02||WARRIORS AND BROKEN ONES

The calming and early morning breeze was blazing through Anya's hair, a colorful sash Kesh had given her tied into it, as she stood at the helm besides Nikolai, the two of them surveying the preparations on the two-masted schooner. "The Volkvolny crew seems to be running everything smoothly." She stated, watching them prepare the smaller boats, each outfitted with a weapon that had several harpoons in its arsenal. "That's because I make it so, sister. I am an excellent captain and inventor after all." He joked, poking his elbow into her side. "Have I told you you're a twat? Because you are." The raven-haired replied with a smirk. "Only all my life since we've known each other." The younger Lantsov brother retorted with a crooked smirk, pushing his copper hair back as he did.

The Oryalen woman eyed her best friend sideways, seeing the calmness on his disguised face. "You look...happy here. At peace." She said. The all-too-clever-fox chuckled softly at her words. "I am." He simply uttered. "Are you sure you want to come home with us? Back to Ravka?" The young grisha woman questioned softly. "I'm not sure if I want see any of those self-catering nobles but I'll have to do it." He let out a deep sigh. "So after the sea whip, I guess we'll go home." she grinned, and if it wasn't for most crew members not knowing he was in fact Nikolai Lantsov, the inferni would have smacked him hard on his shoulders as she'd take him in for a sideways hug. "Ah but don't you know my sweet privateer, home is where the heart is."

Before the two could continue their conversation any further, a voice called out to her. "Anya! You up for a game of cards?" Tamar questioned, shouting from where her, Tolya, Alina, Mal and someone else were sitting. "I have to go, our people are calling me." she jested before walking down the stairs and joining the people as the captain went to focus again on the route they had charted to the bone road. "So, what game are we playing?" Anya wondered as she plopped down besides the tall man. "Just some card game we spend way too many hours on. We'll show you how to do it." he said. "Yalat." The Shu man uttered again with a grin as he smacked down a few cards, making the young Starkov woman frown. "What does that mean?" She asked. He shuffled the deck before handing a few to her and the raven-haired. "You don't know it? It means victory in Shu." He stated simply, with a kind smile.

"I- I actually don't speak Shu." The other grisha woman stated, disappointment in her voice. "Understandable." The warrior woman replied, looking down at her hand. "We know what Ravkans thinks of people like us. Mutts." She stated, clenching her jaw in annoyance. "And in Shu Han they prefer to remind us over our mother's Ravkan blood." The other heartrender stated. "Blood is blood. Only fools think otherwise." The Oryalen woman nodded at their words. "I know what you mean. For some Ravkans I had too much Suli blood. And for some Suli I was too much of a Ravkan." She said, accepting the situation. "But I've learned to live with people like that. Or rather, I learned to ignore them. Who cares what people like that think." The young grisha woman stated with an encouraging smile at the sun summoner. "Sturmhond understands that. It's why we chose to sail with him." Tolya added on.

"I have to admit, I am intimidated. I've never met a Ravkan saint before. Let alone two." The young Zemeni woman that sat next to Alina uttered in awe. "I'm Miradi and by your classifications, I would be a durast." She added. "Alina's also a Shu saint, don't forget that." The dark haired woman teased. "And Anya is also a Suli saint, something worth remembering I'd say." Kesh said as she sat down in an empty spot, eyeing the game. "Well I don't know if I'd go that far." The inferni replied with a soft smile, smacking down a few cards. The young Starkov woman glanced at the Shu woman, noticing the shark's tooth embedded behind her ear. "You are grisha? What order?" She asked excitedly. "Oh we don't really do that." Tamar said as she pointed at herself and her brother. "But I guess in Ravka we'd be named heartrenders." She added, the other grisha woman hanging on curiously.

"I got this amplifier a few years back. Took it right in front of Tolya." The tall man grinned at her words. "If only I'd been 30 seconds earlier." He mumbled with a smile. "That's the story of your life, little brother." His sister joked. "What did you see? When you took it?" She asked quizzically. "I saw Tolya swimming up to the shark." She stated. "So is the rumor true? Are you going after the 2nd of Morozova's amplifiers to tear down the fold?" Mirani wondered. The sun summoner's hand ghosted over the scarf around her neck that hid the antlers, as if she forgot that it was there, like a discarded shackle. Slowly she took it off, the jagged edges of the stag's antlers bones jutting out from underneath the skin around her neck and collarbone.

