Excellent. I now had a plan.Let’s do it.
As swift as I was able, I unsheathed the gun, aimed, and squeezed the trigger.Click, click.
I scrambled to check the clip, and my heart sank. No ammunition. I’d just assumed it was loaded ... A fatal mistake I hadn’t factored into my equation.
Maybe Roman noted my actions. Maybe he assumed I’d aimed at someone behind him, thinking to protect him. Either way, the attempt to use my weapon drew the notice of others and acted as a starting bell.
“She’s Soalian!” someone screeched.
Ding, ding, ding.Chaos erupted all around, no one immune.Boom! Whoosh! Click!Grunts, groans, moans. Battle sounds blended, creating a discordant chorus. Arrows soared at me, quick reflexes yanking me out of harm’s path at the last second, ensuring none of the missiles landed. Not in me, at least. Winslet, however, took an arrow to the leg and cried out, agonized.
Soldiers toppled throughout the room. Miller struggled to gain his freedom with all his might to no avail. I removed a lace from my boot and used it as a tourniquet on Winslet’s leg, then leaped to my feet to cut at Miller’s bonds. I didn’t care if it painted a target on my back. We were past that.
One wrist freed.
Roman ran out of bullets and kicked a soldier in the face, sending his limp body flopping to the floor. He turned, ready to take on his next opponent. Spying my efforts to aid the prisoner, he confiscated a sword and marched toward me, felling another cadet along the way. Arcs of blood sprayed over a wall, triggering something. A holographic movie played in vivid color, snagging my attention. Roman got busy with someone else, seeming to forget me.
In the feed, Mykal occupied a small, windowless cell, banging her head against a wall. Crimson streaked her brow and leaked from her ears.
A whimper lodged in my throat. Was this happening in real time? Or recorded in the past?
The setting changed, revealing Victors strapped to a bed, fully awake as a man in a white apron cracked open his ribs. He screamed until hoarse and bucked against his bonds.
Suddenly I had a view of his still-beating, glowing heart. I gasped and pressed a hand over my mouth. This was the past. What had happened in captivity.
The monster working on Victors sliced into that heart and extracted a perfect, glowing stone. With a final scream, the Soalian sagged against the gurney and sank into unconsciousness.
I hunched over and emptied the contents of my stomach. By some miracle, I didn’t vomit on Winslet but beyond her. The horrors Victors had endured ...
Tears welled. I wiped them, then the corners of my mouth. Was this feed meant to distract me? Taunt me? Test me, specifically?What, what?
“Arden, behind you,” Miller barked, working on the other wrist.
I spun just in time, dodging a trainee’s swinging spear. Without pause, I drew back my elbow and launched a strike of my own. My fist slammed into his nose, and cartilage snapped. He collapsed, roaring as blood poured down his face. Roman fought two others a short distance away.
Unfortunately, my opponent wasn’t out for the count. He kicked my feet out from under me, and I crashed, air exploding from my lungs upon impact. Dizziness nearly overwhelmed me, but Cyrus had trained me well. I didn’t wait until my vision cleared to act; I attuned to my other senses. A slight whoosh of air signaled my opponent’s approach. I blocked, then threw a punch. Contact. My knuckles rammed into his throat, a quick influx of pain blunted by a fresh tide of adrenaline. The soldier slumped to the floor, gasping for breath he couldn’t catch.
Another soldier lunged at me. I leaped from my spot on the floor and punted him in the stomach. He stumbled backward, a cluster of shadows glomming on him. They must’ve come with a side of empowerment, because he glided to his feet with a skill he hadn’t previously displayed, my dagger clutched in his hand.
I scrambled up, and he lunged again, faster. This time he slammed into me, and we fell to the floor, him on top. I twisted to evade the dagger he attempted to thrust into my gut.
Boom!He sagged over me, dead.
A new river of hot blood spilled over me as I wiggled out from under his weight. I saw Miller, holding a pritis cannon.
I offered him a quick smile. “Thank you.”
“Soal for one, Soal for all,” he muttered.
Confirmation! HewasSoalian. The one I’d been searching for. The friend I’d felt so many times. We could discuss his insults later. Because he would survive. We both would.
Boom!Miller jerked, his jaw going slack. A portion of his chest was missing. His mouth floundered open and closed as he collapsed, crashing into me, taking me down with him.
I lay there, dazed and shell-shocked, as seconds passed, a light dying in his eyes. Then, suddenly, he ceased moving. I didn’t ... I couldn’t ... he ... I ...
Mr. Vyle’s voice spilled over the intercom. “Six are dead. You may stop now.”
I . . . I . . . I . . .
