The city burned like an open wound, smoke curling up into the cloudy sky. Fire crackled against shutters, beams of wood shattered, and the screams of the terrified were blended with the noise of devastation. Adriana braced against a smoldering wall, her lungs scorched with smoke, her ears ringing with the sound of distant booms. The acrid scent of fire and blood stung her eyes, but she did not falter. Not now. Never.
Damian was just a few feet away, crouched behind a toppled cart, gun trained on a cluster of Lucian's soldiers advancing through the debris. Every inch of his body radiated tension and lethal precision. He was her axis of stability in the blackest storms, and here, with the burning streets devouring the city, she clung to him with more than a single thread.
"Get the civilians moving!" Adriana yelled above the chaos, gesturing toward a cluster of people cowering behind a fallen building. Women holding children, men covering the frail, all paralyzed with fear.
"I have their flank!" Damian yelled, firing controlled bursts to hold the attacking soldiers back. The sound of gunfire went on and on, interrupted by yelling and the sound of cracking splintered wood.
Adriana moved at speed, gathering survivors and leading them down the thin alleyways. Each step was slow, measured, but in a rush. Her own heart was pounding, not just on adrenaline, but on the fact that with each second passing, Lucian's forces drew closer.
A child tripped on rubble, letting out a frightened cry. Adriana stooped, lifting the boy into her arms. "Shh… we're safe now," she whispered, though the word felt hollow. The city outside was anything but safe.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Damian moving like a shadow, covering the group with uncanny precision. Even amidst chaos, he was methodical, his protective instinct as sharp as any blade.
Don't go alone!" she cried, spotting a straggler who'd tried to outrun them. Damian's voice intervened at once, calm and commanding: "Everyone stays together. Move!"
They turned off into a wide street, to find themselves confronted by a wall of Lucian's soldiers. Firelight flickered on their swords, and smoke obscured their approach.
Adriana's heart pounded. "Damian, we must have a plan. They've cut off the way!
He didn't hesitate. "Stay with me, rooftop. Quietly and fast." He pointed to a blown staircase leading up a partially collapsed building. "Stay bunched up. No stragglers."
She drove the civilians before her into the staircase, each step shaky, each floor creaking beneath them. Behind her, Damian provided cover fire, shots that sent the soldiers crouching, precious seconds to get the screaming mob moving up.
They slammed into the roof, gasping. Smoke filtered in from the street below, and fire illuminated off the shattered windows of the nearby buildings. Adriana saw Damian, caught a glimpse of the thin film of sweat on his forehead and the clenched line of his jaw.
"You okay?" she yelled, her voice nearly lost to the noise of fire.
"Fine," he replied, but she saw the weariness in his eyes. The burden of guarding not only her but all those in his care was great.
Her heart hurt, seeing the odds were piled high against them. With every step forward, it seemed like taking a chance with death. Yet in that look, she knew something: they were stronger together, even in the fire.
Adriana assessed their situation. The rooftops offered a vantage point, but Lucian's soldiers were positioning themselves to cut them off. She whispered directions to Damian, who nodded and executed them flawlessly.
"Set up a diversion," she instructed. "We'll lure a small unit away, then take out their flank."
Damian moved, as quiet as a ghost, and Adriana escorted the civilians. Smoke bombs bought days earlier from their discovered cache were tossed strategically, creating impenetrable smoke in the street. The troops reeled, giving Adriana's team a chance.
She sliced a rope across a rickety scaffolding, and a pile of wreckage came crashing down onto the street far below. The sound was deafening, and shouts were given as soldiers dodged and weaved to avoid the falling lumber.
Damian's voice from the rooftop to her left. "Go! Move! Keep them together!"
They made their way, the civilians clutching to Adriana, as she kept them back. Every step a test of courage and nerve.
Her mind flashed to Lucian. He had orchestrated this attack, anticipated their every move. And yet, she remained here alive, moving, alive. She would not let him break them.
