This was crazy.
Jaina had an idea that if she were to spend much more time with Lilly’s friend Windham, she would like him less than she already did, and agree with him even less than that. His near-constant buzzing in their ears about the veracity of their decision making was enough to get him popped in the nose eventually.
But he was right this time. What they were about to do was crazy. There were hundreds—thousands!—of invaders surrounding the Godknight and the bizarre machine that held him. And they were only three: a princess, a farmboy… and her.
Jaina struggled to keep up with Kal and Lilly as they barreled headlong into the throng of soldiers. She was fit, for sure, and took good care of herself. But Lilly, and especially Kal, seemed to operate at a whole other level.
This was crazy.
They were upon the soldiers now; there was still time, however brief, to change their minds. Turn back towards sanity. Jaina felt her recently rediscovered resolve and will already beginning to crumble.
There was no more room for them to run forward. The soldiers were shoulder-to-shoulder and straining to see over their counterparts in front of them. The three of them were about to run directly into their backs. Maybe that’d work for Kal, at least at first. But resolve or not, Jaina was a petite woman going up against heavily armored soldiers.
This was crazy. This was stupid.
Insane.
But she kept running anyway. She didn’t know why, exactly. Maybe it was because of Stegran; maybe she had nothing left to lose. Or maybe she wanted to make him proud. Stand for something besides the One Rule.
Kal struck the first soldier at full tilt, sending him sprawling into the soldier next to him. The pair of soldiers stumbled out of the way… but there were two more—a dozen more—right in front of them. Last chance to turn back...
No. She had never been one to be at the mercy of her emotions, and she wasn’t going to start now. She dug deep, as deep as she could… and found the spark. It wasn’t much, not at first. But slowly that resolve within her seemed only to grow, and for a moment, Jaina felt like it wasn’t entirely hers. As if some supernatural influence was fueling her. Was it the Godknight, lending them what strength he had left? Or something else entirely?
Then the strangest thing of all began happening. The soldiers, their backs still to the three of them, started to part before them. The soldiers didn’t seem to actually notice the three of them; their parting made no practical sense. But Kal and Lilly, perhaps fueled by the same mysterious stirrings as Jaina, didn’t hesitate for a second, racing headlong into the space that seemed to be created just for them, and so, neither did Jaina.
The strangeness continued, as indicated by the soldiers’ reaction to them as they passed. They noticed her, Kal and Lilly… but it was almost as if they noticed them a second too late. As if the soldiers were now operating at a different, slower speed, their movements and reactions just a beat behind what was normal.
Something was at work here, for sure, Jaina now believed. She had never been particularly interested in magic; it seemed like just minor little tricks. And while she had sometimes wondered where the Godknight had come from and how he came to be so powerful, she had never really questioned his existence. He had been a presence, however periphery, since the day she was born. He just “was.”
But now, seeing the soldiers part and their movements slowed, she couldn’t help but wonder: how was this happening? Who—or what—was aiding them?
Jaina felt her will strengthen further, driving her forward. The three of them were moving faster now, almost to the front, almost to the scene of the strange ritual. She heard a few voices shouting behind them, but too late.
They finally burst through the mass of soldiers and into the space just in front of the platform where the ritual was taking place. It was surreal, seeing it up close. The faceless being hovered on top of the platform, and for a moment Jaina felt an overwhelming desire to stop. Turn back and run away. Because this was crazy. This… thing was crazy. How could such a being even exist? When it turned its head to face them—despite having no discernible eyes, Jaina was positive it was looking right at her—a cold shiver ran down her spine. She felt like she was being dissected while in a full sprint.
Kal reached the platform first, and bless him, never hesitated. He leaped up onto it in one fluid motion and started for the cages that floated behind the horrid creatures—Jaina could smell their stench now, being so close—and in front of the faceless being. Some sort of energy, energy that had been invisible to her until now, seemed to be flowing into them. A quick glance to her right confirmed the source of that energy: the Godknight.
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But a quick glance was all she dared. Kal had grabbed one of the cages, as planned, and kept running, leaping off the platform and running straight for the soldiers in his path. They didn’t part for him this time, but their reactions did still seem slow. They grappled for him, a second too late, and he quickly disappeared into the crowd.
