Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (z-lib.org).mobi

“It’s not impossible,” said a heavyset Grisha. He wore the purple kefta of a
Materialnik, a member of the order of Fabrikators. “There are stories—”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” the girl laughed, her voice thick with scorn. “The
man’s had his wits rattled by the volcra!”
The crowd erupted into loud argument.
I suddenly felt very tired. My shoulder throbbed where the volcra had dug its
talons into me. I didn’t know what the Cartographer or any of the others on the
skiff thought they had seen. I just knew this was all some kind of terrible
mistake, and at the end of this farce, I would be the one looking foolish. I
cringed when I thought of the teasing I would take when this was over. And
hopefully, it would be over soon.
“Quiet.” The Darkling barely seemed to raise his voice, but the command
sliced through the crowd and silence fell.
I suppressed a shiver. He might not find this joke so funny. I just hoped he
wouldn’t blame me for it. The Darkling wasn’t known for mercy. Maybe I
should be worrying less about being teased and more about being exiled to
Tsibeya. Or worse. Eva said that the Darkling had once ordered a Corporalki
Healer to seal a traitor’s mouth shut permanently. The man’s lips had been
grafted together and he had starved to death. At the time, Alexei and I had
laughed and dismissed it as another of Eva’s crazy stories. Now I wasn’t so sure.
“Tracker,” the Darkling said softly, “what did you see?”
As one, the crowd turned towards Mal, who looked uneasily at me and then
back at the Darkling. “Nothing. I didn’t see anything.”
“The girl was right beside you.”
Mal nodded.
“You must have seen something.”
Mal glanced at me again, his look weighted with worry and fatigue. I’d never
seen him so pale, and I wondered how much blood he had lost. I felt a surge of
helpless anger. He was badly hurt. He should be resting instead of standing here
answering ridiculous questions.
“Just tell us what you remember, tracker,” commanded Raevsky.
Mal shrugged slightly and winced at the pain from his wounds. “I was on my
back on the deck. Alina was next to me. I saw the volcra diving, and I knew it
was coming for us. I said something and—”
“What did you say?” The Darkling’s cool voice cut through the room.
“I don’t remember,” Mal said. I recognised the stubborn set of his jaw and
knew he was lying. He did remember. “I smelled the volcra, saw it swooping
down on us. Alina screamed and then I couldn’t see anything. The world was
just … shining.”