At the end of a small alley, Adriana paused to catch her breath. She glanced over at Damian, who was beside her, gun raised. His sweaty and soot-streaked face was wispy for his age, but the spark in his eyes brought back to her mind why she was so convinced of him.
"I shouldn't have brought them here," he muttered, as if to himself.
"Then you would have left them behind," Adriana breathed. She reached out and put a gentle touch on his arm. "And that is not you."
His eyes softened, but tension did not leave his body. For one heartbeat, the maelstrom around them evaporated. They were just two people in a storm, connected by something unseen but certain.
"I…" he started to say, then swallowed, shaking his head. "Not now."
She nodded, remembering the survival code: emotion came second. But she placed her hand on his for an instant. One day we will say it all, she thought, when the world is not trying to kill us.
The alley led to a dead end. Lucian's men had mapped the route. Adriana halted, considering their options. Damian took a breath, "They have us pinned. I'll cover the front, you cover the rear."
She nodded, adrenaline surging. "And what if we can't escape?"
He smiled weakly, almost invisible. "Then we fight our way out."
The assailant poured into the alley from either side. Gunfire sounded, and metal clanged against metal. Adriana's knife flashed, striking a soldier before he reached her. She stood behind wreckage, shooting a handgun with skill, her brain reeling with strategy and instinct.
Damian moved like a whirlwind, taking shots and disarming opponents. His presence at her side was a lifeline, but one glance revealed a crimson streak along his side he had been grazed.
"Damian!" she yelled, racing to his side as he deflected another attack.
"I'm fine!" he growled, but the hand clutching his side betrayed him.
Adriana's heart pounded. He'd protected her again, risking himself to defend her. She pushed aside fear and plunged forward, sword smacking into a soldier who was striking at him.
The alley was hell. Smoke and fire and blood hung in the air, a fog that seemed to consume all. Adriana glanced around, seeing the civilians still cowering behind them.
"Go!" Damian bellowed. "Get them out!
She hesitated, torn between following his command and staying with him.
"Damian, I won't leave you!"
"You won't have an option if you don't get moving!" he snarled, but his eyes faltered.
Grimly, she grasped the civilians' hands and urged them on, but her eyes never left Damian. Every fiber of her screamed to stay.
Then a man emerged from the smoke a lieutenant of Lucian's, sneering, weapon aimed at the civilians.
"Move aside, and no one gets hurt," he sneered.
Adriana's heart stumbled. She could not leave Damian defenseless, but the civilians were her responsibility.
Her brain was racing. Think. Use the flames. The debris. Something.
She grabbed a lantern, swung it at a stack of crates next to her, and kicked it into the flames. Smoke filled the air, choking the lieutenant and making it possible for Damian to shift and strike.
Damian, bleeding and injured, took down two of the lieutenant's men, but another bullet grazed his arm and put him on his knees. Adriana moved forward, blade and fists moving in perfectly syncopated rhythm, driving away the attackers.
"Damian!" she yelled, gripping him as he fell. His chest heaved, pain etched across his face.
"You…go…lead them out," he gasped.
"I'm not leaving you!" she shouted, tears and rage mingling. "Not like this!"
He shook his head weakly. "I'll be fine… you've got to protect them. Then come back for me."
Her jaw clenched. She swallowed the fear and fury bubbling inside. "You'll have to go through me first," she whispered fiercely.
Adriana stood, bloodied, smoke curling around her hair, knife in her hand. Damian was against the wall, injured but alive, believing in her utterly.
The alleyway outside of them was chaos, Lucian's men pressing in. Every passing second was a fight for life. Every time their hearts beat, they were reminded of their bond.
Above, the sky remained a gray blanket, flames and smoke glinting off the ruined city.
And somewhere, Lucian watched, already plotting the next strike.
Adriana's eyes went cold. The fight was far from finished.
They would survive this night, or perish in the process.