"You're tossing out blame, drunk on this pain, crossing out the good years"
Nikolai Lantsov x fem!OC
[Storm and Siege- ]
Storm and Siege (Complete)
Ruin and Rising (Ongoing)
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It wasn't safe to approach Kribirsk on this side of the Fold. So they would stage their attack from West Ravka, and that meant dealing with the logistics of a crossing.
It wasn't possible for Nadia and Zoya couldn't keep the Bittern aloft with too many additional passengers, so it was agreed that Tolya would escort the Soldat Sol to the eastern shore of the Fold and wait for them there.
It would take them a full day on horseback, and that would give the rest of us time to enter West Ravka and locate a suitable base camp. Then they'd loop back to lead the others across the Fold under Alina's protection.
Olysia had to steal her nerves away as they sped toward the strange black fog of the Shadow Fold.
Bad memories kept popping up, reminding her of what occurred where the light could not reach. Memories of a weaker her when she felt like she had no other choices. The her that was willing to just keep taking one more step forward in hopes that she might one day be allowed to walk away despite knowing that would never have happened.
But Olysia was different now. She had grown from that terrified girl she had once been, fighting to simply stay alive. Now, that terrified girl was angry and had something to fight for.
She glared at the Fold as if she could burn it to the ground as they entered.
The volcra came at them but Alina kept them at bay with ease until they burst into the sky above West Ravka.
The territory west of the Fold had been evacuated. They flew over abandoned villages and houses, all without seeing a soul.
They set down at an apple farm just southwest of what was left of Novokribirsk, less than a mile from the dark reach of the Fold. There was a barn full of cider presses and it's orchards were thick with fruit that would never be harvested.
The owner's house was lavish, a perfect little cake of a building, lovingly maintained, and topped with a white cupola.
Harshaw broke a window and climbed inside to unlock the doors to let the rest of them in.
"New money." Zoya sniffed as they made their way through the over-decorated rooms, each shelf and mantel brimming with porcelain figurines and curios.
"Vile." Genya picked up a ceramic pig.
"It reminds me of a merchant's mansion." Bastian held back a grimace.
"I like it here," Adrik protested. "It's nice."
Zoya made a retching sound. "Maybe taste will come with age."
"I'm only three years younger than you." Adrik protested yet again.
"Then maybe you're just doomed to be tacky." She lifted a shoulder.
The furniture had been covered with sheets. Misha yanked one free and ran from room to room trailing it behind him like a cape. Most of the cupboards had been emptied, but Harshaw found a tin of sardines that he opened and shared with Oncat.
