CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
vol i — bloody fjerdans!

A SUDDEN RUMBLE SHOOK THE GROUND.
Dinara nearly fell into Kaz — who had to steady himself with his walking stick. The two locked gazes, sending each other a puzzled look. "Are there fault lines this far north?" Wylan asked.

Matthias frowned. "Not that I know if, but—" A slab of earth shot up from beneath Matthias' feet, knocking him to the ground. Dinara's eyes scanned over the ice below her, trying to figure out if she had to move anytime soon. Another erupted to Nina's right, sending her sprawling. All around them, crooked monoliths of eart and ice burst upward, as if the ground were coming to life. A harsh wind whipped at their faces, snow spinning in flurries.

"What the hell is this?"
"Something that could kill us!"
"Some kind of earthquake!"

"No," said Nina, pointing to a dark spot that seemed to be floating in the sky, unaffected by the howling wind. "We're under attack."

"Oh great, that's just what we needed," Dinara snarked. Her body was spread out on the ground, trying to stay alive. Being shot at she could handle, but this, was something else entirely. Dinara let out a groan, over this mission already. She looked up, seeing someone in the air, hovering in the sky high above her. Someone was flying! The Squaller turned in the air, stirring the storm into a frenzy, sending ice flying until it stung her cheeks. she could barley see. She fell backward as another slab of rock and ice shot from the ground. They were being corralled, pushed closer together to make a single target. a tinny plink sounded off close to her body.

"Get down," cried Wylan and Dinara flattened her body to the snow. Dinara patted her body down, trying to find the closest knife she had stored away on her body. A sudden explosion shook the ground, tearing Dinara's focus away from the task she was previously focused on. Her head looked up for a split second, noticing the Squaller being thrown of course by the newfound winds. Her hand found a knife again, taking it out of its holster, and flinging it into the Squaller's body.

The Squaller hurled towards the ground, Jesper taking the time to high-five Dinara for her aim, before letting her focus again. The ice around them was still closing in, trapping them. She saw Jesper aim between two trees, but before he could get off a shot, Jesper was thrown off his feet by a slab of earth. The ground was still shaking, and was willing to try anything to get this hell to end. She signaled to Kaz, who reacted immediately. He positioned himself against the nearest slab and cupped his hands at his knee. The ground buckled and swayed, but he held steady as Dinara launched herself into the cradle of his fingers in a graceful arc, her body landing over the slab without a sound. Dinara treaded carefully, finding the best spot to sneak up on the Grisha. Finding the boy kneeling between some bushes, she flung her knife, embedding it in the side of his chest. She enjoyed watching the boy cry out in pain, his hands flinging up to his chest.

Her mind was begging for more destruction, but she willed herself to stop. Dinara didn't want to cause anymore trouble than she already had, disrupting the plan Kaz had carefully crafted. It was harder than she thought, giving herself a minute to compose her bloodlust, taking deep breathes as a coping mechanism. She walked over to the boy, stopping slightly has the ground shook and exploded behind her. Her feet slipped on the ice, making her shoot her arms out for a minute, trying to regain her balance. Standing over the boy, she realized how young he was. His clothes were of olive drab, and his eyes were glassy — probably from the jurda parem. She waited patiently as the rest of the group walked behind her, inspecting the young Grisha. Dinara watched from the corner of her eye as Nina knelt beside him.

"I need a little more," the Grisha mumbled. "Just a little more." He grabbed Nina's hand, shock fitting over the heartrender's face.

     "Nestor?" He twitched at the sound of his name, but he didn't seem to know her. "Nestor, it's me, Nina."

"Please. I need more."
"Parem?"
"Yes. Yes, please."
"I can heal your wound, Nestor, if you stay still."
"I don't want your help."

Dinara watched as Nina moved her hands into position, trying to lower the Grisha's heartbeat. "Please, Nestor. Please be still." He was screaming now, fighting her. "Hold him down," she said. Matthias moved to help, and Nestor threw up his arms. The ground rose in a rippling sheet, thrusting Dinara and the others back. "Nestor, please! Let us help you."

