CHAPTER SIX

Together

     The moment they entered the Fold, thank the Saints, Alina threw up her hands and a swaddle of golden light surrounded the Hummingbird like a bubble.

Goosebumps ran over Estelle's arms and the back of her neck. She could hear voices whispering in the back of her mind—the same voice again. Aleksander.

You are powerful.

Estelle gulped down what little air was available to her. She'd already blacked out once because of him.

No one will be the same as you.

"They're coming," said Mal. "Listen." Estelle strained her ears to hear. The cry of volcra, the flapping of their inhuman wings.

No one will see you as their equal.

Estelle could see and hear the volcra all around the little bubble of Alina's light, screeching as they wouldn't go past the rays. Still, it was much closer than usual.

Alina spread her arms wider, letting the light bloom further out.

You are better.

"No," said Sturmhond. "Bring them closer."

Alina and Estelle both whirled on him. "What? Why?" asked the Sun Summoner, beads of sweat on her forehead.

"They hunt us," he said, raising his voice so everyone could hear him. "Maybe it's time we hunted them."

A warlike whoop went up from the crew, followed by a series of barks and howls. Estelle placed the back of her hand against her pounding head.

You could be better.

"Pull back the light," Sturmhond told Alina.

Alina turned to Mal. "He's out of his mind. Tell him he's out of his mind."

Mal hesitated. "Well..."

"Well what?" Alina asked, incredulously. "In case you've forgotten, one of those things tried to eat you!"

He shrugged, a grin on his lips. "Maybe that's why I'd like to see what those guns can do."

We could be better.

Alina shook her head, expressing everything Estelle felt. She didn't like this. It was risky, and she didn't like to take risks for no reason. This was like killing for fun, something Estelle never understood, and knew she never would.

"Just for a moment," pressed Sturmhond. "Indulge me."

Estelle watched as Alina thought it over. Everyone waited for her to decide.

"All right. But don't say I didn't warn you," Alina finally said.

Everyone on the ship got ready, checking their guns and trying to contain their excitement. Estelle tried to contain her nausea.

Together.

"Here we go," muttered Alina. She curled her fingers and the light contracted, shrinking around the ship. The volcra shrieked in a frenzy, thrilled at the possibilities of new bait to eat. Estelle shivered at the thought and heaved her guns to her shoulders.

"All the way!" commanded Sturmhond.

Alina grunted in frustration, then did as he asked. The Fold went dark. Estelle couldn't see. In the Fold, not even the stars could see. Estelle hated it.

The last time she felt this powerless...

Together.

The volcra screeched and dove.

"Now, Alina! Throw it wide!" Sturmhond shouted.

Immediately, Alina cast out the light, blazing through the dark and flashing before Estelle's eyeballs. She took a moment to adjust. The light showed the horror surrounding the Hummingbird in the dark.

Volcra besieged them, a mess of snapping jaws, grey, winged bodies that cried at the sudden light. The sounds they made were inhuman, horrific noises that Estelle hated—no, loathed.

"Fire!" howled Sturmhond.

Tolya and Tamar, at the guns by the front of the hulls, opened fire ruthlessly. Anyone with a gun joined in the fun. Estelle could only watch the massacre unfold. The sharp tang of gunfire filled the air.

Together.

Soon, the thunder died away. Estelle couldn't look anywhere but in front of her, into the light that kept the darkness at bay. She wouldn't look at the blood spatter on the sails and the wood of the Hummingbird. She refused.

Then Tolya gave a triumphant yell, and the rest of the crew joined in, yapping and barking. Estelle closed her fists in death grips around the handle of her revolvers.

Together.

We can be great.

Estelle shook the voice out of her head. He had no right to be here, in her mind. Instead, she focused on the voices that cut through her thoughts.

"Do you think we can draw another flock?" asked one of the Squallers.

"Maybe," Sturmhond said. Estelle wanted to hit him upside the head with her gun. "But we should probably head east. It's almost dawn, and I don't want us to be spotted."

Yes. That sounded perfect. Find land again, find Ravka again. Get away from this Saintforsaken place.

"There are more of them," Mal said suddenly. "A lot more."

"How do you know?" asked Sturmhond.

"I just do."

Sturmhond hesitated. It was almost impossible to read his expression, but his body language told Estelle that he was considering it. "Where?"

