CHAPTER 58
Junius 1787
SUCCESSFUL AS LUC’S RECENT OFFENSIVES WERE, THE new territory was stretching the Resistance thin. Despite the widespread admiration for Luc’s decisive and successful leadership, the higher-ups were less enthused. There were rumours of Luc having an explosive argument with Althorne and several other members of military command, for not consulting them.
Some of the districts were surrounded on three sides by the Undying, requiring constant patrols and defence while providing very little strategic use. The districts in question also had not received their “liberation” with enthusiasm. Many of the Paladians on the West Island were quite happy under Undying occupation and fearful of being labelled Resistance sympathisers if the district was eventually taken back. As a result, the Resistance was forced to fend off not only attacks from the Undying’s forces but also civilian rebellions.
The summer Abeyance was approaching, and the troops were concentrated down-island to defend the ports and the anticipated trade influx.
The hospital remained ceaselessly full. No longer were the sharp deluges of battles followed by a lull to recuperate. Now it was constant, an unrelenting strain that ran everyone ragged.
“I don’t know what to do,” Helena said one night, sitting up because she couldn’t sleep, not even in Kaine’s arms. “I don’t know how we can win. I can’t see any way.”
“You can’t save everyone,” he said quietly.
Her jaw started trembling, and she clenched her fists. “I’m not even trying to save everyone, though. I don’t know how to save anyone. I can’t figure anything out. Everything I try is a dead end. We’re running out of time.”
He said nothing.
“I’m just—” She scrubbed her eyes. “I’m so tired. Everything I do feels like I’m delaying the inevitable, saving someone one day so they’ll die in a worse way tomorrow. I wish I’d never become a healer.”
She’d never admitted it to anyone before. That she hated it.
She told him everything now. The truth about the Stone, and where it was, the true story of the Holdfasts, the array from Wagner, and how no matter how she tried, she couldn’t work out how the channelling was supposed to work. She even told him about the obsidian, and how useless it had proven to be.
She was so tired of finding possibilities that went nowhere.
“Bring me a piece,” he told her. “Maybe you haven’t been able to test it the right way.”
She shook her head. “There’s already too much you need to focus on. You don’t need to worry about my pointless experiments.” She cleared her throat.
“Did I tell you, I’m working with my lab partner to reverse the nullium alloy, so we can use the compound from it to make inert metal? I was thinking, I could use transmutation to make a really light mesh armour with a high tensile strength, and then use the compound to remove the resonance. You would wear it under your clothes. It wouldn’t interfere with your resonance, and no one could use theirs to break through it.” She traced a finger over a silvery scar on his arm. “I think I’ve almost got it all worked out. Then you won’t get hurt so much.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I’m still healing just fine. Bring me a piece concentratedof the obsidian. It’ll be more interesting to experiment with than dealing with all of Crowther’s self-defeating sabotage orders. Everyone in the Undying is paranoid about spies now, and Morrough’s been taking more precautions than ever.”
HELENA WAS SORTING THROUGH THE various pieces of charged obsidian she’d accumulated when the windows exploded. A roar shuddered through the air and Tower. Lab equipment shattered across the floor.
The sirens started. All of them.
Another bomb.
Helena headed for the stairs before her bracelet burned, running over the broken glass that covered the floors.
They got scattered reports of what had happened. Several buildings had fallen, and the interconnected skybridges conjoining the cityscape had wrought massive destruction across the centre of the island. The hospital prepared for the inundation they knew would come, but as they waited, only a few lorries arrived, all carrying people from the outermost edges of the collapse.
Helena was healing a heavy gash across a woman’s head when she heard ad proven tothe clamour that meant gurneys were being brought down the hall, but before they reached the hospital, there were voices bellowing from the hallway.
“Don’t bring them in! Get them outside. Cover those windows. Get every e to test it theentrance sealed.”
There was muffled arguing and protests until a voice roared, “The nullium’s in the air. They’re covered in it. Take them back out!”
Helena turned to stare in horror at Elain, who looked bewildered, her ullium alloy,suncrest trembling below her throat.
“Why does it matter if it’s in the air?” Elain asked.
“Because if we inhale it, we could all lose our resonance,” Helena said, nearly frozen as all the ramifications of that began dawning on her. Nullium shrapnel had been devastation enough, but they weren’t prepared for inhalation.
She looked around at the hospital with all the high windows open, trying to catch the mountain breeze as the basin sweltered in the early-summer heat.
The air was hazy with dust. dealing withThey were already breathing it.
cautions than THEY WORE CLOTH MASKS AND the casualty ward was relocated into the commons, trying to keep the new patients away from those already in the hospital, but it was impossible to tell on sight if the dust covering someone had nullium in it or not.
All the protocols were forgotten as more and more stretchers arrived, the injuries growing progressively worse as the rescue and recovery efforts neared the blast zone.
They washed off as much dust as possible, trying to reduce potential contamination while sorting out life-and-death injuries and identifying those already showing signs of nullium exposure.
