Radiant's Honor (Founders Series Book 2)

by Mari Dietz

  Maddox was right, but she was tired of losing.

  “Why can’t I save anyone?” Vic choked.

  A sad sigh sounded. “Get her out of here, William.”

  Two hands grabbed her upper arms and pulled her back before she got crushed under the weight of the radiant, who fell forward without the staff of her scythe in their way. Vic’s eyes met Maddox’s. Her friend’s blue eyes contained unshed tears.

  “I’ll come back,” Vic rasped.

  “I know.”

  Vic held back tears as she ran with William and Samuel. Her shoulders slumped, and she took a chance. “Emilia!”

  No answer. William looked through the barred windows.

  “I can try to block them now that we’ve gained some ground. But I might not have enough magic or be able to make a barrier fast enough to stop them,” William panted.

  The radiant stayed on their heels.

  “If you don’t, we won’t be able to take a chance on her door,” Vic answered.

  He nodded. Vic spun around, her relic hitting the radiant in front in the knees. They toppled to the ground, and the others didn’t have much stopping power and tripped.

  In that brief second, William pulled stone from the side walls. He made four wide panels to block the path. The horizontal bars left no space for a human to squeeze through. There would be no returning that way for them either.

  The blockade would buy them time, but the shouts in the arena grew louder. The reapers were getting pushed back, and they would get trapped here if they didn’t escape back down to the arena.

  “We can’t look forever, Vic.”

  “I understand.” Her feet throbbed, and she kept moving.

  William froze. “She’s here.”

  Vic plastered herself to the door. A body lay prone on the bed, unmoving. She pounded on the door while William got to work. The radiant behind them had already broken through one of his side pillars. The bars William had made were too thin to hold them forever.

  With strange ease, the crack in the door grew.

  “This is odd,” William muttered. “The latches aren’t locked.”

  Vic ignored him and yanked on the handle, throwing the door open. “Em!” She went to her sister’s side and touched her face. Emilia’s skin was cold to the touch. “No. Em, wake up.” Panic rose in Vic, and her world shrank.

  “It’s okay. She’s breathing,” William’s voice cut through her panic, and she could see the slight rise and fall of her sister’s chest.

  Those words brought her back, and Vic tried to lift her sister’s still body. Her arms gave out, even though her sister wasn’t that large, and she fell to her knees. She almost screamed in frustration.

  “Let me.” William eased her aside and lifted Emilia. “Can you run?” He took in her kneeling form.

  “Yes.” There was no other option. She would get her sister out of here with William.

  Samuel took her hand, not saying anything, then they burst out of the room. William stayed in front while they ran to the other set of stairs. Samuel helped pull Vic, giving her the energy she needed for their last retreat.

  “They blocked off the stairs!” William shouted.

  There was no way they could fight them.

  Vic looked down at the arena. The reapers’ backs were to them. The last person she wanted to see noticed them: Landon.

  He ran toward them while the other reapers held back the mogs.

  Landon took in the four people on the second floor. “Jump. I’ll catch you.”

  Not that far to fall, but they could break bones if they landed wrong. William shifted Emilia to the railing to drop her into Landon’s arms. Vic held out her hand to stop him.

  “Don’t.” Vic stared down at the man who’d harassed her. He’d come to help them fight. Could she trust him?

  William glanced between them.

  Landon spat on the arena ground. “I hate you, founder, but I’m on your side.”

  Vic swallowed, and her shoulders stiffened. “Don’t drop us.” If he broke any of her sister’s bones, she would break his leg.

  With a nod, William carefully let Emilia drop, and Landon caught her. His knees bent with the momentum.

  William gestured for Vic to jump, but she shook her head. “Samuel, go next.”

  To her surprise, Samuel listened. He put his legs over the ledge and held on with only his hands. Then he dropped into Landon’s arms. Landon grunted from the radiant’s extra weight.

  Vic followed him, knowing William wouldn’t go before her. She landed in Landon’s arms, and he quickly placed her on the ground to catch William.

