Page 23 of Heart of Night and Fire

This must be the healing magic of Niramaya that Row had told her about. A group of healers followed Koura, carrying bandages, tubs of water, and vials of medicine.

With her hand still clasped to her aching shoulder, Zarya turned to the sounds of shouted commands coming from the courtyard.

The bottom bricks of the high courtyard wall were sliding towards the chasm, and chunks of the earth were falling away under the weight of the stone.

With her snow-white wings fluttering, Apsara stood on the far side with her legs staggered, her arms stretched towards the wall as if she were holding the bricks in place. Dust swirled in the air as sweat beaded on her brow. After seeing the demonstration at the fort earlier, Zarya was sure the woman was using air to hold the stones in place.

“I don’t know if it will hold. The bricks are sliding,” she said through gritted teeth, her voice carrying over the chasm.

Suvanna then added her own layer of magic, reaching out her arms as she formed a thick barrier of water. It shimmered and roiled like a massive raindrop suspended in time.

“Freeze it,” she shouted to Apsara.

Apsara flicked her wrist, and the water turned to solid ice. She buffeted the block with another blast of air, attempting to force the stones back into place.

Onlookers held their breath as if they were peering over a canyon with their toes already dangling off the edge.

But it wasn’t enough.

Cracks formed in the ice, thin lines webbing out from the center of the sheet as it was pushed to failure. A moment later, the ice shattered, exploding into countless shards. Zarya covered her head as tiny fragments of ice scraped her cheeks and peppered her clothes.

When she looked up again, the glistening marble wall was beginning to slide.

It paused for a heartbeat as if taking a bow at center stage, a final moment to honor its role as guardian of the sacred Jai Tree. Then it released with an echoing boom as shattered stones toppled one over the other, thundering into the abyss below.

TEN

Wails of anguish punctuated the crushing silence that followed.

Zarya clutched her shoulder, the pain spreading through her entire left side. The black fog had dissipated from the rift, but the nauseating churn in her gut remained. It was the same queasiness she’d suffered when the kimpurusha had chased them. Something otherworldly and wrong, all jagged claws and snapping teeth.

Apsara and Suvanna peered into the chasm. The entire courtyard wall had sunk into its depths, tearing off a chunk of the palace as well. Stones continued to topple over one another, clinging to the rough edges of the break before shearing away with a clatter. A tangle of thick tree roots jutted from the exposed face of the chasm, and Zarya thanked the gods that the Jai Tree appeared unharmed, its rainbow canopy still casting a benevolent blanket over Dharati and its battered citizens.

A mercy. Zarya dared not comprehend how anyone could save Rani Vasvi if she was ever in danger. The queen was trapped here, her form one with the wood of the tree. She would be utterly helpless should her home be threatened.

Zarya then caught sight of Princess Amrita being consoled by Apsara and Vikram, her round face streaked with tears. Eventually, someone led her away and back into the palace with her shoulders shaking.

Zarya surveyed the damage. Puddles of water from the shattered ice littered the surrounding streets, mingling with the falling dust and ash.

Aarav groaned nearby, still lying on the ground, his face pressed to the mud. Zarya threw him a dark glare, kind of wishing he’d fallen into the chasm. Maybe not kind of. He looked up and frowned in her direction as if hearing her thoughts.

“You’re hurt,” Vikram said, approaching Zarya, who was still clutching her throbbing arm. “Come. Koura will fix you up.”

He pointed towards the muscled Chiranjivi warrior. The man was still moving quickly between the injured lying prostrate on the street, his manner calm and eyes soft. Prayers and gratitude were murmured in his wake.

Fire ripped through Zarya with every step she took. Vikram walked alongside her, a hand on the small of her back. She tried not to groan as they approached the healer, whose hands now rested on the forehead of a woman with a long gash, blood coating the side of her face. That warm yellow glow emanated from Koura’s hands as the wound sealed, leaving behind only a faint, crusted scar.

Koura’s bright gaze then swept to where Zarya stood clutching her shoulder. Up close, he was even more enormous. He towered over her with his broad frame.

“What seems to be the problem?” His voice was as rich as honey-soaked cakes.

“My shoulder,” she said with a wince, and he smiled before reaching out to wrap a hand around her bicep. The touch sent an arrow of pain through the side of her body. Koura frowned as she flinched, the corners of his eyes soft.

“I can fix it, but this will hurt a bit.”

Her vision blurred with pain, tears leaking from her eyes, Zarya nodded. “Just do it, please.”

Koura placed his other hand on the back of her shoulder and then focused his attention. Warmth and light seeped from his hands as a spear of agony preceded the rub of bone against bone, the joint popping as it slipped back into its socket. Then Koura’s power flared once again as the vestiges of her pain drained to nothing but a dull ache.