Anya's eyes hardened at the sight of the collar, imagining Kirigan forcing it around her neck. She could almost imagine him lording over her way he always would, the thought making her sick to her stomach. "I only ask because I am the durast that has to fuse them for you. I don't want it to be dangerous for either of us." She stated. "It breaks all rules. It is uncharted territory." The durast added. "What did you see? When you claimed the stag?" The warrior woman asked curiously in turn. "I- I saw myself. Reaching up to its muzzle. It was the way it should have been." The woman from Keramzin said with a frown. "I have been dreaming about the sea whip since then." The Shu man furrowed his brow, deep in thought. "You think they are connected?" She turned to him, determination sparking in her hazel eyes. "I think they are to be connected. So I can destroy the fold." the raven-haired eyed her with an arched brow. "Well, we can never be sure unless we try. Together." Alina chuckled at the words of her friends. "I am looking forward to it."

"Speaking of amplifiers, where did you get yours from Anya? I couldn't help but notice the scales that are running up your lower arms." The dark haired woman noted, putting down a few more cards on the table. "I don't really know, actually. They came to me when-" she hesitated for a split second, trying to find the right words to say. "Then came to when I was in a dark place." The other heartrender arched an eyebrow, mulling her words over as if deep in thought, before he spoke. "Almost as if the sea is asking you for forgiveness, almost like an apology." He stated calmly, as if he was trying not to annoy anyone with his poetic words. "I suppose you could see it that way. But you might have also been reading too many epic poems Tolya." the Oryalen woman joked softly.

"I wonder what a second would do to someone. But perhaps we'll find out soon enough." the durast sitting next to the young Starkov woman theorized, her eyes wandering off as if she had thought about it one to many times. "I used to have dreams." She started, seeing their confused faces before she continued. "Dreams of the stag, when I was little. I was to young to remember when they started or what they meant at the time." The tracker's hand slid up her arm, giving her a light squeeze in support as if he knew how the other grisha woman felt ever since the stag was claimed. "Maybe destiny has a way of reaching us, showing us people we are meant to meet, things we are meant to be or things we are meant to live through even if we don't exactly understand it when it shows it." he added.

The sea was growing more erractically, like a roiling tempest against the ship. The young grisha woman peered out to the open sea that stretched farther and wider than she could see. "When I was little, I would sometimes go on travels with my mother. Experience part of my culture, meeting the rest of my people. It was nice for a while. I especially loved going to the sea or to wide rivers. They felt so...endless, strong, like they held mysteries and secrets I could never even begin to comprehend." She felt the salt breeze sticking to her skin, like she had many times before when she was still a child. "I felt drawn to the ocean, to the rivers that coursed through the lands we passed. I used to dream of swimming to their depths and finding all of their secrets. When I got to the little palace, those dreams disappeared. But that urge, that feeling I always got, never went away."

There were so many things that the inferni left unsaid, words she didn't utter, but, those who could read between the lines knew them anyway. 'If only they could have carried me away from that place.' She thought to herself before turning back around, settling back into the game as if nothing happened. "With two amplifiers I might be strong enough to take down the fold. With that and the proper training of course." The sun summoner commented, eyeing her friend with a smirk. "Perhaps that's why he's after them and wants to hunt them. He craves the power they have within and wants to use it. So no one can stand against him." She added. Anya only nodded, knowing what is was like, to see the pain of their people and try to make a change. And yet she knew that, whatever path the general walked, it was not the right one.

The corporal stood up abruptly with a confused look on his face, making his way to the privateer. The raven-haired's eyes followed him curiously as he started talking to the copper haired man. His brow furrowed slightly, not in shock but as if whatever Mal said was hard to belief. Her friend put his hands on the helm, turning it enough to earn some curious looks of the other crew members. "What are you doing?" The woman from Keramzin demanded warily, standing closer to the stairs that lead to him as the others gathered all the cards. "Trust is a tricky needle all of us are threading right now. I need to trust that this isn't another myth. And you need to trust that I'll do my job properly." The prince simply stated, narrowing his eyes as he looked ahead. For his next words, he eyed the Oryalen woman side ways as she joined her the other grisha woman. "You can't do this on your own."

