“I’m going with Sverre to find Ladon and help as many as I can,” I say. “I need you to take Illadon.”
“I’m big enough to go with you,” Illadon complains.
“Yes,” I agree. “You are, but then who will take care of Jolie? I’m taking Sverre with me.”
“Oh,” Illadon says. “Right. I can do this.”
Jolie and I stand up. We stare into each other’s eyes for a long time, then pull each other into a tight embrace.
“I love you,” I whisper.
“I love you,” she says. “Thank you.”
The lump in my throat won’t let me say anything more, so I pat her back, then step a bit away, rubbing my forearm over my eyes. Her eyes are glistening too, but she doesn’t speak more either. She reaches out her hands, taking Rverre’s and Illadon’s hands.
“Everyone follow me! We’re going to safety,” Jolie yells to be heard by the crowd.
One last look at me then she is leading the crowd away.
“Which way?” I ask Sverre.
“The dome,” he says.
I nod and we run. He could outpace me easily, but he does me the courtesy of slowing to my speed. My poor body has been through hell already. Every muscle hurts, and my lungs feel like I inhaled some of the fire and it’s trapped in there.
We pass small groups of humans, and we stop with each one, giving them directions to get into the tunnels. It’s a smart move. The buildings of the City are in bad shape. Even the ones we’ve been working to repair and make livable aren’t ready for this kind of abuse.
And if the dome falls…
I shy away from the thought. It can’t. That’s it.
It feels like it takes forever, but we come into sight of the dome at last. A large group of human men and several Zmaj are at the airlock, surrounding Ladon. The relief of seeing him is overwhelmed by what I see beyond the dome.
So many of them. I stop dead in my tracks and stare. “Shit.”
Ladon and the group are looking out, but it doesn’t look like the siege outside the dome has their attention. Ladon points beyond. I track across the hundreds of Invaders standing in perfect formation to what he is indicating.
It can’t be. I squeeze my eyes shut, balling my hands into fists so tight my nails dig into my palms.
“Sverre, do you see that?” I ask, not opening my eyes.
I’m praying. Praying that I didn’t see what I thought I saw. Please, by all that is holy, please don’t be.
“It is the miners,” Sverre says.
My shoulder muscles tense so tight it makes my head hurt. I want to curse, to scream, to make it not be them out there. I open my eyes again and burst into a run.
“No one has to go,” Ladon is saying when I get close enough. “But if we don’t, they will die.”
“We have to try,” Shidan says.
“We’re going,” Adam, one of the human guards says. “We got a plan besides running out there and trying to look real scary?”
Ladon sees me and his mouth snaps shut before he answers. The look on his face makes my heart ache. Resignation tinged with pain, but more than anything, his love for me burns in his eyes. The moment our eyes meet the connection between us clicks. I know what he’s thinking, like I always do.
He’s regretting what he’s about to do. He doesn’t want to upset me. Even more, he doesn’t want to leave me, but he can’t let them die without trying to save them. It’s who he is. A warrior, yes, but beyond that, he’s a man of honor. His sense of honor is so deep, so fundamental to who he is, I can’t stand in his way. If I try, I’d be betraying my love for him.
We both swallow, and I nod. He nods too, then returns his attention to those waiting around him. He holds out his hand flat and points at it, giving his plan. He’s a leader in his element. I’m barely able to stay standing. My knees are weak and shaking. My head is spinning, and my eyes sting with unshed tears.
“Don’t die,” I whisper.
Ladon looks up, meets my eyes and smiles. His eyes sparkle. The men break for the airlock. I want, with all my heart, to tell him no. Don’t do it. Keep them all inside where we’re safe. Let those outside fend for themselves!
Instead I keep my jaw clenched and say nothing. What kind of person would it make me? I’m trembling. Sverre is gone with the others. They burst out of the airlock with Ladon in the lead. He’s working his lochaber so fast it’s a blur. My men, for they are all mine really, charge the Invaders.
The Invaders charge my guys, and even though the sound is dampened by the dome, the clash is resounding. Chaos ensues as the two groups clash. One of the Zmaj falls, and my heart stops. I run to the dome, pressing my face against it, trying to see through the mashing of bodies who it was.
Ladon leaps into the air, swinging his lochaber in a wide arc and relief rushes through my body. Instantly in its wake, I’m nauseated. If it wasn’t Ladon, whose mate went down? My lips tremble. I press my hand to the dome. Tears pour down my face, but I don’t wipe them away.
I don’t dare blink. I’m bearing witness to an act of heroism such as comes once in a lifetime. Why heroism and death come hand in hand, I’ll never understand.
I don’t know what possesses me, but I’m singing through my tears. An ancient song that my mom used to sing while she was doing housework. It comes unbidden and falls from my cracked lips as my heart breaks, shattering further with every beat.
Soldier keep on marchin’ on,
The Invaders mob my guys. A shape flies up into the air, thrown by one of the Invaders. The Invader raises its sword, impaling the form as it comes down.
Head down ‘till the work is done,
I can’t look away. I’m a lone, cold witness, and I won’t dishonor these men. Adam. Adam is gone. He was the one they threw into the air, and he’s now a broken doll.
Waiting on that morning sun,
Sverre is thrown against the dome. Six Invaders close on him and he attacks with renewed ferocity.
Solider keep on marchin’ on.
It’s no good. They’re going to lose. I can’t hold back. I slam my fists against the dome and scream.
“Come back! Get out of there!”
They don’t. The miners have Zmaj with them. They must be from the Order or something because they’re not Tribe. The Invaders’ force is split as they deal with both groups, but they outnumber my guys ten to one, if not more.
Stamping my feet and pounding my fists, I scream. I’m so helpless. There’s nothing I can do.
“It doesn’t end like this! We don’t end like this!”
The ground rumbles. I look up but there’s no flash, so it’s not the ship bombing. Dirt bounces up and down on the street, and the rumbling is louder. Cracks form in the tarmac of the road. Loud cracks sound from the buildings behind me.
What fresh hell is—
Off to the left, an entire group of Invaders is thrown high into the air. A dust cloud filled with bodies and debris rises with them,, blocking my sight. Something happened, but what?
The mass of bodies separated from me by the thin barrier of the dome disentangles, The Invaders step back then run towards their companions, bringing their weapons to bear. An ear-splitting screech, so loud I drop to my knees covering my ears.