Page 133 of Echoes of War

I sighed in concession. “I’ll fix it. You tell me how. Wait back there, and if I say run, you run.”

They nodded in agreement, but I didn’t buy that shit. If they didn’t follow Amaia’s wishes the first time, there was no way in hell they’d follow mine. Unease filled my chest. One glance up and I saw our time to fix this was extremely limited. Two minutes at best.

I got to work, following Elie and Emma’s instructions as fast as I could, losing my patience at their arguing over which wire crossed where. “Faster,you two. Thirty seconds.”

“You’re almost done,” Elie said. “Just tighten up the red one and we’re good to go.”

“No, it’s the black one,” Emma protested.

“And who’s been making bombs for months? Me. Pretty sure I know more than you,” Elie scoffed.

I cut Emma off before she could offer a retort, “The red one is in my hand, so that’s what we’re going with. Head for cover. I’ll be right after you.”

To my surprise, I heard their feet scuffling over the cobblestone in retreat.Got it.I pulled the red wire back in place, not bothering to gather the tools back up in my mad dash for safety. An ear piercing whir of metal sounded from the other side of the wall, the trembling of the earth beneath me followed shortly after. Whimpers of distress bellowed through the air.

Sparks flew over my head. I was out of time. I emptied my tank, pushing myself to move with the wind. Elie and Emma were now at my side, having caught up to them in a matter of moments. We weren’t far enough. When I’d tightened that last wire, I knew our time was up.

I grabbed them by the collar, pulling them into me. Elie peered up, fear and regret washing over her in understanding of what was to come. Her expression hardened to one of pride, proud of what she would have sacrificed for her people. Tears streamed from Emma’s eyes. She clutched my shirt.

Pushing them to the ground, I covered my body with theirs. “We did the right thing, Elie.”

Heat sliced the clothes on my back before the sound made its way to us. Elie and Emma pushed their air magic out, wrapping it around our bodies on instinct. Against the Soulfire, their magic was nothing.

Fear is a funny motherfucker. It was always right for two very important reasons—it’s reactive, something causes that visceral reaction. It has your best interest in heart, usually wanting to keep you alive.

So maybe that’s what led me to follow their lead. I covered us in soil, my earth magic coating them, followed by my water, easing the intensity of the fire meant to turn us into ashes.

The final shockwave of the Soulfire cannon firing separated them from under me. My body careened through the air, the ground rushing up to meet me. I landed with a thud, cracks emanating through my body. The impact was fucking brutal. Every fiber of my being screamed in agony, the earth beneath greeting me with a cruel embrace.

Everything around me was blurred, fading in and out of focus as if time itself were slipping through my fingers. The chaos beyond the wall and inside The Pit echoed, Emma and Elie’s cries now distorted. But cries were good, cries meant they survived.

Pain seared through my broken body, each slowing thud of my heartbeat a thunderous reminder of how fragile human mortality was. For as long as I remembered, I hadn’t cared whether I lived or died, but now I had something that made me want to live.Someonewho made me want to survive.

Get up.

I laughed, blood leaking from my lips, soaking my hands from touching the gash at the back of my head. There was a bit of irony in finally finding a place in life that made living worth it. It wasbeautiful to have finally found something worth living for and then dying for it within the same breath.

The distant echoes of war resounded, the aqua-cannons roaring to clean the devastation left in the wake of the Soulfire’s wrath. Elie lay beside me, her eyes closed but the rise and fall of her chest told me she was alive. I reached for her, not wanting her to be alone. I couldn’t reach Emma, but I could offer Elie some comfort. My palm found hers and I gave it a weak squeeze. The harsh light of day was too much for my eyelids to bear. They were heavy. The darkness that came from shutting them offered me some relief.

Amaia

Déjà vuencased me. Almost nine months to the exact date, I was running along the cliffside, racing against time as it threatened to take away the man that I loved. What I thought would be my final time opening my heart to someone had been sealed with my kiss of death.

Fear struck through me. My gut told me I was on the cusp of losing more than just him. Everyone I loved was counting on me, and so many beyond just them, but at that moment all I could think about was how I never wanted to live in a world where Alexiares did not exist.

His name tumbled from my lips, the minefield and forest around me whirling past. It was pointless. Alexiares was back at The Compound, right where the Soulfire had fired, letting any motherfucker who survived itenter my home.

Alexiares would be there, fighting in my home’s defense,my defense. Anyone who remained outside the shelter would die. We all knew that going into it, every soldier placed at the wall or on our battlefield was aware there was a strong chance we wouldn’t see night fall. But if I survived, and they didn’t … ifhedidn’t …

The field leading up to the North Gate simmered. Brown earth covered in ash.Good to know it works. Anyone who was unfortunate to stand on the other side of that cannon was no longer a matter of human anatomy. Limbs scattered the lining of the intact portion of the wall. Feet still stuck within boots, arms within torn, crisp uniform sleeves. The ones who were out of the blast zone of the Soulfire but within our explosives hadn’t fared much better.

Covert soldiers flooded in from west of the wall, flocking toward the breach with chants of victory. They clambered through the dusted mess of their fallen, no care in the world. The aqua-cannons fired, sweeping soldiers off their feet, surrounding them in water, then drowning them. It wasn’t enough, there were too many, and they were too spread out to put a real dent in them.

Our remaining unit posted at the wall swarmed out, ready to put up a fight. Magic flared out. My soldiers put their training to work effortlessly. Their magic streamed in between their use of combat and weaponry. They were holding their own pretty damn well, but it would only be a matter of time.

I stood at the edge of the tree line, heart thundering in my chest. Alexiares was nowhere in sight. No way in hell that man of mine had turned down a fight. If he wasn’t out here in the chaos, there was a reason.

Sprinting toward the gate, I called out for him, “Alexiares!”

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