Alina scoffed slightly, the hairs in her neck standing up as she was on edge, still not full trusting the entire situation and their captain. 'Always stay alert for anything.' It was something the young grisha woman had taught her friend. "You're just saying that because you don't want to get played." She remarked. He chuckled darkly, his eyes hardening with the things he had seen, the things he knew. "No one wants to get betrayed, miss Starkov. I think you of all people should know that better than anyone." Nikolai replied, his tone a little bitter as he uttered the words. It seemed as if the young Starkov woman softened slightly at them, understanding the cindering truth that laid beneath.

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A few hours later, almost near noon, the sun stood at its peak, rays catching on the waves that grew more tumultuous. The air became more frigid the farther north they went, wind streaking sharper as against people's faces. The inferni stood at the bow of the ship, the bowsprit extending below her with its carved wolves, their faces etched in an eternal howl as they'd cut through the waves. "Lost in thought?" a voice rang out to her from behind. She turned towards the person the voice belonged to with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe a little." she chuckled slightly. The young girl jumped on the railing, holding onto one of the many ropes that found its way to the front mast. "So what was Novyi Zem like? Saw anything cool?" the brunette questioned. "Oh it was nice enough but well, you can't really be yourself when you are lying about your identity can you?" Anya joked, elbows resting on the railing with her back towards the sea, eyeing the 17-year old as she balanced herself on the tangle of ropes.

"Maybe you can go back to visit it someday. I personally have always wanted to visit the Wandering Isle. They do say they have beautiful people there." Kesh laughed, a spark in her eyes as she did so. "Young lady, are you in love with someone who happens to be from there?" The raven-haired teased as the young girl jumped down poking her with an elbow. "Nah not yet but I hope to meet someone one day. And he doesn't necessarily have to be from there." she replied with a grin. "Well you deserve it, you are a good person." the Oryalen woman said, swinging an arm around the girl's shoulders. "You are a good person too, you know, no matter what you think." the brunette's words made her brow furrow in confusion. "What makes you say that?" she asked.

The 17-year old didn't answer at first, weighing her words carefully, chewing her bottom lip a little. "Well, I see the way you look at things. You sometimes seem to think you don't deserve to smile. But you do. And I hope you'll find enough people to do it with." She answered finally, content with what she said as a soft smile rippled across her face. "Thank you." the young grisha woman said with a grin. "I also think that you might have been spending too much time with Tolya and his poetry." she taunted a little. Finally a whistle called out, breaking the silence with it's distinct pattern. "That's for me, I am needed to check and clean some weapons." Kesh stated with a groan, leaving her friend behind.

The inferni felt an inexplicable pull in her chest, a sense that something was calling to her, just as the ship slightly changed its course. She saw Tamar and the younger Lantsov brother standing at the helm, her boots clicking on the boards of the deck as she headed for them, passing through the crew members that were milling around. "So what's the status? How much longer do you think we'll have to go until we've reached the Bone road?" Anya wondered, joining in on their conversation. "Not long, we're pretty much almost at the island. And we're close, according to Mal." The warrior replied.

The all-too-clever-fox folded up the map carefully, walking to the edge of the helm platform, calling out to the crew. "Alright listen up!" He started, his voice commanding as everyone turned their heads. "Catching the sea whip is no easy feat. You will recognise this legendary beast by its white and gold scales, its large body and the fact that it will probably try to break you in half with its teeth. So be careful. Catch it, kill it and bring it to the sun summoner." He finished, the sun summoner's brow furrowing at his words. "No. Don't kill it." She said, her voice almost silent but the heads of the crew turned to her in disbelief. "Don't kill it? Aren't you supposed to, oh I don't know, claim its bones?" The captain remarked with a raised eyebrow, unamused. He was risking all of their lives after all.

