01||ARE YOU READY TO MAKE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL?

The air in the room was as tense as it was deadly, Kirigan coldly staring down at Anya as the barest rays of light shone through the dark. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" He started, narrowing his eyes. "To you? Yes actually." She quiped before barring her still bloodied teeth at him. "Go fuck yourself." A sharp pain shot through her body like a heavy tug on her muscles, radiating before it subsided, Ivan's cruel face standing behind him. She eyed the dark figures that seemed to circle around the general cautiously, shivers crawling down her spine in a way to warn her that whatever they were was nothing but danger. "Maybe instead of wasting time hurting me, I'd help my wounded first." The raven-haired remarked, titling her head to the tidemaker that leaned against the wall, clutching his nose, the unconsious inferni with severely burned legs and the squaller that was gurgling on her own blood as another etherealki tried to stop the bleeding.

"At least that's what I would do. I cut her carotid artery so how long do you suppose it'll take for her to bleed to death?" she almost hissed, her voice as cold as ice. "10 minutes? Or maybe 6?" The corners of her lips quirked up slightly in a venomous smile as the shadow summoner motioned his head, two healers immediately going to the squaller and other inferni. "And what was the point of that? Taunting me some more like a petulant child?" He snapped. The Oryalen woman laughed loudly at his words before calming down. "God you sounded like Baghra." The dark figures reared closer in a split second, their faceless facades almost right next to her own.

"When you left me on that skiff, you didn't kill me Anya." He said her name in reverie like tone, a cruel smile on his lips. 'Yeah no shit.' She thought to herself as she arched an eyebrow. "I suppose I should thank you. After all, I did get my nichevo'ya." The Darkling said, trying to hide a wince as his scars pulsated with a dark hue, commanding the creatures to stand back with a wave of his hand. "Did I give you those? Or did they? I suppose it doesn't really matter now that we match. But then again, not really." The young grisha woman stated with a matter of factly tone, gesturing with her head towards the three claw marks that cascaded down his face before looking down at the ones on her collarbone, that stretched over her neck and ran over her face.

"Where are they?" The black general demanded with an equally calm tone. But one of his eyes seemed to twitch at her words, as if her words had struck him somehow. "I don't know." She replied, clenching her jaw as she forced her gaze ahead, doing what every soldier was told to do when captured. Keeping her mouth shut. "That's a lie." Ivan simply stated, narrowing his eyes at her. "Tell me where I can find Alina and I will let you live. How many more innocent people need to die for you to realise that you should come and stand by my side?" He whispered as he came closer, something resembling to sympathy in his eyes. The inferni's obsidian eyes drifted towards his onyx ones, something burning within them when she spoke. "If you build a society on corpses, it is only inevitable that it'll rot." There was no anger or malice on her words. It was a threat. It was a promise.

The silence in the air shattered as the window's glass burst into the room. A heavy thud waved through the room, the sound of something heavy rolling reached Anya's ears. Stray rays of light pierced pierced darkness, blinding some as the smell of smoke reached her. In a split second after the window shattered, before anyone could process it, a massive boom echoed through the room, clearing away Kirigan's creature before releasing a smoke curtain. The raven-haired's heart rattled in her chest at the distraction, feeling the grip of the heartrenders on her slip away at the confusion. She launched through her feet and without looking back or even ahead, vaulted through the broken window to the street below.

A short gust of air blew at her face as she fell, bracing for impact on the cobble stones of the street but instead being met with a convenient stack of hay. Quickly staggering out of it, the Oryalen woman saw the chaos that had erupted around her due to the blast. It all happened in a split second. Throngs of people hurried through the streets, pushing past her with haste. Kirigan had stationed grisha in front of the inn, who's eyes now widened when they saw her crawl out of the hay between the sea of people. The young grisha woman quickly darted away, weaving through the crowd, dodging under cart and leaping over tables with the wind nipping at her heels and the second army grisha of the general right behind her.

