Sun summoner

Kaida woke up feeling pain all over her body and when she tried to move a gentle hand stopped her.

"Don't move, I'm healing your broken ribs" a healer told her.

"She is awake!" someone shouted.

"I'm in big trouble" she said, frustrated. "How bad is it?" she asked the healer.

"Six broken ribs, a big wound in the shoulder, you lost a lot of blood and you may have a concussion" she answered.

"Awesome" she said sarcastically.

"Well, at least you survived," the healer said. Then the memories hit her. The Volcra. The fire.The light.

"Kaida. He wants to see you" Ivan said, getting inside the tent.

"I'm not finished," the healer said.

"You will go with her, but The Darkling wants to see her, now" Ivan said. Kaida stood up with effort and pain but walked out of the tent to go to the one where he was. When she walked out of the tent she realized that she was again in Kiribirsk.

"Wonderful day, isn't it?" she said when she was in front of The General.

"Leave us alone" he demanded. All the people in the tent left. "Here" he gave her her black kefta and helped her to put it on. "Informe about her injuries" he said to the healer without taking his eyes from Kaida.

"She doesn't have to, it's fine" Kaida said nervously.

"Speak" The Darkling demanded giving Kaida a warning look.

"Six broken ribs, a big wound in the shoulder, lost a lot of blood and she may have a concussion" the healer said nervously.

"How many ribs did you heal?" he asked.

"Two, they sent us here before I could finish" she answered.

"I'm fine, you don't have to worry" Kaida said calmly. "Just let me go to check if Jake is okay" she asked.

"After what you have done, you are not getting away from my side. Am I clear?" he said with a firm voice.

"I just wanna know if he is okay" she replied.

"Listen to me Kaida. I allow you to go and visit him because is your friend, but you entered to the Fold, without your kefta, and without permission so-"

"Sorry to interrupt, the other girl is awake" Ivan said not letting The Darkling finish.

He took a deep breath"Bring her to me, and let all the people come in" The Darkling ordered. "Put behind my table and you, continue healing her" he said to the healer and Kaida. "We'll finish this chat when all of this ends" he said looking really serious to Kaida. Kaida rolled her eyes and got behind his table while a lot of people, soldiers and Grisha, started to enter the tent.

Kirigan was facing Kaida when the tent opened again and a girl with dark and long hair, and notorious black circles under her brown eyes entered the tent.Whispers started to be heard all around the tent, Kaida didn't know what happened inside the Fold, but she knew that that girl had something to do with it. The gray eyed girl did not move, but her eyes were stoke on the girl that just entered the tent.

She could feel what she was feeling and that made her feel a little bit of pity for her.

"How is she?" Kirigan asked in a whisper to Kaida.

"Terrified, nervous, anxious, confused...Be gentle, someone rude is the last thing this girl needs right now" the brown haired said. The General gave a smile to Kaida and turned around dramatically, making Kaida roll her eyes.

"Bring them" was the first thing that The Darkling said. More soldiers leading a battered and bewildered group of people into the tent and up the aisle. Among them, Kaida spotted the soldier who she saved when the volcra attacked and a boy she knew was a Senior Cartographer, his usually tidy coat torn and dirty, his face frightened. People continue entering the tent. Jake was one of them and he entered with a bruise on his cheek and a big injury on his eyebrow. Kaida stood up on the chair with the intention of going with him but The Darkling stopped her.

"Sit down," he ordered. Kaida looked at him annoyed but she didn't say anything and she sat down again. She was already in big trouble. She didn't want to make things worse for her.

Kaida took her eyes back to the girl in the middle of the tent when she felt the mood of the girl change to relief. The girl in the middle of the tent was looking at someone so the brown haired girl followed her gaze, finding a man very pale, tired-looking and with his shirt covered with blood. She remembered seeing them together hanging out.

"She loves that boy,"Kaida said, not knowing who would hear it. She let a pain gasp get out of her mouth when the healer started to heal the injury of her shoulder. The General turned around to check on her and she nodded telling him everything was alright.

The Darkling turned again to look directly at the girl. He was still listening to the Colonel Raevsky, his posture just as relaxed as it had been before, but his gaze was focused, intent. He and Kaida looked back at the Colonel.

The girl in the middle of the tent looked directly at Kaida, she didn't know who she was but she looked pretty close to The Darkling.

