Chapter Thirty-Nine

Invier

 

I don’t move. All I can do is stare into the hazel-gray eyes of the girl I love. The girl who looks as if she could kill me right now. And she probably would, if one of the soldiers didn’t pick her up and take off.

 

Another soldier lifts Bel’s body and they all speed off leaving me to watch them go toward the beach.

 

Despite being far away, a soft wind from the sea carries Neith’s voice to me. “I will kill you Invier. You and all your rebel friends will all die at my hands.”

 

“We have to go, Invier.” Torin tugs at my shirt.

 

I’m on my knees. Her words replaying in my head.

 

She wants me dead.

 

What was it Bel said? When Neith makes up her mind about something, she’s going to do it.

 

I look at my hands and Bel’s blood sits on it like a tattoo I’ll always have and always regret.

 

An explosion goes off somewhere by the Sel Quarter, but I don’t flinch.

 

“Come on,” Kande pleads, her voice hoarse. She scoops me up by my upper arm and pulls me to my feet.

 

I move, unseeing, with them both towards the terminal.

 

“Do you know which ship is Bel’s?” Torin asks as we enter the parking area. A series of explosions sound from close by.

 

“Invier!” he calls to me. “Which one?”

 

I scan the area but can’t figure out which would be hers.

 

“Let’s just find an open one and get out of here,” Kande suggests.

 

They leave me and run around looking for any open airships. Torin races up the steps of the closest ship to my right but the door doesn’t budge. He’s on to the next one with no better luck.

 

My head swivels from side to side as I survey the lot. I spin around and notice an airship set apart from the rest. Its exterior shines in the growing sheen of dawn. That must be it.

 

As I start walking to it, Kande calls, “I found one!”

 

Torin races by, grabbing my hand as there’s another explosion. This time, in the terminal. It’s so strong we drop to our knees, hands over our heads to protect from any debris. My ears ring from the sound.

 

I look up to see Kande stumbling towards us and struggle to get to her. My legs won’t move as quickly as they should but I push forward, regardless. Her face is blackened as are her clothes. Lips move rapidly but I can’t hear anything but the howling in my ears.

 

She’s pointing the way she came and I follow her hands to see the ship she was standing in front of is now on its side with large smoldering chunks lying on the ground nearby. A bomb must have hit it. Luckily, we weren’t in it.

 

Torin and her are talking to one another and they look frantic. We have to get out of here. Spinning around, I see the ship I’d noticed before. It’s still there, unharmed. Not waiting to explain, I run towards it.

 

My hearing is coming back slowly and I hear Torin’s voice, “Where are you going?”

 

When I arrive at the door, I hope I’m right.

 

“752419772419.”

 

The door pops open and slides upward.

 

I step in and the cabin lights up.

 

“Welcome, Scion Reffour,” the ship’s AI speaks. “Your voice has been registered in my system as a potential pilot of this vessel. Where would you like to go today?”

 

“Is this Bel’s ship?” Kande asks, stepping into the cabin alongside me.

 

To the ship, I say, “Just get us out of here.”

 

The AI responds, “Yes, Scion Reffour.”

 

Torin walks in just as the door closes and we all slip into seats.

 

I feel the thrumming engines vibrate into my hands as I clutch the side of my seat.

 

“Where are we going, guys?” Torin asks and I have nothing to offer.

 

I can’t take them to my parents’ house because if I do, Neith will find us. And, if this new version of the girl I love is as determined as the one I knew, we will be dead in no time. That, after all, is what she promised.

 

We get tossed around and I look out the window. Airships above us are falling apart, exploding as they try to escape Koroda.

 

I hear the last words she spoke to me not too long ago play in my head. “I will kill you Invier.”

 

My body shudders and I know it has nothing to do with the ship’s vibration.

 

Another explosion sends a shockwave through the ship and Torin races to the cockpit. “Invier, set the ship to manual flight!”

 

After I inform the AI, he takes over the controls. “Nome Reffour is targeting all escaping vessels,” he says and for the first time, I realize I’m afraid. I’ve been sad, angry, and more since walking out to Neith on the Savanna but now, my armpits get sticky.

 

Kande’s face is plastered to the window and she screams falling back. I join her only to see all the mountains framing Koroda exploding one by one.

 

“Mount Alcindor!”

 

Torin looks out the window. “Oh,” he says with a gasp.

 

The mountain range crumbles to dust and most of Koroda disappears beneath it.

 

“All those people…” Kande says before she begins to sob.

 

“That girl wasn’t joking when she said she would kill every last rebel was she?” Torin mutters.

 

Another ship explodes nearby and the stark white light forces us to whip away from the windows. In my peripheral vision, flames tumble away from the ship and my heartbeat bangs in my ears.

 

“Buckle up everyone, if my battle flying training at Nome Cyra gets us out of this, I will kiss each of you once we are safe.”

 

The ship climbs higher and I remember something from my trip with Karax to Tangor.

 

“Down, Torin! Don’t go high, you need to keep the ship low. They won’t kill us if you fly close to the water.”

 

He doesn’t question my suggestion and the ship dives sharply forcing my body to strain against the safety belt. We seem to be dropping vertically and my hands grasp the arms of my chair. Beside me, Kande’s hands clutch onto her chair’s armrests and her knuckles turn white.

 

When Torin levels out the airship, my breathing slows and I look out the window. The sun climbs in the sky and the water sparkles as we coast by. It’s so close, I feel like I could touch it. We continue to hear explosions but they’re all above us and Torin expertly keeps us free of any falling metal.

 

“How did you know they wouldn’t shoot us at this altitude?” he asks.

 

I don’t bother to answer. Instead, I focus on the airships falling out of the sky. Neith is completing her promise to destroy the rebels. And she’s being very thorough.

 

I sit back in my seat and shut my eyes. Not too long ago, I was fleeing from Ekebati in Bel’s airship. Once again, I’m in another of her ships. This time, however, I am running from Neith. It was twenty-five days ago when I walked down the steps to the pavilion floor and my life has never been the same.

 

Will things ever go back to normal? I have a sinking feeling this is going to be my life now—an existence on the run.

 

Eventually, the coast becomes clear and the explosions quell. Torin takes us up above the clouds and gives control back to the ship’s AI.

 

He settles into a chair and shuts his eyes, his exhaustion clear.

 

Kande is curled into her seat, sniffling as she picks at the hem of her yellow night dress.

 

I look out to the clouds.

 

The sun is fully resplendent in all its glory and we head to a destiny unknown.

 

For now.