We ran along the wall toward the nearest watchtower. The parapet was the only steady thing around us. The barrier was fighting to stay just beyond the wall. Every so often it would falter and rain would shoot past soaking us in rain. Annalise was ahead of me, her braid plastered against her neck, eyes fixed outward.
Then she slowed.
"Annalise. Keep moving!" I called out between ragged breaths.
She stopped entirely, her hand gripping the wall. Her voice came out a whisper. "Oh gods… look."
If there was one thing I had been blessed with in this cursed life, it was my vision. I have been able to see what others cannot for years, but as I reached her side I cursed my vision for the first time.
Outside the barrier, at the foot of the wall, the refugees were no longer just shapes in the distance. The lightning lit them like a cruel spotlight.
Bodies lay everywhere. Scattered, half-submerged in water that ran red from the mud and blood mixing together. The storm didn't just batter them, it was shredding them. Some were still moving. Clawing, dragging themselves through the mire with trembling arms. Others had lashed ropes and hooks into the wall, desperate, trying to climb, their fingers slipping on the slick stone.
A man was halfway up, for a moment his voice carried through the storm, "Pull me over! Let us in!" Then it was shattered as another lightning bolt split the sky, hitting him. He shook violently as he fell, a sickening crack ringing out as he speared onto the remains of a wooden cart below.
Beside the cart my eyes found a mother, kneeling. Her body shielding a small bundle in her arms. She raised her head, following the man's trajectory, her gaze finding mine. Her mouth opened with a scream that would never leave me in the waking world, but in sleep would non-doubtedly echo.
Further out, the wind formed twisting spires of red and black. Blood and bodies were torn from the ground into the chaos and forced to multiply themselves against those that remained.
Bile rose into my mouth as I watched the mother get dragged skyward, her screams lost in the wind. The baby was torn from her arms, a pale blue tumbling upward before vanishing into the storm.
I doubled over, retching violently. Acid burned the back of my throat.
When I straightened, the others were staring too. Helena's lips were pressed into a hard line, her shoulders squared. Nox pressed a hand to her mouth, her usual sharpness gone. Qapla stood rigid, his face unreadable, though his fists were trembling.
"They're all going to die." Annalise said, in a quiet voice. "We have to save them. We have to open the gates and let them in."
No one answered. The storm howled in the silence between her words.
She turned, searching our faces for agreement. When her eyes met mine, I looked away. I had nothing clever left to say. Not after seeing that.
"Why!" Annalise voice cracked as she whipped to face Helena, "Why did we not open the gates for them!"
The barrier groaned again under the force of the wind. For a heartbeat, the rain broke through — cold, stinging drops pelting our faces before the invisible wall snapped back into place with a shuddering ripple.
Helena didn't flinch. When she spoke, her voice carried through the roar like a sword through cloth, "Because a leader has to make hard decisions. If we open the gates, we doom everyone inside the city. There isn't enough food. Not enough shelter. We'd starve before the storm ended."
Annalise pointed at the chaos beyond the wall, her hand shaking with rage. "Look at them!" she shouted. "They are dying right now. And you're talking about fucking rations. You are Helena the Dragonbreaker. You are a myth come to life! A living hero. And you are going to stand by and watch this happen. You could have saved them!" Her voice cracked again, this time on the edge of a sob. "You've condemned them to die!"
"You think I don't want to?" Helena shouted over the storm with a roar that blew back even the rain. "You think I don't hear them? I have listened to those screams for an hour, and every second feels like I'm peeling off my own skin. But if I force the council to open that gate, the city dies. All of it. Children. Families. You. Them."
Her breath came sharp through her teeth. "Something you will eventually come to learn, that I'll give you for free now. Sometimes mercy kills more people than any monster beyond the wall."
Then her voice broke, quieter as the rain came back with a vengeance.
"So tell me, Annalise. Which death do you want me to choose?"
"Choose neither! Choose to fight! To change the circumstances! This… this is wrong."
Annalise stood glowering at Helena, with tears streaming down her cheek. Then she let out a raw, wordless sound. Half a scream, half a sob, and slammed her fist into the stone parapet. The crack echoed, lost quickly to the storm.
Helena turned toward to tower and walked off. I lingered just long enough to see Annalise's shoulder shaking before following Helena. The others trailed behind.