Grace of the Empire by C. K. Greenwood

Author:C. K. Greenwood [Greenwood, C. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cosmic Hub Publications
Published: 2024-02-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten: The Eye of the Storm

Memory, thought, perception fragmented. Shattered. Broken. A nasty pang in the gut. That odd feeling of finality. Then, light – blinding, searing, horrible light. Crackles. It … it was going to hit Carey. Rafael pushed her, got struck instead, square in the stomach.

Darkness.

Someone screamed. Rush of air.

Darkness.

Dragging. Dragging on his arm. Pain. Oh God, the pain, burning stabbing tearing dear oh dear what was-

Darkness.

Cold it was cold freezing no air couldn’t breathe couldn’t-

Darkness.

A scream again. Words. “You need to help me!”

It all came rushing back. The journey. The waystation. Dara.

Carey.

They were in the hangar. Electricity was crackling in the air.

She was supporting him, half dragging him toward the rover.

His vision was blurry. He could see the tendons in her neck straining against her flesh, sweat running down her face in rivulets. His legs wouldn’t carry him. Was … oh, he was bleeding. Couldn’t see it, but feel, it-

Darkness.

There was pain in his face – sudden and startling.

She’d slapped him. “I’m so sorry, so sorry, but you just can’t black out now! I don’t know if that … if it’s going to get up here. Please!”

It was almost like an out-of-body experience. Only now did he notice that he’d collapsed on the icy, hard floor, breathing ragged, shaking. “I can. I can.” He clung to her as best as he could, holding on for dear life. The pain was unbelievable. The left side of his body was screaming, radiating red-hot torment up his partially numb arm and down his useless leg. He could feel neither his hands nor feet. He wanted to apologize to her, but all that came out was a strangled groan.

Her eyes were huge in her flushed, haggard face. “I’m sorry. I know you’re hurting. Help me get you up.”

His legs were clumsy, like they belonged to someone else. His body was on fire. It was hard to breathe. Blackness started creeping back.

Carey hugged him around the waist and grabbed his arm, pulled both of them to their feet, as he clung to her midsection and buried his face in the nook of her throat, feeling her pulse thumping against his own forehead. He felt like someone had punched into his gut and stabbed his innards with his own ribs. His own heart was pumping quickly. His breath was ragged. Black dots danced before his eyes. If he blacked out now, he was never waking up again.

Beneath them, the ground rocked, nearly sending them flying.

His left leg was both numb and howling in agony, his right leg cramping. He lost his footing and nearly buried her under him, but she dug der booted heels in and pushed against him, steadying them.

“Doing great. But we have to go now!” She placed his heavy arm around her slender shoulders, put her own arm around his waist again, and dragged him forward with dogged determination.

The ground was rumbling, and there was an eye-watering, tooth-rattling crackling of electricity in the air. They were almost thrown off their feet, but finally, they made their way to the rover, not ten meters away.

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