"I-" the woman from Keramzin swallowed visibly. "I will find a way. And if I have to do it...I will kill the sea whip myself." Her words hung heavily in the air, their weight seemingly not fitting Alina. The privateer nodded. "Alright then. The boats are armed, now we must arm ourselves." he stated, as the crew started passing around several weapons, some familiar and some strange looking, probably invented by their captain. The tracker's eyes bulged slightly at the sight of the boats with their harpoons and the gear the others held. "I knew a pirate would have many weapons but this is a lot." The young girl let out a deep sigh as she passed him. "It's privateer, tracker." She said as she rolled her eyes at him and the raven-haired could see the prince's lips arch slightly upwards from the corner of her eye.

The Oryalen woman turned her eyes towards the sea and a shiver ran down her spine. Suddenly, before anyone could speak, a loud horn rang through the air. And that's when she saw it. There, as the waves clashed wildly against the ship, as rain started to pour down from the sky, a large body cut through the water in the distance. "Rusalye." she whispered, gripping the railing as all the hairs on her arms and neck stood upright. When several of the crew, including Tolya, had lined up and jumped into their longboats in a flash, they dropped to the sea, arms and nets at the ready. "We only have one shot!" the young grisha woman shouted through the storm as thr dark haired woman took over the helm, Nikolai peering through his spyglass at the creature.

Another crew member, a young woman with blazing red hair, peered out to sea in the opposite direction, her eyes narrowed wary to look into the distance. The brunette arched her eyebrows when the woman pulled out a spyglass of her own. "What's wrong?" she asked. In a split second, the inferni's instincts screamed inside of her mind. Dread clawed her spine, a knot forming in her stomach of unease and shivers running up her skin. She could feel him, almost as if he was here, almost as if he was calling out to her. She swore she could even see his form for a single moment as it wandered through the grew running around deck and the waves that splashed into them. "Did you really think you could get rid of me, Anya?" she could hear him say. "The past never dies." The crew member's eyes widened behind her spyglass in shock, a gasp escaping her lips and the next words she uttered released all hell. "ENEMY SHIP!"

Anya's heart lurched in her chest, her eyes darting between the sea whip and the other ship, flying the shadow summoner's colors. Shouts emanated through the air, so loud she could hear them over the storm. When she fixated her eyes on Rusalye once more, it moved its scaly body and reared it's head, the sea creature let out a monstrous roar, bearing the multiple rows of its teeth. "Tamar, Anya, Alina! I'll steer the ship, you and the other grisha must take it up with Kirigan's crew! If he gets the sea whip, we are done for!" The younger Lantsov brother yelled, earning a nod from his first mate. The raven-haired's obsidian eyes transfixed on the giant creature of legend that roiled beneath the surface and for a second, she could have sworn that he looked right at her.

For a second, it felt like all sound had faded away until she felt the Shu woman's hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice full of concern. The all-too-clever-fox looked at her and something in his eyes said that he knew what this moment meant for his best friend. "You can do this. All that it takes is..." He trailed off lightly, mulling over the possible words he could tell her before his gaze focused on her once more. "A leap of faith." The Oryalen woman nodded. "Let's do this." Several of the grisha on the crew stood at the other side of the railing, the enemy ship raging closer. And at its bow stood the darkling, his own small army of grisha behind him, ready to answer his beck and call. She didn't know who fired the first shot. What she did know was that only chaos followed after.

Instincts took over when the young grisha woman spoke. "Tidemakers! Squallers! Rock the ship! Blow them away!" she commanded, directing the attack in waves, almost coordinating everything in a split second. Directed blasts of waters blew in people's faces on both sides, some clasping their hearts in pain. The young Starkov woman's light burst through the dark as she flung balls of it at the opposition, almost like a wildfire canon, to throw them off even more. "We need to weaken the ship!" Tamar proposed. The inferni nodded. "Inferni! Heartrenders! With me!" Anya stood ahead, her narrowed eyes directed at Kirigan who stood with the captain at the helm, his face smug but his eyes enraged. "This ends here." she whispered to herself, her face turned into a sneer in anger.

