Page 103 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
A terrible scream broke us apart.
“No, no, no!”
Right in front of my terrified eyes, Orion grabbed my fallen knife from the ground.
The Commander stuck out his hand and twitched his fingers, but his powers didn’t stop Orion, who looked to be fighting the movement with all his might, as if a force greater than all of us controlled him.
I rushed to Orion, but he slashed his own throat right as I fell upon him, pure terror in his eyes. Once again, his blood splattered on my face.
I recoiled back and froze.
Orion’s body thumped to the ground, his terrified gaze still on me, both accusing and apologetic.
The wind blew ash around me as I stared, disbelieving, at the gushing blood.
Something inside of me cracked.
The whirlwind of emotions finally spilled over.
But instead of crying, roaring, or fighting, a numbness took over me.
Too much loss.
Too much violence.
Too much death.
I’d finally reached my limit.
Not as Allie.
As The Huntress.
I sat down on the dry, ashy ground, and pulled my knees up to my chin.
I was only aware I’d began to rock back and forth when the Commander kneeled beside me. He raised his hand toward my shoulder, hovering, unsure, as if he feared I might shatter. Then he touched me. His large palm was warm, but not enough to scare away the emptiness swallowing me whole.
“Huntress?” he asked, and I hated what I heard in it.
Apprehension.
As if he was afraid he might frighten me further. But nothing he could do now could be worse than what had already happened.
“My power didn’t work on him either.” The words tumbled out of my mouth, but I wasn’t aware of speaking them. Not really.
I was moving through the motions, caught in a current I no longer controlled.
The real me had detached from my body and mind. It had curled up, no longer anchored.
“Look at me.” The Commander’s voice was the only thing that broke through the frozen wall quickly encasing me. Only then did I notice the gash on his eyebrow, healing quickly, and the scrape against his neck. It seemed the chat with the Serpents hadn’t gone as smoothly as he’d wanted me to believe. “What do you want to do now, Huntress?”
“Take me back.”
“Where?”
“To the only place I’m safe in now.” I turned and crumbled in his arms, finally spent. “Take me back to the crater.”
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