"AFTER THE TRAITOR!" one of them, shouted. His voice quickly disappeared as she heared a body thud to the floor not a second later and others falling over it in their chase. The inferni couldn't help but smile at the thought. Someone was clearly out to help her and even if she didn't knew who it was, she would gladly take that chance. As if automatic, she grabbed ahold of a bar in front of her as she ran, vaulting upwards and landing on the roof. She didn't know how Inej did it, running and jumping from the biggest roof to the tiniest ledge but Anya felt like the rush of adrenaline that was coursing through her veins might be an explanation. Eventually, she reached small side road not too far the library, dropping down as inconspicuous as she could, pulling her hood and half-veil over her face. If Alina and Mal could be anywhere, they would be here.

The raven-haired almost walked out of the alley before the duo dashed past her in a hurry, leaving her puzzled as to what saint they had upset now to deserve getting chased. She ran out of the shadows, almost blowing into a group of other people, the gust of wind in the chase blowing off her hood and half-veil, her longer hair billowing in the wind and she went after her friends. The tracker blinked in confusion, as the Oryalen woman's form doomed up next to the young Starkov woman before nodding. "Fancy running into you guys here. Now, why are we running?" she asked loudly as they ran so the two could hear her over the bustling city. "First Army! They almost caught Mal for desertion! You?" The sun summoner yelled. "Worse!" she replied, her face darkening. "Kirigan, he's here." She casted a glance behind her, still spotting the first army soldiers.

The trio dash through the market, the Keramzin man accidentally smashing a pot before paying the merchant. They twisted and turned, trying to shake both first army and Kirigan's second army. "There!" The corporal shouted, pointing at a side street where a large set of doors would give them a short cut and leave their pursuers in the dust. The Keramzin woman stood on the look out, the inferni at read in case they needed it and Mal trying to pick the lock. "Oretsev I'm hurry if I were you!" Anya yelled, seeing the bustling sea of people part for soldiers. "I'm trying! It's rusted shut!" He shouted back. Skidding to a stop with dust billowing at his feet from the chase, was the Oretsev man and Alina's old superior officers. "Oretsev!" He started triumphantly with a sneer on his face.

"Starkov. I knew you'd never go anywhere without your saint. And you, the forsaken one. You are really living up to your new heretic reputation, aren't you?" The commander uttered with disgust as he spit at her. Anya arched an eyebrow, the surrounding merchants staring at them in awe. "I don't know, you tell me." She commented coldly. "Malyen Oretsev, you are hereby under arrest for desertion. As for your companions..." Mal's superior officer eyed the raven-haired and the young Starkov woman "...the Fjerdans have put quite a bounty on their heads." The later of the two women looked at them cautiously and at the ready while the former scanned each and every soldier, like a pack of wolves in skin defending themselves. Saints know what a wild thing does when it feels threatened. It might just bite.

The Oryalen woman shared one look with the other grisha woman, locking eyes, as the soldier stepped forward. Rays of light burst from the sun summoner's hand, flames burning bright in the young grisha woman's, but before they even knew it, in a split second, all the Zemeni merchants near them ran in between the two group, blocking the soldiers with their wares and stalls. "OI! Let us through!" The fire in the inferni's hand sputtered out, a look of confusion written across her face as she furrowed her eyebrows. A row of the people turned to them, touching two fingers to their lips, their hands in a tight fist that flattened against their chest. A sign of faith. A sign of belief. A sign that they thought that, whatever the two grisha women were doing, was the right thing. "Sankta Alina." They murmured. "Sankta Anya." Saints forever etched into history.

One of them stepped forward, a young Zemeni woman with a colorful scarf woven into her hair. She walked towards the gate with a cautious step before she spoke. "I can help you." The three stepped aside as the woman neared the rusty lock, weaving her hands. The rust fell away and soon did the lock as well. Her hand swooped open the door, guiding the three through. "May the other saints guide your paths summoners." The Keramzin woman nodded at her words, following their instructions towards to docks to find a way out of this mess.