She snapped her fingers but this time, something felt different. A spark jumped into her hands and like one, the few inferni of the crew lined up to stand at her side. They weren't with many, maybe four besides herself, but that didn't matter. Their fire merged itself as if the flames formed one breathing, living thing that lit the world in the color red, before that stream of fire rained down upon the enemy ship. One of the masts went up in flames, crashing down on deck. Several of the inferni on the other ship turned the tide of the flames, only by a little. Power radiated through her, adrenaline rushing through her veins and in this moment, she felt unstoppable.

Heartrenders stood behind the raven-haired and the other inferni, twisting the hearts of the other soldiers, slowing them down and even stopping several of them completely before their bodies fell to the sea or were caught up in the flames. "There is no way for you to win this!" the Oryalen woman could hear the general yell, his ship close. She could feel his onyx eyes staring into the back of her skull. "I know you, Anya. And I know that this won't end well." Her throat clamped up, not in pain or sadness, her face shrouded in controlled rage. Her obsidian eyes found him in the dark of the storm, reflecting the chaos of the waves in them. "You might know me, Kirigan. But I have one advantage that no one else has." She hissed. "I know you too."

Hail rained down on deck as some of the shadow summoner's soldiers directed it at them while others desperately tried to put out the fires. One of their own sails was pierced by several ice shards and severe torrents of wind blew people over the railing. Screams resonated all around her as people on both sides went down, their blood staining their clothes, or even worse, the deck as they laid there motionless. "Don't stop!" The sun summoner yelled at her friends, her face twisted in fury as she began to send out more shots of her own. Suddenly, shadows streaked past the young grisha woman, distracting her for a split second. Dark, hulking shapes appeared all around them, picking up some of the crew and hurling them across deck, some even ripping off their limbs. She felt a magnetic pull in her stomach, her attention drawing itself back to the part of the crew that was fighting the sea whip.

Tolya had hauled himself and several wounded back on deck but that didn't stop the waters from turning dark with the color of blood. Several of the Volkvolny crew were still in their long boats, shooting harpoon after harpoon, somehow always missing the giant creature before one finally embedded itself underneath. Rusalye let out a roar and somehow it electrified the inferni to the the core of her bones. It howled out in pain at it felt like her heart lurched in her chest. Pain shot through her body, her nerves on fire as almost every sound, every step, every person, everything around her seemed too much. It was in this moment that I felt like her body was not her own. Her foot put a heavy step forward, slowly as if she was afraid her knees would buckle, then another and the another until she started running across the two masted ship.

Before she could blink, her feet pushed her forward, guiding her as she weaved through the crowd, nichevo'ya arching their claw-like hands to stop her. The woman from Keramzin shot bolts of light at the dark creatures, pulverizing some to dust as the others steered away, all to keep her friend safe. Everything seemed to slow down as Anya jumped on the railing, unbothered by the heavy rocking of the ship and the turbulent storm that raged around her. It was as if the burn in her veins was fueled by it, urging her forward her instead of the pain. Her feet touched the bowsprit, almost bending underneath her weight as it croaked when she stood at the tip. The call became stronger, unyielding. It felt like a thousands pricks of eyes were staring at her and the world seemed to fade away, all at once. For a split second, the raven-haired looked at the violent waves below. Then, without another thought, she jumped off and dove into the freezing sea.

The sounds of the seething battle all but disappeared, turning into dull thuds above her head. Cold water clasped at her skin, shocking her awake out of her trance before the call returned. It was softer and calmer, as if it was almost happy that she was there. With great effort, the Oryalen woman opened her obsidian eyes as they caught the few rays of light that managed to filter through the surface. 'You can survive this.' she told herself as she felt panic rising inside her. She started kicking her feet, ignoring the burn of her muscles like any soldier would, swimming deeper and deeper into the gaping darkness below. The tide suddenly seemed to change, violently ripping her further away from the Volkvolny. In a moment, right in the corner of her eye, the young grisha woman saw a dark and scaly form slither past her and she felt all to aware that, whatever roamed these waters, had spotted her.