  “We can’t drain them all. The last line of reapers are at the front, and they’ll be full soon,” Landon shared before running off to the exit, expecting them to follow.

  They ran with the other reapers to the sewage river. The ones in front caused the rest to pause as they loaded into boats. A loud call went out, and they all broke into the tunnel. The reapers with empty gicgauges stayed at the back but pushed forward. Vic and William stayed toward the back since she couldn’t run as fast and Emilia’s body impeded William.

  The turn to the ramp approached, and reapers loaded into boats and pushed off down the water. Only three could fit on a boat.

  They were at the end, and moans from the large mogs came from the tunnels behind them.

  “Go with Em.” Vic pushed William toward a boat with only one other person in it. He opened his mouth to argue. “I’m trusting you, Will. Please.”

  He shut his mouth and got into the boat with Emilia. “Samuel, keep her safe.”

  The reaper pushed them down the river. They disappeared with the other boats around the bend.

  In a flash, the boats took off, and the last of the reapers jumped into the water, holding on to the sides of the departing boats. Vic grabbed the small boat she’d stashed earlier, and before a mog could grab them, they hopped in. She pushed off with her pole.

  The mog swiped at the boat, making it rock, and she dropped one of the poles. The water swallowed it instantly. “Blight.”

  She pushed forward, the other boats already too far ahead to notice her and Samuel.

  The mogs entered the water, and she frantically shoved off the ground. The waves from the mogs pushed them forward.

  “Samuel, look out for piles of metal and stones,” Vic called behind her. She focused her gaze on the mogs and didn’t want to turn around. Sweat dripped into her eyes, and the stench, as always, made it hard to breathe. She didn’t know how her arms still functioned, and they shook from the effort.

  “Here,” Samuel called, giving her hope.

  She looked behind her and shoved the boat onto shore. The familiar twisted metal and dead stones were a welcome sight. They jumped out, the mogs not far behind them.

  The reapers had already gone ahead.

  Vic glanced down the tunnel. “Samuel, run.”

  He stood there.

  Vic pulled out her relic. “I can see why William’s frustrated with you.”

  The stone told her she still had magic, which didn’t make sense, but she didn’t question it. There was no gicgauge, and she could buy William time by taking out the first few mogs. It didn’t take much for the fire to burn through her once more. It molded to her like an old friend.

  Pain bloomed, and she knew she wouldn’t need to touch the mogs. She would take out the first line of mogs, then they could run. Vic stamped her relic on the ground. The magic, alight with power, burst out and incinerated the mogs. In her blurred vision, faceless forms separated as they fell. Ash burst into the air, and a feeling of joyful release moved inside her. The feeling wasn’t hers, and she didn’t understand it.

  The power consumed, and Vic found it impossible to stop the flow as she burned through the mogs. Her body burned with them as magic flames licked her hair. The metal and the surrounding stone heated, and something foreign came alive inside her as the dead relic stones in the twisted metal graveyard came back to life.<
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  Once the mogs had burned, she couldn’t stop. Vic had lost control as soon as her magic had touched the dead stones, which she’d thought were useless junk.

  Her scream reverberated in her ears, and something dripped from her eyes that wasn’t tears. Then she burned out. Ash coated her tongue. Blood dripped from her mouth. “I think I stopped them.”

  Blackness clouded her gaze, and she dropped to the ground.

  19

  William

  With the help of other reapers, William pulled Emilia out of the grate entrance and into the room where he’d taken his disastrous GicCorp test. In the mayhem, he’d lost track of Vic and his brother. They wouldn’t be far behind him. When reapers stopped coming out of the entrance, he reached to tug on cuffs that weren’t there.

  A reaper covered in dirt and smelling of sweat stopped next to William while he waited next to Emilia’s sleeping form. “You better get moving. The news will stay ahead of this, but you don’t want to be caught here.”