"Just a little north," Mal said. "That way." He pointed into the dark.

Estelle's stomach dropped when Sturmhond called the bearing.

The Hummingbird dipped its wings and turned as Mal called out directions and Sturmhond corrected their course. Alina looked sick. Estelle felt sick.

Together.

We can make Ravka new again.

Estelle dropped her revolvers onto the ground quickly, not wishing to have any weapons in her hands with his voice in her head.

Sturmhond took us lower. Alina's light shimmered over the Fold's colorless sand and touched the shadowy bulk of a wrecked sandskiff.

The skiff had been broken in half. One of its masts had snapped in two, and Estelle could just make out the remnants of three ragged, familiar black sails.

The Darkling's skiff.

Together, Estelle.

The Hummingbird sank lower. Its shadow passed over the splintered deck.

The Hummingbird banked starboard. Alina's light pierced the murky depths of the broken hull. The screams began.

"Saints," Mal swore, and raised his rifle.

Three large volcra cringed beneath the skiff's hull, their backs to the Hummingbird, their wings spread wide. Then Estelle saw it: a sea of wriggling, twisted shapes, tiny, glistening arms, little backs split by the transparent membranes of barely formed wings. They mewled and whimpered, slithering over each other, trying to get away from the light.

They'd uncovered a nest.

The crew had gone silent. There was no barking or yapping now.

Sturmhond brought the ship around in another low arc. Then he shouted, "Tolya, Tamar, grenatki."

The twins rolled out two cast-iron shells and hefted them to the edge of the rail. Estelle wrapped her arms around herself and looked away.

"Squallers, on my signal," Sturmhond said grimly. "Fuses!" he shouted, then "Gunners, drop heavy!"

The instant the shells were released, Sturmhond roared, "Now!" and cut the ship's wheel hard to the right.

The Squallers threw up their arms, and the Hummingbird shot skyward.

A silent second passed, then a massive boom sounded beneath the ship. The heat and force of the explosion struck the Hummingbird in a powerful gust.

"Steady!" Sturmhond bellowed.

The little craft foundered wildly, swinging like a pendulum beneath its canvas wings.

Finally, the ship stopped swaying and settled into a smooth arc, tracing a wide circle high above the burning wreckage of the skiff. Estelle still couldn't look, but she could smell the charred flesh that stung the air.

The crew barked and yapped again. Triumph, in killing a nest of young volcra.

Alina was shaking, as well. Before Estelle could try and comfort her, she flinched away from something Estelle couldn't see, and everything went dark.

"Alina!" she shouted, fumbling for the girl in the darkness. Someone shouted, wailed in pain. The ship listed sharply.

"Estelle!" someone shouted, just barely loud enough. Someone who wasn't used to using their voice. Ana.

Estelle's eyes widened and she shot her arms up. Her silver light shone against the Fold, not quite as bright as Alina's sunlight, but much better than darkness.

Ana lay in the cockpit next to one of the Squallers, both bleeding out. Estelle ran towards her, panicked, until something grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look up.

The volcra that had attacked Ana and the Squaller held onto her shoulder with its claws. Estelle choked, pain searing throughout her upper body. It flapped its wings, suspending her in the air.

"Estelle!" Sturmhond's voice. A gunshot rang out. It missed the volcra, but managed to spook it enough for it to reach out and bite firmly onto Estelle's side. She cried out in agony.

Together.

We can do it together, Estelle.

You and me.

Forever.

Estelle gritted her teeth. Her fingers fumbled for the knife she always kept on her, the burn of her wound unrelenting.

Never.

With her good arm, Estelle reached out and slashed the volcra across the face with her knife. It shreeched and let her go, flapping away.

The floor of the Hummingbird was hard as gravity took over and Estelle fell back down. She groaned, feeling the energy leaving her body. Anything else anyone was saying couldn't be heard by Estelle, even as they burst out of the Fold and into the blue light of early dawn.

A hand slipped into her own. Estelle turned her head to see Ana laying down next to her, a painful grimace on her face.

Then they landed, and everything went flying.

a/n—oooh, the Fold makes a disturbing appearance with the volcra as its lead actors! I'm not positive for covid anymore, and finals are coming up, so I might not be able to update as much, but it's probably just bec I'll forget to. I love your comments, and I love you guys! Lmk what you think!