Page 130 of Dance of Stars and Ashes

Zarya was losing consciousness again. The bleeding had stopped, but her entire side was both numb and aching.

“Hang on,” Rabin whispered, looking down at her. “I’m going to take care of you.”

“Koura!” he called.

Finally, Koura stepped out from a tunnel and ran to them, worry in his kind eyes.

“Put her down,” Koura said.

Zarya grabbed his arm with her flagging strength.

“Just enough so I don’t die. Save your strength for Amrita. Promise me,” she whispered.

The healer paused, his lips pressing together before he nodded, laying his large hands on her side. Zarya gasped as a tingle washed over her like being dipped in a hot bath after coming in from the cold. Koura’s golden healing light filled the cavern, flowing all through her body, finding each laceration and coaxing it back to life.

Rabin held her hand before his gaze flicked to Koura. Then, he leaned down to kiss her, his hand wrapped around the back of her neck, infusing it with longing and hope and the shape of a promise. He pulled away, his gaze searing into hers.

“Don’t scare me like that again.” His voice was thick with an emotion he was choking back. “And we’re getting you some proper armor after this is over.”

Zarya glanced at Koura and almost laughed out loud as he stared intensely at a random spot on the wall, clearly trying to give them privacy in the confines of the cramped tunnel. She looked down at the ruined fighting leathers she’d so proudly purchased and huffed out a laugh.

“Fine,” she said as a shout echoed through the cavern, and three Kiraaye Ka rounded the corner.

“Excuse me a moment,” Rabin said before he jumped up and launched himself at the fighters.

As Koura worked, she felt tissue and skin grafting together, sealing the wound as his healing light flowed over her skin.

“It’s a deep cut,” Koura said after another minute. “It’s not fully healed, but that should hold, at least for now. Try not to move too much.”

“Thank you.” Zarya lay back, taking several long, slow breaths of relief. She felt a little better. At least the numbness was gone, and she’d stopped gushing blood.

Koura helped her stand. “You need to rest. Get yourself to the infirmary where they can bandage you up properly.”

Zarya shook her head.

“No, I have to find Dhawan first.”

Koura’s nose flared. “Zarya, this isn’t wise. The wound isn’t healed. If you let me use more power…”

“No,” she said, grabbing his forearm. “I’ll be fine. Save your strength, and please help my friend here.” She gestured to the roots around them. “Amrita cannot die, or we are all lost. The darkness will win, and you know that cannot happen. I have to finish this. For Amrita.”

Koura nodded slowly and placed a fist over his heart.

“For Amrita. For Daragaab. May the stars light your way, Princess.”

“I’m not a princess,” Zarya said.

“Perhaps not yet.” Koura smiled.

She returned it and ran off in the direction Rabin had taken, but the tunnels had shifted again, and he was gone. Zarya rounded corner after corner, searching for him, his kiss still warm on her lips.

She ran through the tunnels, her movements fueled by the adrenaline firing in her veins. As two Kiraaye Ka appeared, she swung at them, barely pausing as she gutted one with her knife and swung her sword, slicing the other in the side of the neck, blood pouring from the wound.

She didn’t have long before her body would give out again, but for now, Zarya moved like nightfire itself, with vengeance in her blood and love in her heart.

THIRTY-SEVEN

Her voice echoed through the tunnels as Zarya called for Rabin, but the shifting labyrinth had swallowed him up. She raced through the underground, dispatching any Kiraaye Ka who crossed her path.