Casimir keeps a firm grip on my arm as the deserters bolt past us, Elex leading the onslaught. It takes them less than a few seconds to burst through the trees and into the marketplace, taking the guards by surprise as they swing around, reaching for their weapons.

"What're you doing?" I hiss at Casimir.

"Waiting for an opening." His eyes dart from spot to spot, taking in all the action. "Get Cadence and get out. That's what we said."

I follow his gaze. The action moves too fast for me to pull apart. Amongst the chaos, some of the guards pull forward the villagers, taking them as hostage.

"What about everybody else?"

He turns to look at me then, only for a split second. "They're not my priority."

I want to argue, to protect the people I grew up with, my village, but as I turn back and search desperately for Cadence amongst the fighting, all protests dry up in my mouth.

We can't save everyone.

"There," Casimir raises a slender finger to direct my gaze to the left. "There she is."

His grip on my wrist tightens, keeping me from budging even as I register a guard dragging a cluster of villagers away, Cadence and Raven amongst the crowd. Casimir pulls me up by my wrist, guiding us around the back of the marketplace, following along behind the group.

Screams echo off the cobblestones, clanging metal striking the air as we soldier on, nobody taking notice of us slipping beneath the patches of moonlight even as the fights bleed into the trees. I try to ignore the screams of children, the sounds of bodies pummeling the earth, and keep my eyes trained on a scrambling and screaming Cadence as she's dragged around the corner.

We pick up the pace.

They're here because of you, a voice says. I try to shove it away, but it only gets louder.

Wind thrashes against the bare skin at my wrists, bitterly cold as we creep to the edge of the forest line, Casimir raising an arm to halt me from moving forward. I try to shove past.

"Move, they're taking her--"

My sentence gets cut off with a whack to the chest, sending me catapulting backwards. I manage to catch myself before falling, putting a hand to my chest where Casimir whacked me as I stumble into a tree.

An arrow sits lodged into the tree behind where I'd been standing. Casimir and I meet eyes, now a couple of metres from each other. My heart hammers as I stare from the arrow to him, the reality of the situation settling in. That trunk could've been my head.

I open my mouth to call out to him, to urge him to follow, before I catch a glimpse of movement over his shoulder. A glint of metal in the darkness.

"Cas, look out!"

He ducks just as a machete glides into the space he'd been standing. I brandish my dagger in front of me, pressing my back to the tree and lowering my stance as the guard emerges from the shadows, his eyes locking on me.

Casimir frees his sword, coming up to meet the machete, the moonlight glinting in their blades.

I lurch towards them, but Casimir's voice stops me. "Go!" He shoves the guard off him. "Get Cadence!" The guard shoves back to his feet, attempting to strike Casimir in the chest with a near miss. "I'll be right behind you!"

The split-second feels like an hour as I stare at him, torn between following after Cadence and staying to help Casimir.

Stay together, we'd promised.

The fear of losing Casimir again keeps me glued to the spot, paralysing me from all movements. But as the weapons clang and Casimir shouts at me again, I jolt into movement, spinning on my heel and darting through the trees. Casimir has years of specialised training. He's a deserter. Cadence has nothing.

I dart between the trees, branches clawing out to scrape at my skin, the wind carrying the haunting cries of the villagers even as the marketplace stretches from my view. My ragged breath chokes in my throat, but I push on, heart pounding as I keep to the treeline, eyes on the streets in search of Cadence.

I spot her by the bakery through a gap in a crumbling building. She and Raven are both on their knees, wrists bound by rope and heads hung low. Three guards stand before them, a glinting knife in one hand and a gun in the other.

"We don't know!" Cadence cries, her sobs ringing throughout the marketplace. "Please, we can't help you."

The guard slaps her across the face with the back of his hand, sending her to the ground. I flinch as if feeling the blow myself. Cadence doesn't push herself back up, instead, lying on her side, body trembling, even as the guard shouts at her to move.

"Move, Cadence," I whisper, creeping closer to conceal myself behind the jutted-out edge of the building. "Get up."

She doesn't. Raven tries to scramble towards her, but one of the guards whacks her aside.

"Get up," the guard orders again, this time, raising the gun to her face.

Cadence doesn't move. I tighten my grip on the hilt of my dagger, pulling it from its sheath. There are three of them and only one of me. I would never hold my own in hand-to-hand combat, not like Casimir could. But I have to do something.