  Thanks to the founders and Conrad, the Verrin Daily News would report that mogs had broken into Haven. The reports would skew the story so the reapers would be the heroes, which they were, but not for the reasons the public would think. William was in favor of telling the truth about the radiant army, but the other founders thought it would lead to panic. They wanted more information and were slow to take action.

  “Are there any more people behind you?” William asked.

  The reaper frowned. “Honestly, I don’t know. Once we all got in the boats, we got separated in the current. Is there someone down there? Do I need to go back?”

  William was about to say yes—he didn’t want to leave Emilia behind with someone else so he could go look—but then a scuffing sound came from the tunnel and a blond head popped up from the grate. “Sam!”

  Sam went back down and then returned, holding up Vic’s limp body. The reaper helped pull her out. William checked for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt it. Her breath came in shallow gasps, and her body felt hot. A thick layer of blood had dried around her neck, but the wound didn’t look too deep.

  “Thank you for your help,” he told the reaper. “Sam, were you the last ones?”

  Sam picked up Vic and didn’t answer. Taking that as a yes, William went over to Emilia and lifted her in his arms. The brothers followed the reaper out of the building at a fast clip. Kai waited at the dock by GicCorp, and the tension left his face when he saw the group.

  “I thought I’d need to go back and look for you.” Kai helped load them into one of the last automated water taxis. The other reaper saluted Kai and ran off. They placed the sleeping sisters side by side. Before William could ask about the reaper, Kai continued, “All the reapers are separating into founder homes for safety. I got word from Conrad that they would do that much.”

  “I’m surprised they did anything.” When they’d realized Vic wasn’t in her room, her father had practically dragged the founders into his home to get their support in putting pressure on the news. Kai had called in the Order leaders, and the Boreus leader’s shocked face had told them he’d known nothing about the bones left for mog bait.

  The Boreus leader had called in his reapers. Dei had been more reluctant to join in. All the leaders had asked for volunteers, and the turnout had been shocking. The biggest surprise had been Landon returning with Nyx reapers. Most of them had doubted the news until they’d seen the mogs attacking Vic in the middle of Haven. They hadn’t gotten to the part about forced radiant changes. He thought they’d avoided it for his sake.

  The farther the boat took them from GicCorp and Haven, the easier William breathed.

  Kai placed his hand on Vic’s forehead. “Does she have a fever?”

  “I’m not sure. She felt hot when we got to Haven. Do you think she used her magic again?” William told himself that Kai’s hand on Vic’s forehead didn’t bother him. He felt like a jerk for thinking that way, with Vic and Emilia both passed out. They needed help, not jealousy. “Sam, did Vic fight the mogs?”

  Sam stayed silent.

  Kai gently brushed the hair away from her sweaty forehead. “Knowing Vic, she must have. She’ll shatter her stone if she isn’t careful. There’s no gicgauge to protect the flow of magic or stop when it gets too full. Once the stone is broken, it’ll use up her body. I only know of one person who survived that kind of magic flow, but she lost her relic.”

  William placed a hand on Emilia’s forehead, and unlike her sister, she remained cold. They didn’t have any blankets. He shifted the sisters closer together and tucked Emilia’s hands under Vic. “Can we go faster?”

  Kai shook his head. William knew the boat was automated, but he still shifted nervously. He sat on Emilia’s other side to share his warmth. Maybe some heat from Vic would seep into her sister.

  The dock close to the Glass home was a welcome sight, and Conrad waited for them. His face filled with relief and then worry when he saw his daughters.

  William jumped out first, and Kai passed Emilia to him, then Vic to her father. He ran with him back to their home. The sun had barely peeked out over the city line as they reached the Glass home. Conrad shoved open the doors, and healers hurried down the hall.

  “I need two healers!” Conrad shouted, and they placed the sisters on nearby cots. They must have prepared while they’d been fighting. William stepped back to let the healers work.

