1 | cardiac arrest [darkling]

thirtyfive

ADRIAN AND NIKOLAI HAD JUST left, after their meeting to discuss the war progresses. There are currently, approximately, twenty men injured and fifteen dead. Without a healer on their side, it made things harder. On the other hand, they were able to push Aleksander's army all the way to the outskirts of Kirbirsk, which meant they had no choice but go around to the south where Zoya was awaiting them or to go East.

Everything was going as they'd planned. She hadn't done any attack like she had during the beginning of the battle, instead she focused on keeping the injured alive, since she was the closest to a healer. So, Fedyor was the most active Heartrender on the battlefield in her stead.

There was a reason why she kept Fedyor on the battlefield. As happy as she was to see him again, she couldn't hundred-percent trust him. Simply due to the fact, that he used to be in the opposing army and Ivan would most likely always be Fedyor's priority. Of course, she didn't want any harm to come to Ivan or any of her friends in the Second Army, but there was no guarantee that Ivan couldn't convince Fedyor to come back to him. So she opted in making sure, that he was always too busy to join the meetings between her, Nikolai and Adrian.

There only a few people she could trust, especially with the secret of her amplifier. When she was still at the Little Palace, only Aleksander knew of its existence. She had never seen the point in having it or even using it. She already considered herself powerful enough, she didn't need that much more power.

On average, a Heartrender could control the inner organs of one person at a time, maximum two with enough training. It was only during a battle with the Fjerdans that she later on realised, that she could do so much more. And as she trained more everyday, she had quickly realised that she could do what no other Heartrender could in history, control the organs of a hundred people all at once.

She quickly became Aleksander's most valued weapon on the battlefield, sending her on frontlines to fight back their enemies. But as time had passed, he had slowly stopped sending her on the battlefield and instead kept her by his side. She couldn't help but wonder, if he had started to fear her power and had wanted to keep her close to avoid her going against him. How ironic. By keeping her so close, he ended up causing the one thing he feared.

And she would become worse than that even. She removes her necklace that was safely tied around her neck and without hesitation, let's the ring slip off the chain. Putting the chain aside, she fiddles with the ring, inspecting it. Just by holding it in her hand, she could already feel the surge of power in her.

Taking a deep breath, she slips it over her index finger and closes her eyes. She could feel the change in herself. What used to be pure silence, is now replaced with the sound of the heartbeats of the guards surrounding her tent. She could faintly hear the blood flowing through their veins and the way their lungs filled with oxygen, after each breath.

Wanting to put it to test - keeping her eyes closed - she focuses on the heartbeat of a guard, who is standing at the entrance. She let's all other sounds become background noises, as she focuses only on his heartbeat. And without moving her hands, she makes the guard's heart rate drop until he faints.

A smirk tugs at her lips as she listens to the other guards panicking, at the sudden unconsciousness of their friends. Not paying much attention to it, she opens her eyes and picks up her pen, before starting doing some paper work that needs to be finalised prior to them starting their next move in this battle.

With her ability to now control people's inner organs without her hands or even looking at them, she knew things would soon turn in their favour. Of course, she still had to test for the limits of her amplifier, how much could she do it. And of course, there was one question that had nagged at her for a while.

Aleksander had talked much of it, when doing preparations for the coming of the Sun Summoner. He had wanted Alina to have the Morozova Stag's antlers, the scales of the Sea Whip and the feathers of the Firebird. It is always said that no Grisha could have more than one amplifier, but it was obvious that Alina needed them for Aleksander's plans to work. And there was no doubt that Alina could handle all three of them.

Nyx, herself, is more powerful than any other Heartrender, or Corporalki in general, so what if she could wield the power of more than just one amplifier?

to be continued....