Air seemed to push on her lungs, eager to climb out while she was desperately clinging onto it. Her head whipped around, her longer hair floating out of her line of sight and then it was as if the world stood still. In the dark reared a creature, wing-like fins near its head that were so thin you could almost see through them. Red eyes stared back, a maw of teeth gleaming at her as it seemed to growl. An uncharacteristic burn mark ran down his snout, searing it black. 'Rusalye.' The truth of it rang through her, settling into her bones. Tentatively, the inferni swam closer, her hand extended towards the creature. Now that she was so much more near him, the calling had dumbed down to a whisper, almost inaudible.

And yet it was as if she could feel his pain, his sorrow and the longing for him to go back to who he used to be. But Anya knew that none of them ever could. She laid down her hand softly on the part of his burned scales, Rusalye closing his eyes as if he could sense the same kind of understanding in her. A shockwave shot through her body and beyond, churning the waves. In this moment, her sight, her voice, her body, was not her own anymore as the sea whip curled around her. A voice spoke through her mind, oddly familiar as if she had known it her whole life. 'We are yours. You are ours. We are one.'

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Rain poured down with buckets, mixing with the blood in the water and on the decks. Bullets flew around peoples ears, flurries of power shooting past to meet them. The sun summoner whipped her head around, hair sticking to her face as her eyes widened. The raven-haired was gone, so much so that she didn't even hear her friend shout for her. The captain stood near the helm, staring ahead at where she dove into the sea, dazed and full of worry. "Nikolai!" The Shu man shouted, shaking him out of his state. Nichevo'ya streamed the ships andwith all her might, Alina threw her hands up and covered the ship with a blanket of light. "You can't save them all, Alina." The shadow summoner shouted, his voice sounding warped through the barrier.

"Anya abandoned you. Every single one of you. Don't make it any worse then it has to be." he almost pleaded with her. The privateer had to bite his tongue to keep his cover as Stormhund but that didn't help the anger from burning in his eyes. "You're wrong." The young Starkov woman hissed, clenching her teeth as she concentrated on the barrier, giving the crew a reprieve as they patched themselves up. "Anya would never abandon us! Not willingly!" she would sooner eat the world whole than believe him, believe this. The sun summoner had learned her lesson and refused to be burned twice. Suddenly the waves pulled away, the sea churning wildly before it cast a glow, meeting her light with a deep blue hue.

Most of the fighting ceased in confusion, in awe. Something split the waves, a roar shattering through the storming sky. A scaly mass burst through the surface, coiling in on itself as it reared to attack, its eyes alight. But it wasn't Rusalye, barring his teeth, that drew their attention now. It was the figure wreathed in light, her eyes shining with the same glow as the sea whip, that stood atop his head. The darkling's eyes widened in shock some of his crew hurrying below deck for cover. The Oryalen woman raised one of her hands, twisting it in such a movement that a chasm of waves formed to part the two ships, pushing them apart. The tide of the battle started to turn and instead of the Volkvolny getting the full load, most of their opponents launched their attacks on her.

Bullets, fire, air and water all seemed to do nothing, their attempts rendered futile as she turned them around with lightning fast precision. The woman from Keramzin let down her shield, their allies firing their at the overwhelmed enemies. She thought that something was different in this moment, as if the young grisha woman wasn't entirely human anymore. Her walls cracked. Kirigan saw that, inside, she truly was a monster. She was rage, she was fury. She became darkness, darkness that he caused. And sooner or later, she would become his undoing.

Suddenly, shadow cut through the air, biting into her side. The inferni hissed as it burned into her skin, her breathing becoming heavier. She could see the general grin, even from here as he gathered a mass of shadows and time seemed to halt. She could not, would not, let anything happen to them. She would never let them suffer at his hands, even if it would come at her own expense. She would protect them, fight for them, give them shelter in the storm, something she never had. 'Daughter of Ravka. Daughter of the Suli. Daughter of the True Sea. Your story does not end here.' the voice of the sea whip echoed in her mind.

Her vision focused, sharper then ever, as a mass of water twisted around her arms at the beck and call of her hands, forming a long, thin blade in front of her. In that moment she was overcome with such a pain in her chest, filled with so much rage that she didn't know what to do with it. Her fingers itched and energy thrummed in her veins, power begging for her to let go. An ancient power, lost and long forgotten, bled from her bones. She was the purgatory inferni, the Drakon Sankt'ya. The only law she abided was that of the living. And sometimes she even defied that too. She arched her arms and finally let go, her hands meeting in a thunderous clap before the cut cleaved the general's ship.

