the shell of my ear. I tried, but I was still quivering. "The Stag was meant for you," he continued in a soft, lulling voice. "Do not fear taking its life. Think of the power it will give you. Only good can come from this." I swallowed hard and focused on the barrel of the gun pointed at the Stag's heart.
This power was meant for me, I thought. I will use the amplifier for good. For Ravka's welfare. I can do this. I tried to convince myself that I was not doing this for personal gain. For the power.
I let my shoulders slump a bit, and my hands stopped trembling. Aleksander put more pressure on my index finger resting on the trigger. "Pull the trigger on my cue," he said. I nodded and looked once more at the sad eyes of the Stag. I thought once more of my dream and could not help but wonder if it was the Stag's last attempt at getting me to spare its life, but I shook the thought free from my head. No. This is my power. This is the right thing to do.
"Now."
I brought my finger back quickly, and a shot rang through the forest. The Stag wobbled and let out a wounded cry. Then, it collapsed in front of us without a fight, and everyone cheered. All of the doubt that lingered in my mind was replaced with interest and anticipation of the amplifier.
"Gather its antlers," Aleksander commanded. I hadn't noticed that he was still holding my hand even after I let go of the gun. As the commotion of people surrounding the Stag distracted them, he leaned in and muttered, "You did well. Now, all we need to do is bind the bones to ourselves and we will have more power than ever before."
"Bind it to us?"
"Yes," he explained. "There is a way the amplifiers can be given to both of us so that we can be equally as powerful when we enter the Fold."
"And... destroy it," I said warily.
The Darkling looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Do you not trust me, Miss Starkov?" I opened my mouth to reply, but I did not know how to answer. He in turn cupped my cheeks and said, "I am doing this for us. Trust that I would do nothing to hurt you." I stared at him and looked into his eyes. There was no greed in them. They were not the shadowy eyes of the Black Heretic. They held years and years of pain, sure, but when he said he would not hurt me, he meant it.
I nodded slowly and gave him a small smile. Then, he kissed me. It happened so fast that I almost thought I had imagined it. It took my breath away and my cheeks reddened. I looked over at the group of men, but no one had seen. They were too preoccupied with the Stag. He touched his forehead to mine and stood there with his eyes closed for a minute. Aleksander broke the silence by saying, "We should get moving to a more secure location. If there were any drüskelle in these woods, they will have heard the gunshot and come looking for us. We will set up camp outside of the forest and bind the amplifiers tonight. Then, you and I will go straight to the Fold."
A knot formed in my stomach thinking about reentering the Unsea. It seemed so daunting and unrealistic of a task before, but to think that now we might have a chance of unrooting something so woven into Ravka's history was both terrifying and exhilarating.
The Darkling and I interlocked arms and started back towards the way we came. The trackers and Oprikniki trekked behind us carrying the Stags antlers, leaving the carcass lying in the red snow. Looking back at the Stag, I thought I would have felt more guilt after killing it, but I didn't. I only looked at the future. Finally, I would be able to help my country. Grisha would no longer be as feared if the Fold was taken down by one. For the first time in a long while, I saw a bright future ahead.
ᗩᖴTEᖇ ᑕᗩᗰᑭ ᗯᗩS SET ᑌᑭ on the outskirts of the Fjerdan Forest, we gathered in a large tent. Oprikniki watched closely at a distance and David, the Fabrikator that Genya liked, was waiting timidly in the corner. My nerves began to build again as everyone observed in anticipation. Eventually, the Darkling arrived in the tent and David took it as his cue to start. The Darkling noticed my anxiety and stepped closer so that only I could hear him. "Don't worry. It will not hurt and it'll only take a few moments. Then we will share power that has only ever been written about. We will make history."
I took a deep breath and straightened my back. David stepped forward and an Opriknik handed him a small antler and a bone cut horizontally to make a disk. David awkwardly asked me to pull down my sleeves and avoided my gaze as I did it. How such a strong woman like Genya wanted a shy boy such as David was past me. The brown-haired Durest rested the antlers on my collarbone. Then, Kirigan held out his hand and allowed David to put the circular piece of bone on the back of his hand.
Without warning, the antler started to bind to my skin and morph with my bones until I could no longer feel the difference between my bones and the Stag's necklace. It became one with my body. I barely processed what was happening before it was finished. The Darkling took slow, drawn-out steps towards me. "Aleksander, what's happening?" I whispered with frantic eyes. The look in his eyes was enough for me to take a step back from him.
"Everyone out," he demanded. The gathering of eager Grisha and soldiers filtered out of the tent with slumped shoulders, disappointed that they could not see what would happen next. When the shuffling of feet ceased and the tent became eerily quiet, he told me to take his hand. I hesitated. The Darkling sighed and reached out, interlacing our fingers. Energy came roaring to the surface, but I did not fight it. Instead, I was curious to see what would happen and I let it free. Sunlight and shadows encircled us in a rush of unmistakable, immense power. My sunlight's power was blinding and the shadows engulfed any light in its path, but neither overpowered the other. As much as I was scared of how much new power I had, I was also startled by a new greed awoken within me. At the same moment, I observed that I was not the one controlling the light. Aleksander was. What was even stranger was that I was summoning shadows. They responded to me and flickered or grew when I instructed them to. Our powers did not seem to be battling each other, however. They were flowing in unison like a synchronized dance in the air.
"H–how?" I stammered.
Aleksander held my other hand and kissed my knuckles, sending another jolt of energy through me. The shadows surged. "My power is yours. And yours is mine."
Just then, I realized how close we were and our breath tangled together, his warm exhales of air breezed my face, causing butterflies in my stomach. Then, our lips met and an indescribable connection blossomed between us. I could feel everything—his hunger for power, our lust for each other, surety, and eagerness.
When we broke the passionate kiss, he responded with a determined visage, saying, "Now we enter the Fold."
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Next chapter will be interesting :) It is how I think the book should have happened. Thanks for reading! You know what to do—what I say every single chapter—feel free to vote, comment, and react or share the story with others. <3