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CHAPTER FOURTEEN ▪▫▪▫▪
KAZ ESCAPED THE DARKLING with the use of a simple magic trick. He tricked the oldest man in Ravka whilst being on the brink of death and not once did he stagger due to fear. Kaz knew Death, he had faced it head-on and swam away from its plunging hold on his soul. The Darkling was no match to Death, no matter how many shadows he could manipulate or how many souls he took from the world. Death owned them all. And yet Kaz managed to escape it at every turn.
Just like his Whisperer. If Kaz stole life from Death, then Kira charmed it out of it. She was always with him, they had each other's back even when they didn't know it themselves. He thought he would go to the fountain and meet the other three, unharmed, and they would escape the forsaken village crawling with Grisha. When did plans ever go along with plans?
He slipped into a thin passageway between two buildings and staggered in his step when he saw her lying on the ground. Kira's body was lying motionlessly on the stones next to a brunette wearing a blue kefta. And the feeling of Death that hadn't been present for his encounter with the Darkling was now looming over him.
Kaz swallowed the lump in his throat and neared her body, letting out a breath as her eyes focused on him no matter how glossed over they looked. Kira's eyes were looking past him, but still, her lips tugged into the smallest smile she had ever given him. Her light had deemed. Kaz's Saint was about to complete her journey as a martyr and he would have none of it.
"Kaz?" she croaked, her voice barely audible, and Kaz knew that if he didn't do anything she would slip away on the street. And would surely come back and kill him for allowing her to die in such a 'shameful' way.
With a shaky breath, Kaz crouched down beside her, ignoring the blaring pain on his leg, and hooked an arm under her legs and another under her torso, before lifting her and tucking her against his chest.
He trembled with her in his arms. There was so much blood, not only on her head but stomach too as if the stitches she had had been ripped apart. He felt the bodies around him, sloshing through the water and wanting to yank him back into the depths of Death. He looked down at Kira and the look on her face seemed to ease away some of the monsters, allowing him to take the first step.
Her hazel eyes were wide, her hands clutched against his shirt and Kira shook her head slightly. "Kaz, I can try and walk... you don't have to touch me," she muttered but the dead weight of her body said otherwise.
He shoved the ghosts back into their graves and ignored the pain in his knee as he began walking again. This time no hesitancy in his step. He couldn't use his cane as he carried her, but Kaz would've crawled with Kira on his back if it came down to it.
"I'm serious," Kira said trying to push away from his chest but Kaz only held her closer to him.
"I know you are but so am I; I'm not letting you die."