The guard cocks his gun. I raise my dagger. My heart hammers as I pull my arm back, locking my gaze on the guard with the gun, eyes on the left side of his chest.

My dagger flies through the air as his finger twitches forward. I hold my breath as it lodges itself in his stomach. He instinctively drops the gun, mouth forming an o as he clutches his stomach. The other two guards spin around to face me; I've already thrown the second dagger. It's a near miss, landing just right of his head.

"Over there!" one of them shouts.

I take off, ducking behind the building to come around the other side, taking my third and final dagger in my hand. A gunshot echoes through the sky, followed by a scream. Adrenaline pulses through my veins.

Cadence.

All rational thought leaves my mind as I skid around the building, eyes darting around the narrow street before landing on Cadence. She lies in the same position as before. I sprint over to her, rolling her over to face me. Tense body, she resists, keeping her face buried in the dirt as she lets out a cry. I release a panicked breath.

It wasn't her.

Behind her, Raven stares at me wide-eyed, blinking as if she's not sure I'm really there.

"Get her!"

Hands grapple at my shoulders, pulling me backwards. I kick my leg out, swinging it around to come in contact between the guards' legs. He doubles over, his grip loosening enough for me to break it entirely. The other guard lurches for me. I grapple their arm, twisting it backwards and pulling them to my body, knife at his throat, just as the other guard--the one I stabbed--raises his gun at my head.

"Release him!" he orders.

The guard in my grip doesn't resist. I can feel his heart pounding in his back, the warmth of his skin through his shirt, and the stale scent of sweat. I push the knife to his neck more firmly. If he notices the shake in my hands, he might try to fight back.

The guard I fought off straightens his back, still grimacing from the blow between his legs as he fixes his gaze on my face.

"Now!" he shouts again, hand with the gun trembling slightly. "Or I'll shoot!"

I meet his eye, my breath coming in ragged gasps. "Go ahead and I'll slit his throat."

He cocks the gun. Stomach dropping, my knees threaten to buckle. Clearly, I overestimated how much he cared ahout his fellow guard. My mind runs at a million miles a second, searching for a solution, a diversion, praying Casimir will show up. His finger twitches.

"Wait! Don't shoot!"

He hesitates. The man I kneed holds his hand up, stepping in between us. "What're you doing? Get out of the way!"

"It's her!" He doesn't move, eyes wide as he looks back at me. "The Cloud Piercer."

My heart drops to my stomach as the man with the gun examines my face, his expression shifting. But he doesn't loosen the grip on the gun.

"Let us go," I say, keeping my voice low. "Let us go, and I won't hurt him." They both inch closer. I press the dagger into the skin of his neck, blood seeps through a small incision. He yelps. "I'm serious."

"Come with us. Neither you nor your friend will be harmed."

I spit at him. "I'd rather die than go anywhere with you."

His lips twitch. "Fine," he says sharply, his expression once tense, shifts to something hotter. Something that burns. He turns his focus and points the gun at Cadence, still curled in a ball on the ground.

"I'll shoot her." My grip on the dagger falters. I open my mouth, then close it. "If you refuse to come with me, I'll shoot her. Come willingly, and we'll let her go."

I press my lips together, my stomach churning with nausea. His words settle in my head. My eyes dart around the clearing, searching for something, anything to get me out of this. But I come up empty.

Bang.

The explosion rattles my ears, piercing the air around us. I scream, as the bullet lodges into the earth inches from Cadence's body, shattering the cobblestones.

"Stop!" I shout. "Wait, please! Just let her go, I'll go with you!"

"Release him." When I hesitate, he raises his gun again. "Now."

I let the guard go. Staggering forward, he gasps for air while clutching his neck, fingers smeared with blood. The guard I kneed takes steady steps towards me, his hands raised in surrender, while the other keeps his gun pointed at Cadence on the ground.

"No sudden movements," he says, eyes on mine. "Everything will be okay. Nobody is going to hurt you."

I grit my teeth. "I hate you. Every single one of you."

"Lower the dagger, Cloud Piercer."

The words ignite a fire in my chest. "I'm not your--"

Another shot echoes through the street, shattering my ears. A squealing noise follows. It stings the air. I put my hands up to my ears, dropping the dagger in the process at the painful intrusion to my head. The guard lurches towards me.

In seconds, his hands are around my neck.