Impossibly, Qole had latched us on top of the drone itself, and we crashed into the Atrium like a planetoid, utterly demolishing it. Plasma torches flared to life as the drone began boring straight down through the palace grounds as though it were made of paper, not stone and steel.
It should not have been possible to peel off the drone into the interior of the citadel. It shouldn’t have been possible to do that at the exact moment the drone hit the abandoned hangar we’d escaped through, right before it refreshed its own orders and gave up on its mission, blasting back out into the chaotic sky.
It shouldn’t have, but Qole did it. The Kaitan scattered a million sparks into the air as it slid across the floor of the decimated hangar. Container units, power couplings, vents, everything blew apart before us until Qole brought the ship to a halt. I sat back in my chair, trembling hands scraping back through my hair.
We’d made it. We were inside the citadel.
With the exception of Telu, who remained at her station to try to keep the drones on task, we gathered in the hold, armed like a military platoon. This was entirely thanks to Eton, who distributed fusion grenades, photon rifles, plasma pistols, and even knives, along with instructions that none of us could possibly remember.
But it was what he was wearing that really tipped the scales from “ragtag group of rebels” to “dangerous military force.” He had nothing less than two plasma cannons strapped to his back, attached to a frame that stretched up from either shoulder. As a finishing touch, a shield emitter circled him, protecting his entire body from any sidelong attacks.
“What in the Unifier’s good name are those?” I pointed at the plasma cannons. “And how did you even get them? They’re usually mounted on interceptor-class fighters.”
Eton’s expression was the deranged, murderous cousin of a smile. “This is Verta. I made her to punch holes in things that need more holes.”
“You need something left for there to be a hole,” I said incredulously.
“And what about your secret weapon, Basra?” Qole asked, unfazed by Eton.
“It’s launched. It’ll take a bit of time to detonate, so to speak. But we shouldn’t wait around for it. So, in the meantime…” Basra hefted a photon rifle as if he knew how to use it. I had no idea how he knew.
“Um, guys.” Telu’s voice filtered in over the comm. “Can Verta punch holes in that?”
We spun to look at the feed showing the outside of the ship, and my heart sank. A sea of troops surrounded us.
“That makes no sense,” I protested. “They couldn’t have known how we were going to get here, or even that we would.”
“Does it matter?” Basra said coldly. “They’re here.” He flipped the safety off his rifle, and it began to hum with deadly purpose. “If Arjan is on the other side, we go through them.” He wore an expression on his normally impassive face that I couldn’t begin to place.
“That’s all well and good,” I said, “but if we drop the ramp, they have enough firepower to take us all down, even Eton.”
Eton opened his mouth, but stopped. I understood why when I felt the hair standing up on the nape of my neck.
I turned around to see Qole standing, hands clenched in fists, all-black eyes staring at the feed. “They can’t stop us.”
“Qole…” I searched for the words. “Dying in an attempt is one thing, but it presumes some small chance of success. Dying as a gesture simply means my family will get everything they want.”
“Not entirely true,” Basra said. “If we die, my secret weapon still detonates. They won’t get everything, trust me.”
“Still, we don’t have a way of getting through that army.”
Qole spoke as though she hadn’t heard me, as though she were someplace far away. “They can’t stop us. There’s Shadow nearby. It’s everywhere.”
She suddenly gasped in pain, bending over. Eton and I moved to help her, but the next instant she was back up, her black eyes staring through us.
“No, I don’t care,” she snarled, as if at someone else. “I’m using it. I’m using it!” The pressure in the hold changed again, and a metal plate crumpled on one wall as though something heavy had hit it. Qole gasped for breath like a drowning woman.
I opened my mouth to call her name, to reassure her, to ask her to stop, but nothing came out. Whatever she was going through, distracting her with pleas for sanity would do little good.
Even so, I could barely rein myself in as she clutched at herself and staggered sideways. I couldn’t see her face, but I realized that the light reflecting on the floor underneath her had a purple sheen.
Her head snapped up suddenly, and the blackness in her eyes was gone. They were alight from within with the purple of burning Shadow.
Eton and Basra stepped back, but I stayed rooted to the spot. It wasn’t that I was unafraid, or that I even understood what was happening. I didn’t. I had no frame of reference for this, any of this. I was betraying my family, killing my own people, and watching a friend fall apart.
All I understood was that she was on a journey far more difficult and painful than she—or I—had ever been on. All I could do was stay with her, and be a witness.
For the briefest of moments, Qole lifted into the air, her hair fanning out around her as though she were underwater.
The entire world contracted on her, and all sound ceased to be. I staggered but could neither hear nor feel, and the next moment pure energy radiated out from her in a shock wave, a purple corona of force. Sound came rushing back into my ears; they were ringing. Qole fell to her knees on the floor.
At first, I thought that nothing had happened. Then I realized that all the troops outside the ship were simply gone.
A trickle of ice ran over my skin. Whatever had just happened was exponentially more extreme than anything else I had seen Qole do so far. From the feed, it looked like she had snuffed out the lives of an entire platoon through solid walls.
Our way was open, but at what cost?
“Is she okay?” Eton asked huskily, obviously dazed as well.
I’d reached down to see if I could help her up when rivulets of purple light began seeping through the ship’s vents.
Qole knelt, pressing both palms to the floor. The glowing runnels traced their way to her fingertips, where they disappeared with a pulse. Her fists tightened, and the metal peeled back under her fingernails.
I tried to swallow, but my mouth had gone dry. “Qole, should you be drawing on that much Shadow?”
She lifted her face to me, and her eyes were shockingly clear. “I have to. I can feel Arjan nearby.” She smiled ruefully. “Nev, I’m sorry, I need to do it again….” She winced, took a deep breath, and her eyes went pitch black.
Purple fire drifted from her fingertips as she stood. Her face was so calm it was almost devoid of emotion, and she spoke with a certainty I had never heard her use in the grip of Shadow. “I am going to go get my brother. Nev, I’m leaving you, Eton, and Basra here to defend the ship and Telu while I’m gone.”