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ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕟 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕠𝕧

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༺ 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕃𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣༻
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I kept tripping over my own feet as I dashed, slipping and sliding my way through the mass of people overpopulating the city of Ketterdam. The sun was touching the horizon, making way for the night. At this time of day, the light hit the city in just the right way, turning everything golden.

I hissed a quick curse word under my breath. I'd promise my mother that I'd be home long before sunset, but again I had gotten into trouble after school and it resulted in me hiding in an alleyway for over an hour.

My hands instinctively raised up as someone, playing a rather out of tune melody on his trumpet, blew his instrument with such force my ears began to ring. I winced as my finger grazed the tender, black bruise over my right eye. I bit my lip through the pain and picked up the pace.

As I grew more desperate to get home I began to shove a few people out of the way. My house, or should I say inn room, was close to the outskirts of the city. But even there the crowds were still thick.

"Oi! Watch it you little-" The infuriated woman's voice was drowned out by a pair of drunk men stumbling out of a nearby bar. There were a lot of those in Ketterdam. Both bars and drunk men, I mean.

Finally, I reached the inn and clambered into the tiny, reception room. But I didn't stop there. My mother was going to kill me! It wasn't the first time I'd been late home. Even Mal would be back from work by now. 

The staircase moaned under my weight, but I knew it wouldn't crack. In the thirteen years I'd lived in the inn, never once had the stairs broken. At least, not while I'd been on them. I continued to climb until I reached our floor. My heart pounded as I ran my way to the door.

On the other side of it, I knew I'd find a single room, with a tiny bathroom, two single beds and an old mattress on the floor where I slept every night since I grew too big to share a bed with mum. There'd be no wardrobe, a tiny bedside table and oil lamp, and a worn-out desk, whose fourth leg was near snapping.

The room was barely big enough to hold two people, let alone three. But every time I brought it up, Mal always insisted on 'not wasting our short supply of money on bigger accommodation'. He was always prepared for the worst.

News had reached Ketterdam that General Kirigan and his Grisha army had taken over most of West Ravka. Ever since then, both my mother and Mal had always kept three packed bags ready at the door, just in case we ever decided to make a run for Novyi Zem, which was a full boat trip away.

The General of the Second Army was quite a popular topic in Ketterdam, especially in the last few months. I'd first heard about him whilst listening in to another person's conversation. I'd learnt he was the leader of the Ravkan Grisha and was what most people called a 'Shadow Summoner'.

The gossip had instantly caught my attention, but it wasn't until I was nine years old that I'd finally built up the courage to ask my mother. You see, I'd always noticed that whenever the General's name was even mentioned in conversation, my mother would flinch. It was as if the name sparked some sort of bad memory in her. 

I'd never asked her about him, but when I finally did she just turned down my question, saying she would tell me when I was older.

I'd always known my mother was the Sun Summoner. It hadn't been hard to put the pieces together, and she'd told me herself when my own Grisha powers had begun to appear when I was four. I'd always known that she and Mal were on the run from someone, but I hadn't found out who until two months ago- when she finally told me her story.

I'd come home from school one day, and while Mal was still out, I'd re-asked the same question. "Mum... Who is General Kirigan? Did you know him? Why do always seem so afraid when he's brought up?"

She'd hesitantly told me everything. About the day it had all started when she'd gone into the Fold for the first time. I'd heard many stories and even seen a few pictures of the Fold, but I'd never seen it with my own eyes.

She spoke of her time in the Little Palace, where she had trained and learned to control her powers. She talked of the General, whom she called Aleksander, and how he was actually the Black Heretic, and the son of her old teacher, Baghra. She'd explained her journey with Mal to find the legendary Morozovas Stag and how the antlers hidden beneath her skin had been placed there by the General over thirteen years ago, in an attempt to control and use her abilities.

But still, I always felt as though there was something else she wasn't saying. Something, that I could see in her eyes, that was eating her up inside. Mal had given me a stern look when I had questioned him about it, saying that there are some tales that should be kept secret, for my own good.

I put my hand to the door, getting ready for whatever yelling spree my mum had in store for me. But as I pushed the door open by a crack, I could hear her voice, and she sounded panicked. Probably the most panicked I'd ever heard her be in my life.

I put my ear to the crack, closing my eyes so I could listen better.

"Mal, we can't leave now!" She shouted.

I heard Mal's quick footsteps moved from one side of the room to another. "Alina, we don't have much of a choice. The Darkling has arrived in Ketterdam-"

"Says your friend from work." She snapped back, and I could picture her standing in the centre of the small room, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"Says everyone, Alina- anyway it doesn't matter!" Mal's voice grew louder than before. I'd only ever heard him raise his voice like that when he'd caught me attempting to pickpocket an old man in the street. "I'm not going to risk you getting captured again, Alina. I made a promise to myself to protect both you and Reagan."

"But he's not after Reagan, Mal! He doesn't even know he exists! If he did-" She broke off for a quiet second. But I wanted to hear what might happen. I understood why she wanted to keep me a secret. With my abilities, I had the power to aid the Darkling in ways even my mother couldn't. "We can't just leave tonight." She finally murmured, barely loud enough for me to hear.

"Alina-" Mal's voice was softer.

"We can't just ask Reagan to leave everything behind! What about all his friends?" I bit back a scoff. The truth was, I'd never had any friends to call my own. I'd only said that to get her off my back. "I don't want him to be forced into this kind of life, Mal. I don't want him to grow up being forever hunted by others, including his own kind."

