by Ashley West
Kaleth defended herself, meeting her in the middle, and the screeching just grew worse.
Abby was too close. Sorrin could see that. She tried to back away, but with the guards prostrate all around, there wasn’t much room for her to maneuver.
The Caran knocked Kaleth back and then whirled on Abby, glowing red eyes searing into her. “You,” she said, and her voice nearly echoed with her power and fury. “You did this. Humans are a poison, a disease, and you all deserve to die. It will begin with you.” She reached out, and fire gathered at her fingertips, growing and growing until it was a veritable wall of flame.
Abby looked stunned, and she was rooted to the spot for the moment, either from fear or shock or some other paralyzing emotion. Sorrin saw her mouth form the word ‘no’ and then the word ‘help’, and he was running.
Time seemed to slow down for him as he ran, pushing past anyone who was in his way. He knocked down the guards who had remembered their purpose and were getting up to stop him, and he moved past Kaleth, also picking herself up off the ground. As he watched, the flame left the Caran’s fingers, and the seconds seemed to stretch endlessly, measured by the frantic beats of Sorrin’s heart as he pushed his way forward and managed to knock Abby back and out of the way. The flames rushed past him, singeing his nose a bit with how close they came, and then slammed into the back wall, blackening it.
Sorrin breathed a sigh of relief as everything kicked back to normal speed for him. “Stay here,” he said to Abby.
“Sorrin? But—”
“Stay. Here,” he said, hopefully making it clear that he was serious about this. If anything happened to her, if she put herself in danger unnecessarily again... He didn’t want to think about it. Sorrin closed the door on the maelstrom of feelings swirling around in him, and he focused on one thing.
This was the woman, the thing, the twisted, evil creature, who had led the assault on his people. When Gollen Par had burned, she’d been at the helm of the attack. She’d probably enjoyed it. It seemed like the sort of thing she would do, burn an entire city just for her own sick amusement. They hadn’t even recovered the bodies of most of the fallen who had died in this city, and Sorrin didn’t want to know what she’d done with them. He didn’t want to know anything except how it would feel to stand over her body and know it was done. For four years, this had been his mission. Revenge had been his motivation, the only thing keeping him going. It had taken the person he’d used to be and turned him into this, and while he’d once wanted to die at the end of this mission, now he wanted to live. He wanted to have that moment of victory, of knowing that he didn’t have to live with this hanging over him anymore.
Sorrin was going to win.
He stepped forward, sword lifted up. His blaster had been discarded somewhere, but that was fine. He could win this with one weapon.
The Caran snorted. “And what do you plan to do here?” she asked, not seeming to care one bit about the sword in her face.
“Kill you,” Sorrin replied, and he began to fight.
Honestly, when he looked back, he wouldn’t even remember the individual moments of the fight. He wouldn't remember the moves he made or the moves that the Caran made. The parries, the dodges, the strikes all blended into each other, becoming a blur of motion that never stopped. His heart races and his breath burned in his lungs, sweat and smoke clouding his senses.
Above it all was the sound of his heartbeat and the way his body moved, muscle memory taking over and allowing his head to focus on the only thing that mattered.
He got wounded, he knew that, sharp hurts that bled and stung, but he couldn't focus on that, either. There was no time. No time for anything but pressing forward again and again.
Sorrin saw the moment when she realized that she had lost. When the fury filled those eyes to the brim and she began to lash out in anger. That was her mistake. One flash of his sword, and Sorrin had sliced off one of her hands, the metal cutting easily through the fine bones of her wrist. One more flash, and he was removing her head, whirling his body through the motion.
When it fell, no one said anything for a beat, and then the guards launched themselves forward. Sorrin thought that perhaps this was the end of him. He was exhausted and aching, and his breath was stuttering in his chest, and if they all fell on him at once, then it would be all over. Not the worst way to go, by far, but...
Before he had time to contemplate that too much, the doors burst open and more warriors poured in, engaging the rest of the guards and leaving Sorrin unharmed.
He slumped back against the wall, one hand pressed to his chest.
It was finished.
In the aftermath of the battle, there was plenty to do. Some of the Camadors had escaped the city when the fighting began in earnest, and they would need to be hunted down. Kaleth was the only one who would be spared, in light of the fact that no one would spit in the Caran's face unless they truly meant to stand against her. Abby glared at anyone who dared question her, demanding that the Camador get medical attention along with everyone else who was wounded.
Amazingly, she was fine. Kaleth had defended her, and no one had managed to lay a hand on her. Most of the other humans were fine, as well, and the human military took over where they were concerned, promising to get them back to their families as soon as possible.
The floating city was a flurry of movement, and Halphia climbed on board as soon as it had been deemed safe.
No one had tried to make Sorrin move from his spot, slumped down against the wall. Maybe they'd seen him fight the Caran, maybe they knew who he was, maybe they had orders to leave him alone. Either way, aside from a few curious glances, people were leaving him be.
Halphia came right over to him, though, and sat down beside him on the floor, heedless of how dirty it was with soot and blood.