When the bedraggled group of survivors reached the base of the dais, Colonel Raevsky ordered, "Kapitan, report" Kaida sat straight on the chair and paid attention.

The captain stood at attention and answered in an expressionless voice: "Approximately thirty minutes into the crossing, we were set up by a large flock of volcra. We were pinned down and sustaining heavy casualties. I was fighting on the starboard side of the skiff. At that point, I saw..." The soldier hesitated, and when he spoke again, his voice sounded less sure. "I don't know exactly what I saw. A blaze of light. Bright as noon, brighter. Like staring into the sun"

The tent erupted into murmurs. The Darkling turned his head to see Kaida asking her with his eyes if he was telling the truth.

"True" Kaida moved her lips without making noise. The Darkling nodded and gave her a small smile before turning his gaze to the front.

The soldier snapped back to attention and continued, "The volcra scattered and the light disappeared. I ordered us back to drydock immediately." He finished.

"And the girl?"The Darkling asked. Kaida could feel how the fear increased in the girl.

"I didn't see the girl, moi soverenyi."

The Darkling raised an eyebrow, turning to the other survivors. "Who actually saw what happened?" His voice was cool, distant, almost disinterested.

The survivors started again to murmur with each other. Then slowly, timidly, the Senior Cartographer stepped forward.

"Tell us what you saw,"said Raevsky.

The gray eyed girl focused her gaze on the young cartographer who was about to talk.

"We... we were under attack. There was fighting all around. Such noise. So much blood. ... One of the boys, Alexei, was taken. It was terrible, terrible. One of them took that girl,"he said, pointing at Kaida."They were everywhere. I saw one go after her too-"

"Who?" asked Raevsky.

"Alina... Alina Starkov, one of my assistants."

Kaida saw Zoya smirked and leaned over to other Grisha and she gave her a deadly look. Zoya, seeing her friends look shut up and looked to the front.

"Go on," Raevsky pressed.

"I saw one go after her and the tracker" he gestured at the boy with the bloody shirt.

"And where were you?" The girl cried angrily. The brown haired looked at her with mock and surprise. "You saw the volcra attack us. You saw that thing take Alexei. Why didn't you help?"

"There was nothing I could do," he pleaded, his hands spread wide. "They were everywhere. It was chaos!"

"Alexei might still be alive if you'd gotten off your bony ass to help us!"she yelled.

There was a gasp and a burble of laughter from the crowd.

"Enough!" Kaida said with authority. "Cartographer, continue" she demanded.

"The tracker went down. She was beside him. That thing, the volcra, was coming at them. I saw it on top of her and then... she lit up." He finished.

The people erupted into exclamations of disbelief and surprise. Others laughed.

"I saw it!" he shouted over din. "Light came out of her!"

The Darkling turned around to see Kaida.

"What do you think?"he asked her.

"I don't think he is lying, but there's too many people here to really determine that, also, I've been focusing on our potential Sun summoner," she said, giving the girl a quick look.

"And?"

"She is scared, as I already told you and she felt bad for what she said to the Cartographer" the brown haired girl said. "Do the test and end this one for all." Kaida said, annoyed by the screams in the tent.

"This is absurd!"a voice called their attention. "What are you suggesting, old man? That you've found us a Sun summoner?"

"I'm not suggesting anything," he protested. "I'm only telling what I saw!"

"It's impossible," a boy shouted. "When people say impossible they usually mean improbable" Kaida remembered the words Sturmhond used to say realizing how much she missed the sea and the crew, and certain red hair captain.

Flashback

Kaida was in the Volkony with the rest of the crew. But she was alone in a corner of the boat looking at the sea lost in her thoughts until a voice interrupted her.

"I never see you smile," he said.

"It's because you are not funny," she answered.

"I'm funny, you just don't understand," he said, acting like a child. The ghost of a smile appeared on Kaida's face.

"And you don't talk too much either," he said, getting by her side.

"You already talk for both of us,"she said.

"True enough. But you love hearing me talk" Sturmhond said with egocentricity.

"Whatever you say Sturmhond"she said walking away.

"See, I talked to you and now you are going to talk to the crew of how amazing and good talk partner I am" he said. Kaida laughed out loud. Sturmhond didn't expect it but he was so happy to be able to see her smile once again.

End of flashback

"Quiet" The Darkling's calm and authoritarian voice took Kaida out of her thoughts. "Tracker, what did you see?"