"Well, neither you nor him ever really got that choice, did you?" Mal's tone was fierce again. "We both knew this would happen as soon as we realised he was... different." The pause before the last word was unsettling. I bit my lip again. I knew I wasn't like other Grisha, but it still hurt to know that I would never truly fit in with anyone.

"But no one even knows he exists! They're just after me." 

There was more silence. It was so quiet I could even hear the voices of people down in the reception, four floors below. Then Mal spoke up again. His angry tone was replaced with an even scarier emotion. Fear. "No. No, Alina!"

My mother's response was low and quiet, and sad. "Mal, I want you to protect him." My own heart thudded in my chest and my voice caught in my throat. She wasn't really suggesting what I thought she was, right?

"Alina, I'm not leaving here without you."

I could hear my mother making her way across the room towards Mal. "I have to throw them off, Mal. It's our only option." She whispered in the silence. "If I stay with you guys any longer, I'll be leading Aleksander right to you. I have to do what's right for my son. So please, promise me you'll protect him."

"I will. With you there to help me."

"Mal..." At that point, I could no longer take it. I swung the door open and ran inside. Both Mal and Alina jumped in fright. They must've been hugging because Mal's arms were still hovering around her. "Reagan!" My mother gasped. "You're back. How was school? What happened to your eye?"

"Nevermind my eye!" My whole body was shaking with anger, adrenaline and fear. "You're not leaving!" I shouted.

Her head dropped a bit and she stared dead silent at the floor. When she finally met my gaze again, her brown eyes were tearing up. She slowly unfolded her arms from around Mal's neck and faced me, her head still hanging a bit. "Reagan, you don't understand-"

"No, you don't understand!" I replied shrilly. "We need you- I need you! You can't just leave!"

Her features and voice remained soft and soothing, but I could tell she was using all her strength not to break down in front of me. "Reagan, it's for your own good. I'm doing this for your safety, and I promise you, you'll be alright."

"And what about you? If you do leave, when will I see you again?" Her response never came, but I already knew her answer. Never. "No!" I cried so loudly. I was so desperate and burning with frustration that I banged my foot on the floor.

The whole room began to feel darker and I saw Mal flinch. But Alina remained calm and still. "Reagan... We have to choose. If I stay with you then they'll find you both for sure."

"Please," I walked forward, my own eyes burning with tears. "Don't leave."

Mal put his hand on her shoulder and my breath caught a bit as she pulled me into a tight hug. I buried my face into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry." She spluttered her calm visage washing away. I felt Mal's arms wrapped us as we all huddled together in the half-darkness.

The room's oil lamps had yet to be lit and the sun was just disappearing from view. But I didn't care about the dark, I just wanted to hold my family for as long as possible. My mother, who I knew had suffered from so much and would give her life to save me. Mal, who had always been a sort of father figure to me, even though he wasn't my biological father- whoever he was. 

They were all I had in the world. And I was about to lose one of them, possibly forever.

"How touching." A new voice came from the still-open doorway. I spun around and I heard my mother suck in a gasp. Standing just outside the doorframe was a tall made, dressed in a bright red uniform with black cuffs. I realized it was a kefta. 

"Ivan." My mother's voice cracked. From the way she spoke and how her voice cracked, I could tell that the Corporalki, Ivan, was a threat. I raised my hands and glared when Mal's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, yanking it back down.

I didn't understand why he'd done that but when he glanced at me I remained silent. "How did you find us?" He asked.

"You may have thought you were well hidden, but news spreads quickly here in Ketterdam. Especially, when the news consists of that of a young boy," the Grisha's eyes stared straight into mine. "Who was apparently seen summoning light to blind a few school bullies."

I felt my mother's gaze fall on me and I ducked my head in shame. The bruise over my eye throbbed a little harder at the memory. "I hadn't realised we had another Sun Summoner in the world." The Grisha continued. "Take them."

I took a step back as two more Grisha dressed in blue and red Inferni keftas appearing in the small doorframe, their hands raised defensively. "Alina, don't," Mal warned, clutching my mother's hand. Even I knew that there was nothing she could do that wouldn't lead to one of us being singed. The two Grisha came closer, binding our hands behind our backs.

They used a strange type of handcuff that had a long wooden stick that separated my hands, making it impossible for me to summon so much as a small beam of light. "Where are you taking us?" I yelled, thrashing out of the grip of one of the Inferni.

I tried running at the Corporalki, headfirst like a raging bull, but suddenly I felt this weight deep in my chest. My mouth drew open in an inaudible noise as I fell to my knees. The weight had begun to sting and my hands fought against their restraints, trying to reach for where my heart was.

"Rebellious little one, isn't he?" Ivan grinned, crouching down to my level. His hand was stretched out in front of him, looking as though he was pinching the air. "Don't worry. We're only taking you to see the General." My mouth continued to open and snap shut over and over again until finally he let go and I fell into a heap on the floor.

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Hey Readers,

Please forgive me if there are any spelling mistakes throughout the chapter.
I promise I'll try to publish more stuff as soon as possible, but I can't make a certain date because life can get busy sometimes. I'm sure you all understand.

Anyway, make sure you hit the vote button in the left-hand corner, or leave a comment below so I know who's reading. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

P.S. Reagan's name is pronounced (Ree-gan). Just in case anyone was wondering.

Many Thanks,
DawnTide