Anya slotted her fingers together before pushing them out, as if she was breaking open a carcass, the sea sending the small rescue boats and whatever was left of the shadow summoner's ship off. Exhaustion started to slip into her bones and it felt like the ground slipped away beneath her feet. Somehow, the waves had carried her to the deck of the Volkvolny despite the remnants of the storm still running around them. The air felt fresher and more crisp some how, she noticed with every breath she took, the corners of her lips curling up slightly. Her hands clutched the deck as she squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the buzz of many feet walking towards her. "Anya?" A voice asked her carefully.

She opened her eyes, obsidian staring back at them as the bright light had gone. The prince, Alina, the 17-year old, everyone was looking at her with a look in their eyes that she couldn't quite place. Tamar and Tolya helped the raven-haired stand up and she could immediately feel them trying to calm her wildly beating heart. "I- I'm fine..." she mumbled softly, looking ahead of her, dazed. Nikolai and the young Starkov woman turned to the sea, talking about something that she couldn't quite understand. 'Alina looks sad. Why does she look sad?' She thought. Then, in a split second, nets dropped down into the sea, the giant harpoons turning to be aimed. Realisation struck her. "N-no." She moaned weakly. The Oryalen woman reached out her arm but it was too late.

The bolt struck the sea whip, digging into the skin and flesh underneath its scales. "NO!" She shouted, fighting against the hold of the two twins, almost sending them back. "Let me go!" the young grisha woman shouted, fear and anger and worry coursing through her veins. A second bolt struck, then a third, then a fourth, until Rusalye's body thumped against the side of the ship, getting hauled up as she sank to her knees, a growl escaping her lips. The crew pulled up the legendary animal, it's giant body nearly spilling over the deck, staining it with his blood. He breathed heavily, eyelids drooping but Anya felt how scared he was, she could see it in his eyes. "Anya?" The sun summoner started carefully but she could see the knife in her friend's hand, as if asking for permission in silence. It was as if she knew it had chosen the inferni.

With shaking legs she stood up, leaning her head against the sea creature nose. "I'm so sorry." She whispered softly, her voice full of sorrow, yet knowing that he understood. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you." His eyes closed, his breathing almost coming to a halt before the woman from Keramzin laid a palm on her shoulder. "Go ahead." Anya nodded before her friend stepped forward, prying a few of his golden white scales off. Tears ran down her scarred cheeks, the ship oddly silent as Rusalye, the second of Morozova's amplifiers, the creature of legend, took its last breath. An image flash before her eyes, searing itself inside her mind. Blurry waves parted, far away from the surface of the water, and she saw her own face staring back at her, the soft call to the sea ringing inside her once more. Then, either from his life force draining itself from his body or her own exhaustion, her knees gave out beneath her as she hit the deck, darkness waiting there for her.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Oh it has been quite
a while hasn't it, my
lovely and loyal readers?
Is it 2 am right now as
I post this? Yes it is.
Do I care? No I do not.

I hope you all liked
this chapter as much
as I did writing it.
This one was a tad bit
difficult to write because
it is something I have been
anticipating since the start
of A Woman Scorned.
Some of you perceptive
and kind readers have been
speculating since then.
The battle was also a very
momentous one in the books
so I only logically felt
obligated to put my
own spin on it.

I wanted to reflect
Rusalye's own feelings and
thoughts, so even though he
didn't speak, I hope I was
able to make you all see
him, in some type of way.

Also
I HAVE WAITED ALMOST
THREE FUCKING YEARS
TO WRITE THIS ENTIRE
THING. SINCE THE START
OF AWS SO IT FEELS
GOOD TO FINALLY HAVE
IT OUT OF MY HEAD.

Anyway, onwards to the memes.

And also as a little extra treat
I made another video!
It's part why I couldn't
post this two days ago
cause my stubborn ass
wanted to post it at
the same time as the chapter.
ANYWAY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubmO9hFV9ao

Hope you guys liked it
and I'll see you with
the next chapter!