Page 153 of The Eye of the Fifth
They had to be alive.
A great explosion stole the night’s peace.
Kyra whirled around, heart thumping, to see the horizon had become a colourwash of aggressive orange, fiery light illuminating the smoke now billowing above the city.
And it was coming from the port.
‘Fuck,’ she breathed, then broke into a sprint, cloak flying behind her.
Breath was soaring in and out of her lungs by the time she reached docks, ducking behind an old shed full of rotten oars and rusty, broken ship parts.
Thick, unyielding flames ate away at the little ship she’d arrived on. Timber snapped, white sails now nothing but ash on the wind. The very air was taut with screams.
Sailors were burning with their ship. Those innocent Nythanorian fishermen who had done nothing but bend to the will of the Earth Warden who had convinced them she needed them. Some had jumped overboard to escape the blaze, but their bodies bobbed motionless on the surface of the water, impaled by arrows.
‘Come out, come out, Earth Warden!’ A hoarse, unfamiliar voice drawled over the crackling flames. ‘Come be the hero we all know you’redyingto be!’
She didn’t know that voice. But they knew her. They knew she was here.
Shaking, Kyra peered around the shed.
A throng of Union soldiers were lined in formation at the docks, all facing the burning ship. And in front of them stood another with alongsword pressed against the neck of one of their own. One who was young, with kind eyes and true humanity in his heart.
‘Raymond,’ Kyra whispered.
Fear gripped her, bitingly cold and fierce. If he died because of her-
She started running then without thinking, feet pounding the worn wood beneath her feet, revealing herself in the light of hungry flames.
‘Here she comes!’ the Union cunt holding Raymond proclaimed loudly. ‘Our Earth Warden, here to save the day!’
Laughter rang like jeering bells from the surrounding soldiers.
Kyra halted before them and seethed, ‘Let himgo.’
‘I don’t think so,’ the soldier sneered.
‘I wasn’t fucking asking.’
‘We don’t answer to fae-sluts. And I’m afraid-’ he gave a mocking sigh, ‘I already have orders.’
Kyra surged forward, palming her dagger. ‘Don’t you fucking dare-’
Raymond’s wide eyes locked with hers. ‘Kyra… don’t-’
But whatever he had been about to say was cut short, as the soldier behind him swung his sword wide, cleaving Raymond’s head from his shoulders in one fell swoop.
Kyra froze.
She watched in silent horror as Raymond’s head rolled towards her. The murdering soldier kicked his corpse to the docks. The dull thud was loud in Kyra’s ears.
The blood that spilled onto the deck and into the water was louder, each drop resounding with horrific clarity.
Like a dripping faucet.
She was going to kill them all.
A carnal sound snarled from her lips and she revelled as fear, true fear sparked in the soldier’s eyes. He backed away a step, and she was vaguely aware of soldiers swarming to surround her, swords drawn.
