Page 44 of Between Despair and Hope

“Fuck. Dewalt, go help.”

“What? No. Can you stand?”

“No, you need to go help them. The novices are being tortured—all women. I smell fire, Dewalt. Whatever you have done—” He shook his head. “Please, I made a promise. Go help and come back for me.”

“Emma would fucking kill me. No! We can go help them together.”

He flinched when I said her name, and it struck me as odd.

“Dewalt, I can’t fucking walk. She’s here, right? Em will find me,” he whispered as he closed his eyes. “Go help them.”

I watched him as he tried and failed to stand. He was clearly weak, and I felt my chest tighten. It took everything I had not to reach out and help him up, and I crossed the distance between us before I stopped myself. The man could be prideful to a fault, and I knew he’d be furious if I touched him.

“What is that smell?” he questioned.

“It’s me; don’t ask.”

“Go. Go help them. That’s an order from your king.” His face was grim as he stretched his neck, and I knew I had no choice but to follow his order.

“You’ll deal with her then?” He nodded, and I saw his throat bob. “I’ll be back if she doesn’t beat me here first. Try not to die in the meantime.”

He chuckled, but I passed one of my knives to him anyway. When he went to pull away, I grasped his wrist and ignored just how thin he was, looking into eyes holding a tired sadness I couldn’t begin to comprehend.

“I’ll be back, Rainier.”

Fuck the Myriad.

I didn’t give a rat’s ass what happened to the novices, even if they were getting tortured. Rainier knew how I felt about anyone who associated with them, after what they put Lucia through, after they failed her, yet he sent me on this gods forsaken errand. I just wanted to get my friend and go. Easily catching up to the novices who’d been running down the corridor, they led us up from the dungeon down a long, open hall—opulent to a distasteful degree. Gold-coating was on nearly everything, and the carpeted flooring looked expensive. When we finally got outside, I understood the fear.

The building they ran toward seemed to be attached to the palace itself, nestled against the eastern wing.

Divine fire had set it ablaze.

I glanced about, looking for Emma and the dragon, not finding either. But what I did see was absolute fucking mayhem. Bly sat atop his dragon, Ifash, who used his tail to slam Folterran soldiers to the ground. Scanning the chaos, I found Thyra swinging her ax over her head before relieving another soldier of their own. There was fire and roaring and smoke, and, even though we only had a handful of soldiers, we weren’t overwhelmed because of the sheer power of the dragons.

I let my thoughts wander, hopeful that Emma could make a gods damned army out of them.

Darting past wreckage and ruin, I intercepted a Folterran soldier who was running toward the novices in a way I didn’t trust. I didn’t know what the fuck his plans were, but I would not wait to find out. I didn’t give a damn about them, but I needed to help and get the fuck back to Rainier. Not only did the soldier not expect what was coming, the novices had no idea what I’d just saved them from when I sliced the man’s throat, dropping his body to the ground.

Fighting the smoke, I followed the novices. I didn’t know what Rainier would have me do. The whole front of the building was aflame, and if anyone were inside, they’d be lucky if they weren’t dead already. The women fell to the ground, wailing and pointing upward, and it took a moment to see why.

The structure was on the verge of collapse, and the upstairs windows had all burst out. But there was a small child standing in a second-story window, reaching down and crying as smoke billowed out around him. The babe couldn’t have been more than two years old.

Gods damn it. Just what I fucking need.

Jogging over to the window, I shouted up at the little one, “I want you to jump to me, alright? I’ll catch you.”

The crying didn’t stop, and if anything, the child looked even more terrified before backing away from the window.

“No, no, come here! It’ll be fun,” I pleaded, trying to convince myself as much as I was the child. They backed completely out of sight, and I cursed before heading toward the front of the building.

One woman had approached the door, yanking on the metal handle despite the gods damned padlock someone had put at the top, and screeched as she drew her hand back from the heat. I ran forward to help as the ground shuddered below my feet. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Lux slamming down, and Emma was off of her, sprinting to the dungeons.

Thank the gods, since I was clearly preoccupied here. I turned back to the building and the novice at the door faced me, screaming as if she thought I was going to attack her. She pointed over my shoulder though, and I realized what had frightened her.

“Oh. Yeah, dragons. They’re—”

Two ridiculous things happened at once. First, the novice fainted, falling forward into my arms with bulging eyes. And second, the door behind her burst open, the entire frame coming with it attached by the padlock.

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