"You need to be seen to," she said.
"I know," Sorrin replied.
"Are you alright?" she asked, and that was his friend Halphia asking, not the Senator.
He turned his head to look at her, and her eyes were full of concern. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "It's finished."
"It is finished," she agreed. "Finally. You did what you said you would do."
"Yes."
"And now you feel strange."
"Yes. Empty, I think."
She nodded her head. "You need a new purpose."
"I suppose so."
"But that can wait. Right now you need to go get those wounds looked at. I don't want you bleeding to death before people have time to hail you as a hero." Her smile was impish as she got to her feet, and Sorrin gave her a look of alarm.
That wasn't what he wanted. He'd just wanted to end this. Judging from the look on her face, Halphia knew that and was going to enjoy his discomfort.
There were a lot of questions still left to be answered, and they were all things only he could deal with. He had to figure out what came next for him, where he would go, what he would do. He supposed he could go back to his apartment. He could regale Caldir with stories of Earth and the fight and finally let Amalda feed him. That would be...normal.
But it didn't feel right.
He wasn't the person he'd been four years ago, but Sorrin didn't think he was the person he'd been four week ago either. With the death of the Caran, it was like a burden had been lifted from him, and he was having a hard time knowing who he was without it. He'd felt old for the last four years of his life, but he was starting to remember that actually, he wasn't, and there was plenty of living ahead of him.
How strange.
And then there was Abby.
Once she had been taken away to be looked at and examined and questioned, he hadn't seen her again. Halphia probably had questions for her, and so would her own government, since she'd played such an integral part in the battle. Sorrin didn't really know what he was going to say to her anyway. Something. Maybe he would apologize. Maybe she would.
Leaving Earth with that unfinished felt...wrong.
Leaving Earth at all felt just as strange. By the time he was climbing down the ladder to the floating city for the last time, he just wanted to sleep. Too many thoughts were swirling around his head, leaving him confused and cranky.
For now, he just needed to rest.
Chapter Fourteen: Begin Again
When the dust settled, there were plenty of things still to take care of. The governments of Earth wanted to sit down with the government of the Independent colonies and work out some kind of plan to ensure that this wouldn't happen again. It was the first time that someone from Earth and someone from another planet would sit down at some sort of summit and try to come to an arrangement, but Abby thought it boded well for everyone. It had already been proven that humans and aliens could work together, and establishing trade and safety between Earth and other planets, honestly just seemed like the next step when it came to progress. So that was good.
Kaleth was being hailed as a hero. Not by her own people, of course, but by the humans she had saved. Her actions kept the death toll relatively low on all sides that mattered, and people were endlessly grateful. Seeing as she'd come from a place where she hadn't been appreciated, much less celebrated, her smile was bright every time someone thanked her.
Abby was pleased for her. Honestly, they couldn't have done it without her help, and it was good that everyone knew that.
Her family was coming for a visit, bringing her little sister and the new dog they'd acquired. But primarily coming to make sure she was all in one piece. Abby was more than a little grateful to Sorrin for giving her the push she needed to call them that first time since they wouldn't have to mourn anymore. Having her family back was going to be wonderful. A good step on the path to getting her life back on track. All of those goals she'd had before this had all happened had never gone away, she still wanted them badly. Now she would have the time to work on achieving them.
Sorrin had played a part in making sure she still had that time. As surprised as she'd been at the time, Abby wasn't shocked that Sorrin had saved her life during the battle.
He'd told her that he didn't want anyone else to die at the hands of the Camadors, and apparently that included her. The look of fear in his eyes as that wall of fire had come hurtling at her had been very real, as had the rage in his eyes when he'd whirled on the Caran to take her on directly.
Never had she seen anyone fight like that before, and the fact that a little of it was for her had warmed her inside as she’d gone back to helping Kaleth in order to get the humans out of the cells and then down the ladder to safety.
It had been a team effort all around, and the smoking ruins of the floating city were still in the middle of the lake, a testament to a battle hard fought. If there were any remaining Camadors lurking in the shadows, Halphia’s men were on the job of capturing them. The Senator had gone so far as to promise that she and her people would stay until everything was secure. The American military was backing them up, and while things were going to be chaotic for quite some time, it was a good chaos. It was a chaos that meant things were going to get better.
At least that was what she hoped it meant.
Even with things being resolved around her, there was still unfinished business between her and Sorrin. Even after he had saved her life, there hadn’t been time to thank him. There hadn’t been time for much of anything other than making sure he wouldn’t have to jump in the line of fire for her again, and when things had settled down some and the battle had been declared over, she wasn’t surprised that Sorrin wasn’t waiting for her.
The problem was that she didn’t know where to find him. Even if he wasn’t going to forgive her for what she had done, she at least wanted to know that. She wanted to thank him for saving her life and then say goodbye to him with one last apology. If she could have that, then she’d let go of everything else.
In the end, he was where she should have expected him to be.
