Hana Greaves's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

Hana gripped the portal gun. Its rings spun and warmed her palms. But she needed both hands to fire it, and the gun took time to lock a target. Across the ice, dark shapes spread out from the tower. Chronwell's soldiers. Their boots crunched closer. Vera stood behind her, still shaky on her feet. Hana could not open the door and guard Vera at once. "Move," Hana said. She grabbed Vera's arm and pulled. A crushed bunker sat half-sunk in the ice nearby, its metal buckled, its roof caved in. Hana shoved Vera through the dark doorway. "Stay low. Don't come out." Vera dropped behind a slab of cracked concrete. Frost still clung to her hair. Hana knelt at the bunker's mouth and worked the gun. The rings began to hum. A number climbed on the barrel. Thirty seconds to lock. The soldiers raised their rifles. The first shots cracked off the concrete beside her head. She flinched but kept her hands on the gun. One soldier broke from the line and ran the wrong way. He turned and fired at his own people. A young man, Chronwell's badge stitched on his chest, his uniform torn and scorched. He dove into the snow between Hana and the others. "Vaylen?" one of the soldiers shouted. "You're dead for this!" So he'd been one of them. Now he was shooting at them. The man crawled to Hana and threw down a metal frame beside her. He hit a switch. A wall of glowing light snapped up, a clear shield humming in the cold. Bullets struck it and burst into sparks. "Work your gun," Marcus said. His voice was flat, tired. "I've wanted out of Chronwell's cage for a long time. This is how I leave." He rose behind the shield and fired over it, driving the soldiers back. The gun's number hit zero. A blue tear opened in the air before Hana, spinning at the edges. She could see through it, ice and gray sky, three days back. "Vera!" Hana called. "Now!" Vera scrambled from the bunker. Hana caught her hand. Marcus held the line, the glowing barrier flaring under fire. He did not look back. "Go," he said. Hana pulled Vera through the tear. The cold snapped shut behind them. They landed hard on fresh ice. The tower stood farther off here. The vine had not yet burned. The soldiers were gone. So was Marcus. Vera sat up, breathing hard. "We made it." Hana stared at the empty snow where the man had stayed. She had reached the loop's start. But she'd left someone behind to hold the door, and the gun's rings had gone dark and cold. One charge. She'd spent it. There was no jumping back now.