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Grey clouds covered the sky overhead, mist slowly gathering, giving a sense of late evening. The trio hunkered down behind multiple crates stacked onto one another, eyeing the docks. "It's too silent. Not nearly enough people." Anya noted behind her half-veil and beneath her hood. "Maybe so but it's not like we have choice!" The tracker chastised in an irritated whisper. "Don't we?" She snapped back. Alina's voice cut through their bicker. "There's movement. A man and woman." The raven-haired turned her head around, looking to where her friend was. She narrowed her obsidian eyes, peering at them curiously before recognition dawned on her. "That woman. She came to the smith shop earlier. I just...sensed something about her that felt suspicious, like she was hiding something."

The Keramzin man narrowed his eyes, clenching his jaw as he stared a little ahead in thought. "Don't break that brain of yours." The Oryalen woman remarked, making the young Starkov woman grin as he gave her a sarcastic laugh. "You go. With your little masquerade here you should be fine." He remarked, gesturing to her hood and half-veil hanging around her neck. "Fine." In a swift second, the young grisha woman had donned her disguise once more, deftly and silently approaching the two that were loading crates onto the ship. "Is this ship taking any passengers?" Her voice asked lowly and calmly.

The tall man, also of shu descent like the woman, looked at her curiously, his eyes gliding down her form, hanging onto her dark eyes that were the only things he could see about her. "Maybe. It depends on what our captain says." He answered in an even tone. "Tell him we're willing to pay him handsomely. And that we need to leave immediately." The warrior woman arched her clipped eyebrow at her words. "We?" The inferni turned around, letting out a low whistle before Alina and the corporal ducked out of their hiding places, dashing to the ship as the sound of heavy, and many, footfalls reached their ears. "Get behind us." Anya whispered furiously as her two friends started to board, drawing her dagger as the other woman rested her hands on her axes and the tall man on a katana.

"Get inside." The Shu man suggested harshly, his hand wrapping itself around the hilt of his weapon, at ready. "And if I don't? What will you do then?" The raven-haired replied, clenching her jaw as she looked ahead and twirled the dagger in her palm. "Not allow you and your friends on the ship maybe? And given how eager you are to leave, that would seem like a bad thing." He commented. She shot him a look with her obsidian eyes, one with jagged edges like a rock slicing open the earth, a look that could kill, before sheathing her dagger and walking the plank to stand on deck.

As the tall man and the warrior, perhaps his sister, moved in front of the boardwalk, first army soldiers burst onto the open dock, the Oretsev man's former superior officer walking towards the duo, just as the Oryalen woman stood behind them on deck on his sight. "You are harboring a deserter and two fugitives, I suggest you hand them over." He ordered, pointing one of his almost-sausage-like-fingers at the shu woman. "What's it to you? Last time I checked, we don't answer to you. So I don't see why we should." She bit at him. More crewmembers seemed to pop up out of nowhere, training their guns and weapons on the soldiers who responded quickly by doing the same. "It seems like Ravka wants a fight!" The warrior grisha woman shouted, raising her axes above her head menacingly with a toothy grin.

"I don't want to start a conflict between Ravka and Shu Han. It is only my duty to get these fugitives back home to stand trial." The tall Shu man scoffed. "We don't sail for Shu Han. We fly an independent flag." He commented, narrowing his eyes at the smaller soldier as his hand flexed around the hilt of the katana finally drawn out into the open. The two of them walked on deck, nobody else moving as the group of soldiers knew that they didn't stand a chance. The young grisha woman peered at the group as her hands rested on the railing and they slowly retreated. Two crewmembers hauled in the boardwalk, storing it away as the slowly pushed out into the sea. But something wasn't right, she could feel her skin crawl.

