Page 53 of The Ashborn

Ruva barked. Keep. Going.

If Tislin weren’t already dead, Kienna would kill him. Her hands trembled.

I smell life on him, Ruva growled. Keep going.

Ruva was right. Kienna pushed past the tears and the crackling of his body. She slammed her left hand back into his chest, pushing repeatedly. After a while of pushing, she tilted his head back, pinched his nose, and blew into his mouth again. Nothing happened.

Exhaustion disoriented her, and pain radiated in every bone of her body. She loosened a desperate noise and began again.

She couldn’t bear the idea that Tislin was starting to feel like a loss. Endurance slipped from her grasp, and her body trembled with its absence. Her arm hung limply at her side. Kienna surrendered to defeat in a final, long exhale, and as the last shred of air left her lips, a cough escaped Tislin, and water exploded from his mouth. Kienna jumped off him, twisting him to his side as Tislin spat the sludge. She felt his neck, relieved at the steady thumping pulse against his skin. Her work was far from over, but she let herself lie down for a moment. She deserved that much.

—Connak—

Connak dropped by Kienna and Moira’s apartment with Danek to say their goodbyes. The Blades finished the larger portion of the ship, and they weren’t needed anymore. He’d leave a few men, but the rest of his army could go back to being useful, scoping for shadows and making sure King Vaerin wasn’t on the move again.

He never expected to see Kienna slam through the door, dragging Tislin’s limp body. He hated himself for turning off his mind and leaving her helpless. That didn’t matter now as Connak and Danek rushed to them when Kienna collapsed to the floor. Danek caught Tislin’s body as she fell. Moira hurried over with a towel, helping Connak turn her over.

“Tislin’s covered in blood,” Danek said.

Moira froze, staring at Tislin. Tears formed in her eyes. “Put him in my room,” she said. “I’ll get Kienna’s ready for her.”

Danek carefully carried Tislin to Moira’s room. Connak searched Kienna’s body for any wounds, but all the stains appeared to be from someone else. He touched her shoulder. Dislocated. She screamed back to consciousness the minute he tried to push it back into place. Unable to put it back in as she writhed, he picked her up as gently as he could and carried her across the kitchen into her room.

Connak set her down, then glanced back. Kienna would be fine aside from the shoulder. The blood had to be Tislin’s.

“Go,” Moira said, her voice a whisper, fighting fear. “I’ll sit with her and let you know if something is wrong.”

Connak crossed the apartment to Moira’s room and growled. Danek had cut Tislin’s leathers open to display a long gash across his abdomen. The scar was poorly sealed, as if branded into the skin. It festered with a throbbing red.

“How’d she do that?” Danek asked.

“We’ll worry about that later,” Connak said, crossing the room. “We need to reopen the wound and stitch it properly.”

Danek jerked his head to Connak, eyes wide. “He doesn’t look like he can take that.”

“I’m sure it was necessary, but Kienna cauterized a wound that needed a lot more work first. He’ll die from it if we don’t.”

Connak ripped out his blade and dug it into the scorched flesh. Tislin’s eyes shot open, screaming. Danek pushed on Tislin’s chest as he desperately attempted to sit. Tislin’s ribs were broken, too. What the hell did they get themselves into? Connak sliced until the wound bled again.

Shadows erupted in the room around them, swatting and swarming until Connak shot a bright light from his hands and held it out. The shadows shrieked and recoiled. Danek panted. It wouldn’t be worth putting him at risk while so unstable.

“I’ve got this,” he said. “Go check on Kienna.”

“There’s a lot of damage,” Danek argued. “We can work faster together.”

“It’s your chance to be her hero, Danek. Go fix her shoulder.” Connak fisted his hands, angry about the whole situation. He should have been here. He shouldn’t have let his pride get in the way of the work needing to be done. Frustration took hold of him.

Danek didn’t leave as easily as Connak thought he would when he said it. It was the hesitation in his stance that made Connak respect him a little more, but ultimately, he went.

Tislin watched the shadows swirl around the room to hide from Connak’s light. Connak sighed. “What did you get yourself into, Captain?”

“There were Shades,” he said under his breath.

He must have been in excruciating pain. Connak could heal the dagger wound and the ribs, but Tislin would be sore for weeks to recover from the shadow work he did.

“How many?” Connak asked as he dug his magic under Tislin’s skin.

“Perhaps two,” Tislin winced. Baring his teeth, he said, “I saw one clearly…it stabbed me…the other nearly had Kienna before I…pulled us out.”