She walked up to the lake where the floating city was currently half submerged and saw Sorrin standing there with Senator Halphia. The woman was so lovely and put together, but in a completely different way from how Theolette had been. She was much more approachable, and it was clear that she cared about her people very much.
At the moment, she was standing with Sorrin, both of them facing the city with their backs to Abby. As Abby watched, she reached out a hand and rested it on Sorrin’s shoulder. Abby was close enough that she could hear most of their conversation, and she knew she should turn around and leave or make her presence known, but she stood there, waiting.
“You know you still have a home in Gollen Par,” the Senator said softly. “You’ve always had a home there.”
“I know,” Sorrin replied. “I just...I feel like it’s too late to go back now. I’d be trying to recreate what I had there before, and that’s impossible.”
“Yes,” Halphia agreed. “It is. But you don’t have to try to recreate it. You can move forward. There are still people there who love you. Who want good things for you.”
Abby swallowed hard. Somehow, she hadn't even considered the reality of Sorrin going back home. He had completed his mission, so there was no reason for him to stay here any longer. It sounded like Halphia cared about him, more than Abby had realized, and it would make sense for them to go back together. Sorrin could be a warrior again, and Halphia could be his...whatever.
She tried to push back the jealousy and sadness that wanted to burst free by reminding herself that Sorrin had never been hers. She'd been living a lie the entire time, and he didn't owe her anything.
"I know that," Sorrin was saying. "It just. Does not feel like the right answer."
"Then what is the answer, Sorrin? Staying here? I know that for so long your life was devoted to getting vengeance, and now you've had it. What comes next for you now that you haven't died with your grudge?"
He was shaking his head, fingers clenching and unclenching by his sides. "I wish that I knew."
"That human woman seems to care for you."
Sorrin's head turned sharply, and he looked at her. "What?"
"The human woman. The one you saved who was working with Kaleth to free the other humans. She seemed concerned about you. She's the reason you changed your mind, is she not? About accepting help?"
He nodded. "She is. But that's...it's over now."
Abby's heart sank. She needed to leave. She didn't want to hear Sorrin tell his friend all about her betrayal and how hurt he was and how he never wanted to see Abby again. That would kill her inside to hear that. She turned on her heel, ready to leave as quickly as possible, but then Sorrin spoke again, and she couldn't help slowing her pace to listen and then turning back around completely so she could see them.
"We were both in the wrong. I do not know how to tell her that."
"Have you tried using your words?" Halphia asked, sounding amused.
Sorrin glared at her. "You would think it's that simple."
"Sorrin, it is that simple. You have always made bigger problems out of smaller ones. You let things consume you to the point where you forget to look around and see that not everything is as bad as you expect it to be. You can simply speak to her and tell her you were wrong."
"She was wrong, too," Sorrin was quick to say.
"And I believe she knows that." A smile lit that lovely face, and she turned her head. "Don't you, my dear?"
Abby froze, eyes wide as Halphia made eye contact with her. Apparently she was not nearly as stealthy as she thought she was. Either that, or Halphia had some sort of enhanced senses, which, honestly, she wouldn't doubt.
She swallowed hard as Sorrin turned to look at her as well, and she held his gaze for a moment, waiting for the point where he got mad and closed himself off again.
It didn't happen, though, and she blinked in surprise.
"I believe there are things I must see to elsewhere," Halphia said. "I'll speak with you again before I leave, Sorrin." And then she was gone, gliding off to the other side of
the lake to finish her examination of the city or whatever it was that had brought her here.
Sorrin just kept looking at her, and it became clear that he was waiting for her to make the first move. That was fair. Abby kept walking until she was closer. "I'm sorry," she said immediately. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation, I was just...I was looking for you, and then..."
"And then you stayed to see what we said."
She couldn't parse the tone of Sorrin's voice, so she just lowered her head and nodded. "Yes. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything, Sorrin. I should have told you from the start. I should have told Theolette to go hang instead of agreeing to do her bidding. I'm so sorry."
For a long moment, Sorrin didn’t say anything. His blue eyes raked over her face, and Abby held still, letting him look for whatever it was he wanted to see there. Or didn’t want to see.
“No,” he said finally. “If you had denied Theolette then you would have been killed, and I never would have met you.”
“Would that have been so bad?” Abby asked weakly.
“Yes,” Sorrin said. “It would have. This victory is because of you.”
“Sorrin, that’s not—”
“It is,” he said firmly. “I was thinking only of my vengeance and my mission. If not for you, then I would have continued thinking like that, and I would have rushed in again and been killed in the process. Because of you, I considered an alliance with the humans. Because of you, I was amenable to calling Halphia and asking for help. Because I wanted to keep you safe.”
“You did keep me safe,” Abby murmured. “You saved my life.”
“I had no other choice.”
Their eye contact was intense, and neither of them seemed inclined to look away. “Are you going back?” Abby asked. “With everyone else?”
Sorrin shook his head. “I haven’t decided.”
“Well. Before you go. Or...if you stay, do you think we could start over?”
“Start over?”
Abby nodded. “Honestly, this time. I’d like...I’d like to be on good terms.”