How long would it take for nullium in the air to penetrate the lungs and reach the blood? Once it did, how long would they have before their resonance began fading? No one knew. waited, only aHelena worked with a degree of ruthless abandon that she had never before dared. Every second counted. She healed and healed, working with mindless desperation. The day was hot, and the dust in the air grew thick as a rare southerly wind brought it up-island towards them. ll, but beforeThe mask on her face sealed the dampness against her skin. Her hands grew caked with dust that she kept washing off after every patient. The mask stopped working; it was so clogged with dust, it nearly suffocated her. She replaced it with a wet cloth, which was what everyone without masks had
already begun using.
“Marino! Where’s Marino?”
Helena looked up from washing her hands. “What is it?”
She squinted through the haze at the man in front of her.
“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be down-island. I’ve been looking for you.” He was in a lorry uniform, and he took her by the arm.
She stared at him in confusion as he pulled her towards one of the lorries.
“What?”
“There’s too much of a risk of the nullium contamination spreading if we pen, trying tokeep bringing the wounded up-island. Takes too long anyway. There’s a hospital down-island but they’re overrun, not enough experience with the nullium. You’re in charge of the nullium ward here, so you’re lead. Orders are right here.” He shoved her up into the passenger side of the lorry and handed her a piece of paper.
“I’m not in charge …” She squinted at the paper, her eyes gritty with dust.
“I’m not allowed to leave Headquarters.”
She stared stupidly at the words that indicated that Helena Marino, as head of the nullium ward, was to be dispatched to the field hospital to lead the medics in treating the nullium-poisoned combatants. It was signed by Falcon Matias.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d been given written orders from him.
“This can’t be right. Was there a meeting?”
The engine rumbled beneath her.
“I just follow orders, Marino. They don’t bring me in for Council meetings. You were supposed to be there right off. Kept waiting, finally went
looking for you.” The driver twisted at the ignition, shifting a gear, and the lorry lurched forward. Before she had more time to argue, they were speeding out of Headquarters and down-island. never beforeShe could already see the ruined skyline.
“I need you to go back and tell Crowther where I’ve been dispatched. I don’t think this was Council-authorised,” she said as they drove.
“There’s a radio at the field office. You can check in when you arrive.”
She always forgot how fast it was to travel by vehicle on military roads. In no time at all, the lorry stopped at a hastily assembled checkpoint.
Everyone sent down the island into the blast zone was fitted with layers of protective clothing, masks as well as veils to try to keep out the dust. They stopped to dress and then continued deeper. The dust hung in the air, and the road deteriorated, covered in rubble. It was midday, but the dust blotted out the sun so that everything glowed an eerie orange.
Two bright lanterns showed through the smog, and they pulled up at the hospital. There were already medics there, no healers, although it was hard to tell who anyone was.
Medical workers all wore red ribbons tied around their arms. Here Helena saw the devastation she’d kept expecting to arrive at Headquarters.
This was the worst of it.
There were so many crushed bodies. The armour of soldiers had splintered and sliced them apart. Medics with the right resonance were transmuting the armour off, but when it came loose, blood would immediately begin pouring out.
Dust and smoke and metal and blood stained the air. Helena could taste it
despite all the layers.
There was no running water. rino, as headShe could barely see. No one had any idea where the radio was, or if they still had one. They were drowning in injuries.
Half of the medics had already lost their resonance, and there was no time to do anything but switch to manual protocols. Without running water, it was impossible to keep anything clean.
Helena could feel her resonance starting to fail when General Althorne came through the door, pulling a cart with several bodies on it.
“I think they’re alive,” he said, breathing heavily. He was coated in dust, no mask and only light armour on. “There’s at least forty trapped under a finally went
wall. We can hear them, but we don’t know how to reach them without were speedingpotentially collapsing it on them.”
Helena let the others check the bodies and try to find space for them. The hospital was already overflowing. Althorne’s fingers were bloody from digging through rubble. He sat down heavily, coughing violently, struggling to breathe.
“You should be wearing a mask,” she said.
“Can’t breathe in those damn things,” he said, gulping water. “No point.
Already lost my resonance.” Then he blinked and peered at her. “Marino?”
“Yes?” She didn’t know Althorne had any idea who she was.
He leaned towards her, his voice dropping. “What are you doing here? Get back to Headquarters before Ferron finds out about this.”
She was speechless, but of course Althorne had to have known. She looked at him helplessly. “Matias signed the order and dispatched me here, and I can’t find the radio to get permission to return.” t was hard to“Go back to Headquarters. First lorry. Tell them I ordered it. The last thing we need is Ferron going off the rails.” Althorne dragged himself up on his feet.
“Wait.” She caught him by the arm, and to her surprise, he collapsed back onto the chair. She reached out with her failing resonance, but all she felt was a blur.
“Althorne, you need a mask. It’ll give you lung damage to keep breathing this dust. You’re too valuable to risk,” she said, searching him, trying to find the injury she could tell he was hiding. It was a testament to how weak he
was that he sat there, letting her.
