1 | cardiac arrest [darkling]

fourteen

NYX HADN'T SAID A WORD SINCE they'd walked away from Aleksander, Ivan and Fedyor. Zoya and Inej would sometimes casually converse on some trivial matters, while Jesper was explaining the mechanism of his guns to David. Kaz stayed silent for the most part, except for the times he'd check with Inej about their plan to get the Skiff.

She couldn't explain it, but having been in the presence of Aleksander for a moment, had made her forget completely about her anger. It made her realise, that he truly was her weakness. But she wouldn't let him sway her. She couldn't, not with all the anger build up in her. She was certain now that she had made things clear - about not coming back to the Little Palace - he would go after Alina instead and forget about her.

"There it is." Kaz speaks up, snapping Nyx back to reality. She notices that they'd finally reached the Fold and that the Skiff was just there. From here, she could see two Grishas standing guard, Heartrenders. "Nyx you'll get us in. As soon as we're on the Skiff, Zoya you will get in position and get us out of here."

"What if there's someone in there? There might be a few Durast to make sure everything is set." David points out and Kaz glances at Inej.

"Inej and Nyx, I'm sure the two of you can take care of that." Kaz muses and the two nod in understanding. "So let's get moving."

Nyx takes a deep breath and walks ahead of the group, in the direction of the Skiff. As they get closer she can see the Heartrenders notice them and straighten up as they take a stance of defence. It reminded her of when she used to be still only in training.

Nyx had been so young at that time and so careless. She believed she had all the time in the world to do as she pleased. Baghra had told her there was no point in training, if she couldn't even stop being childish for a moment. It was in that moment she had broken down and had believed if no one could accept her wish to be carefree, she'd leave the Little Palace.

She had been prepared to leave, but that was when she had met him. She had been petrified at first, being face to face with the General of the Second Army and he had senses her fear. He had asked her to walk with him and not being able to say no, she accepted the offer, silently following him. He then told her about the situation with the Shu, Fjerda and the Fold, how things where seemingly hopeless with Ravka.

She then realised how much was at stake and that being carefree wouldn't be wise, when
Ravka needed her. So she finally started taking training seriously and she improved drastically. When Aleksander noticed that she was working hard to create a better world for Ravka and how determined she was, he appointed her as Second in Command. That's when their friendship had started.

Nyx shoves those memories to the back of her mind, focusing on the task at hand. She walks up to the two Heartrender, who seem to have recognised her and their defensive stance drops a little, but not enough to show that they trusted her. She expected that, after all she had just left the Little Palace without word and she was unsure what the General had told them.

"I'm here on orders of the General. We just came back from a mission and he wants us to make sure everything is ready." Nyx says firmly, raising her chin up to display her dominance. The two Heartrenders give each other skeptical looks and she knows exactly what's going through their mind. "Do you dare not follow an order from your General and Lieutenant?"

"Of course not. Please go ahead." One of them says, stepping aside and letting them pass. Nyx nods at them, before her and the others walk onto the skiff. Zoya quickly slips away and goes to her position. Kaz, Jesper, Inej and Nyx take a look around to make sure they were set to go. In the mean time, David removes the rope that tied the Skiff to the anchor holding it in position.

"Everything is clear." Inej says as they gather back on the dock of the skiff. Nyx looks up at where Zoya is standing and the Squaller is already looking back down at her. Nyx glances one last time at Kirbirsk, before looking up at Zoya and nodding for her to go.

It doesn't take Zoya long to summon the winds and have the skiff start moving. She can hear the Heartrenders shouting in protest, but they're moving too fast for them to stop the Skiff. She takes a deep breath and turns her back to Kirbirsk and faces the Fold.

Suddenly she hears more shouts of protests and she turns back around to look at what the commotion is. Her eyes widen as she sees Aleksander standing there and she can see the anger on his face, making her smirk. She runs to the end of the Skiff.

"This is only the beginning! Start preparing your Army, because I'm coming back for Ravka." She shouts loud enough, in hopes that he can hear her and by the way his demeanour changes to disbelief, she knows he heard her. That's the last thing she sees, before being engulfed by darkness.