All the crowd turned towards the tracker, who looked uneasily at me and then back at the Darkling. "Nothing. I didn't see anything"

"The girl was right beside you."

The tracker nodded.

"You must have seen something."

He kept quiet for a long time looking at the girl in the middle.

"Just tell us what you remember, tracker," Raevsky demanded.

"I was on my back on the deck. Alina was next to me. I saw the volcra diving, and I knew it was coming for us. I said something and-"

"What did you say?" The Darkling cool voice cut through the room.

"I don't remember," the tracker said. Kaida looked at him knowing he was lying, but she didn't think that information was relevant so she kept quiet. "I smelled the volcra, and saw it swooping down on us. Alina screamed and then I couldn't see anything. The world was just... shining"

"So you didn't see where the light was coming from?" Raevsky asked.

"Alina isn't... She couldn't. We are from the same...village" Kaida looked at the tracker with pity, she could feel how scared he was of losing her. "If she could do something like that. I would know"

The Darkling looked at the tracker for a long moment and then glanced back at the girl in the middle.

"We all have our secrets," he said.

The Darkling gestured and soldiers stepped back leaving the girl alone to face him. The tent felt completely silent and slowly, he descended the steps.

"Now, what do you say, Alina Starkov."

The girl stayed silent for a moment. "There's been some kind of mistake, I didn't do anything. I don't know how we survived" she said nervously.

The Darkling appeared to consider this. Then he crossed his arms, cocked his head to one side.

They exchange a couple of words more and then The Darkling got tired of waiting.

"Hold out your arm," he said.

"What?" the girl asked, confused.

"We've wasted enough time. Hold out your arm"

The girl looked around scared and with panic and her glaze stopped on Kaida who now had her hair with a braid not as before with a messy ponytail. The gray eyed girl looked at her and gave her a small nod with a reassuring smile. Alina held her arm up.

"Push up your sleeve"

Aline pushed her sleeve up and the room turned completely dark but then, after a minute or so a light appeared, it was coming out from Alina. Kaida looked at the girl in surprise and happiness, a sun summoner.

The light disappeared and the shadows too. Alina's legs gave way and The Darkling caught her stopping her fall.

"Take her," he said, handing the girl over to the oprichnik who reached out his arm to support her. "Ivan!" The Darkling shouted. Ivan rushed next to The Darkling. "Get her to my coach. I want her surrounded by an armed guard at all times. Take her to the Little Palace and stop for nothing. Kaida, you'll go with them"

"Why?" Kaida asked madly and stood up from her chair to walk in front of him.

"Because, I want you to be safe and out of danger" he said with a calm voice, only Kaida could know that he was saying that because he was worried for her.

"Okay, but you should tell a healer to see her wounds," she said with a calm voice.

"You hear her. Bring a healer to see her wounds" he said without taking his eyes from Kaida. Alina looked in disbelief, all she heard about the Darkling was bad things, that he couldn't love anyone, but the way that he looked at Kaida couldn't be fake.

"Wait!" Alina shouted, grabbing Kaida's sleeve. The gray eyed girl tensed with that act. Everyone in the Little Palace knew that there were only four people that Kaida let touch her, Zoya and Genya, she let them but if possible she preferred to avoid it. In truth, there were only two people capable of touching Kaida with full confidence and freedom, The Darkling and Jake, those were the only two people who did not ask permission to touch her or avoid touching her. "There's been some kind of mistake. I don't... I'm not..." her voice trailed off as The Darkling turned slowly to her, his eyes drifting to where her hand was gripping Kaida's sleeve. Alina let go. "I'm not what you think I am,"

The Darkling stepped closer to her and said, his voice so low that only her and Kaida could hear. "I doubt you have any idea what you are. Oh, and don't touch her, never again" The he nodded to Ivan. "Go!"

The Darkling turned to see Kaida, who was looking at the floor with lost eyes. "Hey," he said gently, putting his hands on Kaida's arms. "It's me, are you okay?"

Kaida blinked a few times before moving her head to see into his eyes. "Yes, yes, I just...uhm... didn't expect it. I usually would push her away, but I didn't expect it" she said. "I'm fine"

"Come on" they hear a rude voice. It was Ivan talking to Alina.

"Ivan, mind your tone. She is a Grisha now" The Darkling said.

"Even if she wasn't a Grish, she is still a human and deserves some respect" Kaida said, annoyed and rolling her eyes.