He said nothing.
“When are reinforcements coming?” she asked. “There’s not enough people here to handle this much. We’re running out of everything.”
“They’re not,” Althorne said quietly, as if to keep anyone else from
overhearing. “We’re all there is.”
Helena’s heart stalled.
He watched as several soldiers dragged in bodies on makeshift litters.
“We can’t risk our remaining combatants down here, losing their resonance. The fallout has to be contained,” Althorne said, his voice tight
with resignation.
He stood and swayed.
“Where are you hurt?” Helena asked, blocking his path.
He shrugged her off, straightening, his breath laboured. “It’s shallow.
Falling rubble. Everyone’s bleeding. I’ll be fine.”
“Althorne.” She stepped into his path. “You’re hurt. Badly. If I had my resonance, I’d sedate you by force, because you’re not in any condition to lead recovery efforts. You are too valuable. You know that. The Resistance can’t lose you.”
He patted her on the shoulder as if she were a child. “My men are in that rubble. Buried and suffocating because I sent them there.”
A warning shriek rose from the rubble. Long and piercing, followed by another and another. Whistles. Helena didn’t know what it meant.
Althorne’s face hardened. He pushed her aside with a sweep of his arm.
“Block the doors. They’ve sent in necrothralls; they’ll be coming for the n. She lookedbodies.”
He strode past her, and Helena stood, torn between trying to stop him and the urgency of securing the hospital. Before she could decide, he vanished The last thinginto the dust. She turned to face the hospital.
“We need to move all the bodies as far back into the building as possible,” she said, her voice shaking. “If there’s not enough room—stack the dead. We have to secure the doors.” l she felt wasThe thought of being locked in a field hospital again made her vision blur.
She forced herself to stay focused, curling her fingers until she felt the scars on her palm.
“Can’t we let Headquarters know we’re under attack?” a medic asked, voice muffled through protective gear. “They have to send people.”
Helena shook her head. “They’re not coming. The nullium has to be contained.”
Everyone around her froze, staring. She probably wasn’t supposed to tell them that.
Helena had never been a leader, and she had no idea how to suddenly begin being one. She was not the kind of person that anyone believed in, and standing, covered in dust, soaked in blood and gore—it was not the time for it. She focused on practicalities.
“Our job is to keep everyone here safe. We’ll move them back and put up obstacles. The Undying won’t come here themselves; nullium affects them, too.”
“But there’s no room to move anyone unless we can break through the walls, and no one here has the resonance for that. We’re already out of
space,” a medic said. “And how are we going to block the doors?”
Helena looked around. He was right. If they protected the survivors, they’d have to leave the dead to be taken. Which would cost them dearly later on.
There was no room, and no means.
She was in command. She had a stupid slip of paper declaring it.
“We’ll evacuate,” she said, not caring whether the nullium was supposed to be contained down-island. It would be worse if the Undying got hold of all their casualties. “We won’t go into Headquarters, but if we get close enough, they might not pursue. If the Council minds, they can blame me.”
A flurry of activity followed as bodies were prepared for transfer. Helena went and commandeered all the lorries, using the crumpled slip of paper that named her as head of the nullium ward as proof of legitimacy.
They crammed as many bodies as possible into the lorries. Dead at the bottom, injured on top. A medic or nurse departed with each lorry.
The wait for their return felt interminable as they readied group after group.
They could hear the fighting. Fire glowed through the smog. Whistles kept he dead. Wesounding on all sides, like a signal of wolves closing in, except it wasn’t night; the world was red.
Helena’s muscles were burning from lifting, over and over. The bodies never seemed to stop. She and one other medic were left, even though there were still wounded and more bodies that they had to get out.
“I’ll stay,” he said. “Take this one.”
Helena shook her head. “I’m lead. I go last.”
He stepped back, thumping the lorry.
“I’ll wait with you, then,” he said.
She could only see his eyes, and they were crusted all around until they
were black with dust.
He reminded her of Luc.
“No,” she said quickly, looking away. “Go, that’s an order.”
She watched him swing up into the cab next to the driver as the lorry pulled away, driving carefully through the debris. She could just barely make out the Alchemy Tower in the distance. The flame at the top like a small sun.
The lorry stopped.
Helena squinted through the dust, trying to make out why. There was another lorry approaching, swerving back and forth so that the departing lorry couldn’t pass it.
Suddenly the approaching lorry sped up, and Helena could see through the ivors, they’ddust enough to make out the bloated grey face of the driver.
The Resistance lorry’s wheels screamed as it went into a rapid reverse, but rubble scattered across the road prevented evasion. The approaching lorry
crashed into it head-on.
There was a bright flash. ot hold of all
Whistles kept
barely make
eparting lorry
Suddenly the approaching lorry sped up, and Helena could see through the dust enough to make out the bloated grey face of the driver.
The Resistance lorry’s wheels screamed as it went into a rapid reverse, but rubble scattered across the road prevented evasion. The approaching lorry
crashed into it head-on.
There was a bright flash.