  He didn’t remove his gaze from Vic’s pale face. Her lips were cracked from the heat, and dried blood covered her chin and neck. With how hot she felt, he thought she would be redder and less pale. The red in her hair shone as brightly as ever, like a candle flame.

  The healer asked William while she checked Vic, “Do you know what happened?”

  “She used her magic without a gicgauge.”

  The healer worked quickly with her partner. “Magic burnout. Take off her boots. Start with her feet. We need to cut off her clothing. Stand-about person, help us.”

  William jerked to attention when he realized she was talking to him. She shoved a pair of scissors into his hand. He hesitated, then cut off her pants while the healer followed, wrapping her up in blue bandages. Whatever they’d imbued those with, he hoped it would work. He yearned for Vic to open her eyes.

  While the healer covered her body, another healer used a different colored bandage on her neck wound. He carefully wiped away the dried blood. “I can’t tell where the gicorb is at the moment. After the wound heals, we can check.”

  The other healer nodded.

  At the cot next beside him, they also wrapped up Vic’s sister, then piled heated blankets on top of her. Their father smoothed back her hair and whispered to her.

  The healers finished with Emilia and stood. “When the blue turns white, flag us down so we can rewrap.”

  “That’s it?” Wasn’t there more they could do? Imbued bandages were great for quicker healing, but healers didn’t rely on them all the time for more serious injuries.

  The healers exchanged glances. “Magic burnout has a low survival rate. She used her body instead of the stone to fuel her relic. It caused massive damage. When the gicgauge breaks, the magic user will usually go through the stone then the body.” The healer pointed to the relic. “From my bare knowledge, the stone looks intact.” The healers left to go help others. William was thankful for the small explanation, even though he thought they could do more to help her.

  “How’s her sister?” William asked Conrad.

  “Hypothermic but stable.” His brow furrowed, and he placed Vic’s hands back onto the cot. A tremor entered his voice as he said, “She always did everything the hard way.”

  William pulled up two chairs. He didn’t know where Kai had gone. Probably to look after the reapers. Conrad stayed by Emilia, checking her temperature. Their mother came by often to check their vitals. Apparently, she was a founder from a healer house, and she often got dragged away to direct other healers. William didn’t look away from the bandages.


  In less than an hour, he had to chase down a healer to put on fresh bandages. In the morning hours, it happened five more times. The latest set seemed to hang on.

  Conrad placed a plate of food next to him, and William nodded his thanks. “I’m afraid to ask, but how was the news met this morning?”

  “Better than we’d hoped. The lack of comment from GicCorp is worrying, but they’ve shut themselves in for now.” Conrad squeezed his left arm. “We can’t predict their next move because we don’t know their motivation. If we continue to shoot in the dark, we may all end up dead or a radiant.” Conrad left his food untouched. “Sorry for the lack of encouragement.” He paused. “I’m guessing your father has mentioned nothing?” He straightened Emilia’s blankets.

  “He probably would have if I’d stayed to purify people by force. The last time I saw him, he was ranting about his legacy and tried to purify me.” William would be happy to never see his father again. He rested his hand on Vic’s forehead. She felt cooler, or maybe it was wishful thinking. “I should go have a talk with him.”

  “Do you need me to come?”

  Did he? Then he wouldn’t have to deal with it on his own. He ignored the food and rose. Sam came behind him. “He’s our problem. I’d like to meet with him first on our own.”

  Conrad nodded.

  William lightly brushed Vic’s forehead. “I shouldn’t be long.”

  Conrad raised his eyebrows at William’s action but said nothing. “When should we worry?”

  “Give us three hours. If I end up purified, I’d appreciate it if you put us to work away from my father.” He didn’t want to end up dragging people out of their homes in the middle of the night. He doubted his brother would want that either.

  “Understood.”

  William left the father with his daughters, and Sam followed him out of the founder house, walking beside him. The chaos of the house had calmed down while the injured rested. The dead reapers had been left behind at Haven. It would hurt those who’d escaped that they couldn’t honor their fallen comrades in the usual way.