Lilly was right behind him, her leap onto the platform nearly as fluid and perfect as Kal’s. Everyone, including the faceless being, was staring after Kal, their reactions supernaturally slow. Jaina wondered what they must look like to the soldiers and the faceless being. Were they aware they were moving so slowly, or did the three of them appear to moving at a super speed?
Lilly was there and gone, jumping off the platform with cage in hand and running in a different direction than Kal. Again, the soldiers were slow to react, and Lilly quickly disappeared among them.
It was her turn now.
Jaina felt the adrenaline, the determination, rising to a crescendo. She tried to match Kal and Lilly’s leap onto the platform... but mistimed it and fell short. Her right knee smashed painfully into the wood and steel and she cried out in pain.
“Stop her!” someone yelled.
Jaina glanced in the direction of the voice and spotted the man they had earlier decided was this group’s leader. The man who had defeated the Godknight in combat. He was pointing angrily at her and moving towards her at nearly normal speed, an indication that whatever supernatural assistance they had been granted was nearly over.
She cursed herself and scrambled onto the platform. The faceless being floated towards her, and the adrenaline that had driven her this far abandoned her. Full-blown panic rushed up from deep within her, threatening to envelope and overwhelm her. She came to a sudden, crashing halt, ready to drop to her knees and cover her head and her eyes.
“Please!” a voice she recognized pleaded. She turned towards the Godknight to see he was now fully awake and straining against the chains that bound him. He was staring at her with a kind of desperation that broke her heart. “I just… I just need it… a little bit further…”
She whipped her head around to see the whole world closing in on her. The leader, the faceless one, the horrid creatures and their minder… all of them, moving to intercept her. Whatever supernatural help they had been granted was completely gone now. All was lost.
Except it wasn’t. Something else, just as deep within her, stirred. It was not the adrenaline, nor the surly resolve to be of use and make Stegran proud. Nor was it supernatural assistance. This was all her, Jaina Whisperwind.
Rage. Rage like she had never felt before, so deep and so volatile and so pure it completely consumed all of her doubt and fear. It overtook her conscious thoughts. These people could not win. They had destroyed her home, killed her husband, dismantled her dreams of a perfect future.
They would not win.
Jaina screamed, a guttural growl that burnt her throat. She ran at full speed straight for the final remaining cage and wrapped her arms around it, clutching it close to her chest. Without stopping and continuing to scream, she leapt off the platform and began running towards the soldiers in front of her.
‘Please move please move please move’ she plead to herself.
But before she could even reach the front line, she felt an impact like a brick to the side of her face. She saw stars spinning in blackness for a moment, and the next thing she knew she was looking straight up, lying on her back. Looking down at her was the leader, his eyes ablaze with his own rage and hatred.
He snarled at her like a primal beast and pulled his arm high into the air, ready to strike her with a second blow. Jaina had seen what he had done to the Godknight; this punch would surely kill her.
But that blow never came. The sound of metal twisting and wood cracking interrupted him, and everyone turned to see the Godknight straining against the chains and the machine.
“No!” the leader yelled. “Stop him!”
Those around him looked at him dumbly, as if asking him how, exactly, they were supposed to do that.
The woman controlling the disgusting beasts on the platform scurried off it, dragging the pair behind her. They easily outweighed her, but followed obediently just the same, squirming and sloshing after her.
The faceless being floated calmly off the platform and seemed to be watching the Godknight as he continued to strain mightily. His face was bright red now, his teeth gritted and his eyes clenched shut. The muscles on his arms and legs seemed to balloon to twice their size.
“Do something!” the leader shouted at the faceless being, who turned its head to look at him. Jaina watched as it shook its head back and forth once, then just… disappeared.
An instant later, the machine exploded, sending pieces of wood and steel showering over them. The leader covered his head with his arms but didn’t move, unintentionally protecting Jaina from the debris. For a long moment, all Jaina could see was the raining debris and dust…
And then she saw the Godknight, flying away.