He stood up, staggering in his wounded leg, pulling at the knife buried in his chest. Dinara grabbed one of her other knives, getting ready to kill him if he made a move to attack. "Where are they?" he screamed. "Where did they go?"

"Who?" Nina asked. Dinara could tell that this whole interaction was killing her, but she was able to push all of those thoughts back and continue with a stone cold face.

"The Shu!" he wailed. "Where did they go? Come back!" He took a wobbling step, then another. "Come back!" He fell face forward into the snow and didn't move again.

Nina rushed to his side and turned him over. There was snow in his eyes and his mouth. Dinara watched as Nina placed both her hands on his chest, trying to restore his heartbeat, but it was no good. If he hadn't been ravaged by the drug, he might have survived his wounds. But his body was weak, the skin tight to his bones and so pale it seemed transparent. Dinara turned her head away from her best friend leaning over the body of the boy she knew, looking towards the sound of incoming footsteps. Kaz and Jesper walked back over the hill, panting.

"Anything?"
"A party of people heading south."
"He was calling out of the Shu."
"We knew the Shu would send a team to retrieve Bo Yul-Bayur."

Jesper looked down at the Body. "But we didn't know they'd send Grisha. How can we be sure they aren't mercenaries?"

Kaz held up a coin emblazoned with a horse in one side and two crossed keys to the other. "This was in the squaller's pocket," he said, tossing it to Jesper. "It's a Shu wen ye. The coin of passage. This is a government issue."

"How did they find us?" Inej asked.

"Maybe Jesper's gunshots drew them," Dinara snarked, sending a pointed glare at the sharpshooter.

Jesper bristled and pointed at Nina and matthias. "Or maybe they heard these two shouting at each other. They could have been following us for miles."

Dinara rolled her eyes at the boy, her mind still being occupied with the situation at hand. the Shu didn't want Grisha as soldiers, and they were like the Fjerdans; they didn't see Grisha power as unnatural or repulsive. They were fascinated by it, but they still viewed the Grisha as less than humans. She was glad that Nina had taught her what it was like being a Grisha, helping her understand this situation better. The Shu government had been capturing and experimenting on Grisha for years in an attempt to locate the source of the power. They would never use them as mercenaries, Dinara knew that much.

"I don't understand," Nina said. "If they have jurda parem, why go after Bo Yul-Bayur?"

"It's possible they have a stash of it, but can't reproduce his process," Kaz said. "That's what the Merchant Council seemed to think. Or maybe they just want to make sure Yul-Bayur doesn't give the formula to someone else."

"All this trouble for one man with a big brain."
"Do you think they'll use drugged Grisha to try to break into the Ice Court?"
"If they have more of them. That's what I would do."
"If they'd had a heartrender, we'd all be dead." "It was still a close thing."
"I'm glad they didn't."
"Wylan earned his keep."
"I did?"
"We'll you made a down payment."
"Let's move."
"We need to bury them."

"The ground's too hard, and we don't have the time. The Shu team is still moving toward Djerholm. We don't know how many other Grisha they may have, and Pekka's team could already be inside."

"We can't just leave them for the wolves."
"Do you want to build them a pyre?"
"Go to hell, Brekker."
"Do your job, Zenik. I didn't bring you to Fjerda to perform funeral rites."

She lifted her hands, sending Dinara on edge. "How about I crack your skull open like a robin's egg?"

"You don't want a look at what's inside my head, Nina dear."

She took a step forward, Dinara sending her a nasty glare. Matthias stepped in front of Nina, effectively stopping her course. "Stop," He said. "I'll do it. I'll help you dig the grave." Dinara raised an eyebrow at the Fjerdan, not expecting him to willingly spend time with the woman he wanted to kill. "Head due south from here. I know the terrain, and I'll make sure we catch up to you by nightfall. We'll move faster on our own."

"Just remember that pardon, Helvar."
"Are we sure it's a good idea to leave them alone?"
"No."
"Not at all."
"Oh well, if they kill each other, two less people to worry about getting into the Ice Palace."