Somewhere in the dark, he was watching her carefully and silently. The inferni lit a flame in the palm of her hand, holding it out in front of her as she stared at the shadows in between the buildings, in the streets that came out onto the docks. She could feel that, somehow, they locked eyes in the dark, and that he was there to staring right back at her. She narrowed her eyes defiantly, goading him, daring him to follow her. But he did not move an inch. Perhaps he knew that if he did, if they ran for their ship to chase after them, she would destroy it with the cut. Now she didn't know which ship was his. She knew him all too well and knew that this wouldn't be the last time she'd see him, by far. If it was up to him, he would never stop looking. And if it was up to her, she would never stop running. But not everyone can do what they'd like.

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The room was dimly lit by the few candles strewn across the captain's cabin, the warm glowing light casting six long shadows on the cream colored walls with strips of the original wood peaking through. At the end of the room, towards the windows that lined the back of the massive three masted ship, stood a man with copper colored hair with his back turned towards the trio, the two Shu warriors standing guard at the door. "You know, I don't really like it when my crew and I are told what to do on my ship." the captain remarked before turning around, his hand resting at the top of the ornate chair that stood behind his desk, muddy green eyes glinting mischievously in the candle light. Anya looked at him, her hood and half-veil down, analyzing him and his figure. The way he moved, the way he talked, even the look in his eyes, gave her a sense of familiarity, as if she had met him before.

"But given the circumstances, I'll let it slide. After all, it's not everyday lives of two saints are on the mine. Especially two saints that are worth as much as you are." The privateer, who had introduced himself as Sturmhond, opened a drawer in his desk, pulling out a piece of paper before sliding it to the three. The Oretsev man eyed it, going to grab it before the copper headed man put a loaded gun on the table. The raven-haired narrowed her eyes even more, dagger sliding into her palm from her sleeve. "The Fjerdans are offering 20 million kruge for the one who brings them the sun saint, the darkling and the one they call the drakon sankt'ya. A bit much isn't it, to name someone after a mythological creature that is said to be long dead?" he noted, looking straight at the Oryalen woman and as they locked eyes, a look of recognition crossed in hers.

Suddenly the young Starkov woman stepped forward, Mal trying to hold her back, two orbs of light floating in her palms. "You won't." she stated sternly. "I am well aware that you can consign us to the watery deep, miss Starkov, and that your menacing is very capable of cutting all of us in half before all of us can blink, but it might do you some to realize just how far that we are from the docks and just how inconvenient that would be." he replied, bearing a toothy grin. 'That smart-ass son of a bitch.' the young grisha woman thought to herself. "What is it that you want then?" she asked him curiously, folding her arms. She could feel the gaze of his scrutiny as he stared at her, his eyes resting on the scars that peaked from underneath her clothes on her collarbone, that ran up her neck and tattered over her face, a flash of sorrow in them.

In a split second, before anyone else had noticed, Stormhund had composed himself, that glint of mischief back in his eyes like an all-too-clever fox playing with his next meal. "I want nothing with whoever that is." he started, pointing lazy at the tracker before turning back to a liquor cabinet, taking out a glass and filling it with rum. "But with you two? I might be able to drive up the prices some more if I go to the Shu or the Kerch." he teassed, looking right at the inferni as he uttered the last word with a raised eyebrow and gave her a signature crooked smile. "We can pay you more than that. The king of Ravka will pay you handsomely if you get us back. And if you help us with something else as well." the other grisha woman demanded, a look in her eyes that was telling the captain that it would be best not to cross her. 'She learned from the best.' the inferni noted, her stern exterior almost cracking.

"Mal, Alina, could you leave the room please? I need to have a talk with our host." she asked, tilting her head as she looked at the privateer. "Tolya, Tamar, I suggest you do the same." he said, motioning his head to the door before Anya could hear it close behind her with a light thud. The raven-haired walked towards the liquor cabinet in long strides, taking his empty glass with her along the way and grabbing another one, filling them with rum. She handed the copper haired man his glass back before sipping from her own as she sat down. She looked over its rim at the man in front of her who sat in his captain's chair, eyeing him with a tense silence between the two. "Did you really think you could fool me?" The Oryalen woman remarked.

