A second arrow—a bullet?—hits my leg. I wince and fall, my blades still in my hands.
Everything seems to slow down. From above, a dark shadow falls over me.
Red strikes the Skyhunter before he can reach me. There’s a loud crunch of metal, followed by the shrieks of Ghosts. A second Skyhunter has sealed off my path to the Premier—and as I stagger back, I see one of them land in front of his horse, wings outstretched protectively before him.
Red lunges again and again at his own Skyhunter assailant. Too late, I see a second one swing a chain in his direction. They’re going to capture him.
Red. I reach for him through our tether as I force myself to my feet and strike out at the nearest Federation soldier. Behind you!
He turns and looks down at the second Skyhunter just as the chain the Skyhunter throws strikes him. Red’s quick enough to dart to his right, so that the chain misses his torso—but it catches one of his legs and whips tightly around it. He winces. The spark of pain shoots through our link and I wince too. The weight makes him lurch sharply to one side.
Everything around me has turned into a smear of blood and fire. Between the fighting bodies, I see the silhouette of Mara’s Inner City burning. A lone scarlet flag flies over the ramparts of the inner wall.
The city has fallen.
A third arrow strikes me in my other leg. I barely feel the pain of it this time—only its force thudding through me, then my body betraying me as I fall again. From the sky, I think I hear Red calling my name through our link.
Talin!
Perhaps he’s shouting with his real voice. I can’t tell anymore. My arms swing out, still fighting. My blade runs straight through a soldier’s chest, and he falls with a hoarse groan.
Blackness threatens my sight. Is Jeran still fighting? Adena? I turn my gaze skyward to Red and lift my gun at the chain binding him. If they take him back to the Federation’s capital, they’ll finish transforming him into a full Skyhunter, and I’ll lose him. We can’t afford that. I can’t bear it. If Mara must fall, then let him go free.
With the last of my strength, I take aim and fire three shots—my last bullets—at the chain.
At least my aim is still accurate. I hit it once, then again in the same link, then a third time. The chain snaps clean with a clatter of metal, and Red suddenly lurches free into the air again, the links falling to the ground beneath him.
He whirls immediately around to look at me. His eyes are engulfed in silver-white light, but behind that glow, I know his expression is a stricken one. A trill of rage shoots through our tether as he starts to lunge for me—only to halt when the Premier’s Skyhunters gather between us, cutting us off. He’s far too outnumbered here.
Go, I think, as clearly and sharply as I can. There are tears on my cheeks now, but my resolve stays unwavering. Get out of here. It’s useless for you to die here too. Stay free and get help. Strike back another day. Please.
He doesn’t want to leave me. I can feel the desperation coming back to me from him, and for an instant longer, he stays there, hovering in the air. Then the other Skyhunters move toward him, and I send my thought more harshly.
You have to do this for me. Go!
Finally, Red tears his gaze away from me and pushes down hard with his wings. He soars up, out of the range of the Skyhunters, and dives into the chaos of the battle, disappearing behind the giant silhouettes of several Ghosts. Behind him, the other Skyhunters give chase for a moment before they stop. Two remain on Red’s trail, while the rest return to protect the Premier.
I look around the battlefield for other Strikers, but see no flash of sapphire coats. Everything is a sea of scarlet. Again, I try to rise to my knees and swing out at the soldiers now approaching me. This time, though, I just crumple again.
My mother? Where is she?
Finally, my arms feel too leaden to fight. Every part of my body weakens, even as I try to force it onward. My breaths come in gasps.
For Mara, for its citizens, for the wealthy and the wicked and the poor and the suffering, I am going to