"I don't know what you are talking about." the captain countered, his gaze stern as he drank from his glass. "Do you? I know you well enough to know that that face has been tailored Stormhund." the young grisha woman slammed back the rest of her drink, setting her glass down before she got up from her chair. As she rounded the desk, the privateer stood up and they were standing eye to eye. "Or should I say Nikolai?" In a split second, his gaze shifted, softening as a light grin split his lips before he enveloped her in a tight bear-like hug, the inferni jumping up slightly as she buried her face into his shoulder.

Fresh tears sprang in her eyes as she held him fiercely. "I thought I lost you..." Nikolai muttered, his voice wavering as he held her closer, afraid that if he let her go, this would all be proven to have been a dream. "I mourned you." He whispered as they parted, his voice vulnerable, pain laid out bear for her to witness. Anya felt the pang of his words hit her in her chest. 'Another friend fallen. Another time there was no funeral.' she thought, like so many others before her. "I'm sorry for leaving you there Nik." she replied softly, as if this was all somehow her fault. The younger Lantsov brother took a step back, his tailored muddy green eyes locking with her obsidian ones, concern written across his expression as he scanned her face and the scars that littered it.

It was almost as he needed to know he did that to her, as much as he needed to breath, and wanted to know even more if they needed to be paid a visit. "I know." the raven-haired said with a bitter laugh, not meaning any of it. She took a deep breath, turning her head to stare out of one of the windows as if it was all too much for her, as if she was almost ashamed at the things that had been done to her and that her best friend was cursed too look at her. Tears rimmed the all-too-clever-fox's face as he took her hands in is. "I'm sorry." He cried, his eyes and voice heartbroken. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you when you needed me." the captain finished. The Oryalen woman smiled up at him, done with her tears, done with her pain, as she was with his.

"This has got to be one of the saddest reunions I've ever been too." she laughed, making the prince snicker as he composed himself, taking another step back and wiping away his tears as if they were never there. "You could say that again. But hey, at least we have alcohol, right?" the young grisha woman nodded, turning towards the desk as she pulled a paper out of her jacket. "This is the reason we wanted to talk to you." she spread it out, a map stretch from one corner of the world towards the other. Only this one had a mark of a serpent seared into it, near the bone road. "I was nearly taken prisoner by the darkling getting this map. And if what we think is correct, than it should lead us straight to the sea whip."

Nikolai furrowed his brow, eyeing her sideways in surprise. "So it's true? You are looking for Morozova's amplifiers?" He asked her curiously. "Not for me. I'm not the sun summoner Nik. But she is. If we can get all three, we can stop him and banish the fold! Alina already has the stag's antlers." she replied almost enthusiastically. "Nikolai, if we do this, if we maybe even just get the second amplifier, we could end this. All of it." the inferni said, turning her head to him. He was silent, as if he was mulling her words over and deciding whether or not he liked the way they tasted. His eyes felt to her hands that rested near the map, her wrists peaking out from underneath the fabric of her sleeves.

"You- you have an amplifier of your own now?" he questioned, a little perplexed. Anya smiled slightly as she turned back towards the map, pulling up one of her sleeves to show the scales off. "I do. Courtesy of David Kostyk, right before I left." The fawn blond bellowed out a laugh. "Please tell me you used them to trample Kirigan? Not that you couldn't do it before but a little extra fire power never hurt anyone." He remarked with a low, amused voice. "I punched his tooth out during the winter fete, you tell me if that counts man." she joked. After calming themselves down for several seconds, Anya and the youngest Lantsov brother opened the door, not even out of the room for a minute before Tolya and Tamar converged on them, Mal and Alina arriving just when the former two led the all-too-clever-fox away.

"I've convinced him to help us out." she remarked, her face remaining calm. "Surprised you didn't hurt him." the tracker remarked sarcastically. "Well I may or may not have made him cry like a baby." the raven-haired replied with a light smirk. The young Starkov woman and the corporal had already been assigned a spare hammock, one planned on sharing so their friend would have one of her own, thank the saints. The boards of the stairs croaked underneath her feet as she stepped on deck, wind wiping her hair around as she stared ahead of her into the inky night. It was dark and the sea seemed nothing but a pitch-black mess that pushed them forward, only a light here and there strewn across the deck that illuminated the night besides the stars in the sky.

The Oryalen woman leaned on the railing, bowed slightly forward as she closed her eyes, feeling the enigmatic pull of the ocean calling to her. The breeze skimmed her skin as she smelled the salty air of the waves, feeling their beat as they hit against the hull of the ship. "Anya?" a young voice resonated behind her in disbelief. She turned around to see a young girl, standing there nimbly on her feet. Before she could even blink, the teen brunette rushed to the young grisha woman, wrapping her arms around her waist. "Hello Kesh." she laughed as she patted her head when the girl let her go. "I can't believe that you're here!" she said excitedly. She looked different somehow, compared to when the inferni last saw her months ago. More self assured, more wise, as if she had weathered her fair share of storms. There was a shine in her eyes too, a joy for life that she didn't have as much before.

"When you told me you'd find a new life, I didn't expect it to be that of a pirate." Anya joked, the young girl watching over the sea besides her. "Uh privateer thank you very much. Sturmhond prefers it that way and to be honest, so do I. Feels quite fancy you know." Kesh smiled, poking her elbow in the woman's arm. "Ah yes, Sturmhond strikes me as the type of man who likes fancy things." the raven-haired said, making the brunette laugh loudly. Another voice joined them, shouting from the stairs that led below deck. "Oi! Kesh! It doesn't matter that you turned seventeen last week, you still need to go to sleep on my watch." the grisha warrior, who she got to know as Tamar, shouted.

As they all walked back downstairs, save for a few of the crew remaining on deck, the Oryalen woman turned her head slightly towards the other grisha woman, eyes sliding over her shark tooth amplifier that was embedded behind her ear. "You know, I had a feeling that there was more to you when we met at my work. And that you were grisha." the Shu woman arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "How did you know?" she questioned. "I guess you could say that I developed a sixth sense for these type of things." The inferni proclaimed as the corners of her lips turned upwards. Their feet landed on the floor, the place yet alive and well before most of them would settle down for the night.

Tamar looked at her, bemused with her answer. "Well, well, well, in another life you would have made an excellent heartrender." Suddenly, another voice rang through the air, loud and commanding. "Crew!" Nikolai shouted, the group of people almost growing silent except for a murmur or two. He looked so serious that it almost made Anya snort as if they were children once more. "I suggest you get some good night's sleep because tomorrow-" he started, pointing to a wall behind him that was laden with weapons, each more intimidating and brilliant than the next. "-we hunt for the sea whip."

°°°°°°°°°°°
GUESS WHO'S STILL
ALIVE HEHEHE.

Hope you all liked
this new chapter!
It's been a bit slower
on my side what with
studying for two retake
exams and helping out
at home and stuff.

Currently obsessed with
the show Sweet Magnolias
on netlix. I am on like
Season 2 episode 7 I think.
Never thought I'd start
to like Jackson or CeCe.
J̶a̶c̶k̶s̶o̶n̶'̶s̶ ̶k̶i̶n̶d̶a̶ ̶h̶o̶t̶.̶
Wait who said that?

Anyways, as always
here are some
memes for your
enjoyment! There
aren't that many
cause I am bust and
also kinda need to
find new meme-able
things to use.

Meanwhile you guys
can mingle in the comments
and drop the most
random headcanons ever.
(It totally isn't 1 am
as I post this)

Bye!