#dominik vertov

[moonminho]

𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕭𝖔𝖓𝖊 ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ 2 ʀᴇᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ #176 ↳𝟸.𝟶𝟽: 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠

[eyes-like-alexandrite]

Grand Duke Nikolai Lantsov of Ravka, pictured beside both halves of his heart.

so i read ‘what stays and what fades away’ by goldtreesilvertree / @lottiesnotebook, wept profusely for a number of hours, and then had to make fanart lol

[telugxrl13]

if mal and alina could be in love so were nikolai and dominik

[ricardian-werewolf]

Chapters: 2/15 Fandom: Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo, Richard III (1995) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Nikolai Lantsov/Original Female Character(s) Characters: Nikolai Lantsov, Dominik Vertov, Zoya Nazyalensky, Isaak Andreyev, Richard III of England, Anne Neville Queen of England, Cecily Neville Duchess of York Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - 1930s, Ravkan Culture & Religion (Grishaverse), Volcra Nikolai Lantsov, Politics, British Character, British Military, Inspired by Real Events, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Historical Summary:

Every generation has its great epic poem. For Princess Cecily of England, that poem is the myth of the Calydonian Boar. Trapped in the Senate House, her escape comes in an offer of marriage from the wilds of Ravka, a country shrouded in mystery and darkness. The wounds of the boar’s tusks dig deep, however, for her father is a monster. Richard III, the crook-backed king of Shakespeare, walks upright, and has become a monster out of a man’s nightmares.

Ravka is bereft of its Sun Summoner, for one has never appeared. In its place, the Lantsov's former second son is corrupted with a darkness that would make lesser men tremble. Now, he is a newly annointed king in a country on the brink of anarchy.

With the British Empire under the sway of a fascist king, it is up to Cecily to slay the boar that has made its home in London. England needs a savior, Ravka needs a Queen. Nikolai needs a wife. But Cecily needs only her purpose.

*** A rewrite of King of Scars where Nikolai’s set to be married off, a princess from a lonely isle comes to be a savior, and Ravka becomes the stage for a battle no one expects. @lordbettany

[casualladyinternet]

Wild shot, but Nikolai and Dominik are kinda Steve and Bucky coded

[goatsandgangsters]

dominikolai ep 6 hurtcomfort pls <3

an excellent choice, my friend! I know basically every character was having A Very Stressful Time during s2, but Nikolai had like. a RIDICULOUS AMOUNT of Stressful Major Life Events crammed into what couldn’t be more than a couple days tops between The Engagement Party From Hell and showing up at Dominik’s fort in need of a GODDAMN HUG, and I'm feelings about it

The great tangled knot that had taken up residence in his chest—woven between his ribs and pulling his lungs too tight to breathe—eased with Dominik’s arms around him. He exhaled his first good breath at the familiar scratch of wool and the scent of his skin.  It didn’t last forever, the rolling tide of everything crashing back over him again. But for the first time in days—it had only been days—he felt like he could withstand the sand rushing out from below his feet.  He gave a tactical briefing to Dominik and several of his people about Kirigan’s last known location. Patterns of attack, what they could anticipate for his next move, fortifications. It kept the knot at bay, taking action, but the strings tugged tight as soon as the others were dismissed, and he and Dominik were left alone with the maps and the papers and the hollow, empty weight of it.  Nikolai adjusted the buttons of the First Army infantry coat he’d borrowed. He hadn’t changed his shirt or his waistcoat or his trousers since— “I’m not sure if word has reached you yet,” he said carefully, lifting his eyes from tracing the patterns in the flagstone. “But Raevsky was—among the fatalities.”  The brief slap of shock on Dominik’s face tug, tug, tugged, another loop woven around his ribs. Dominik swallowed and said, “Saints receive him.” 

send me a wip and I’ll give you a snippet of fic

[luv4estiebestie]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Shadow and Bone (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Nikolai Lantsov/Dominik Vertov Characters: Nikolai Lantsov, Dominik Vertov Additional Tags: Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Angst, Character Study, Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Album: folklore (Taylor Swift), Song: the lakes (Taylor Swift), song fic sort of Series: Part 2 of Dominikolai folklore Summary:

Sometimes heaven is a place, and sometimes heaven are the lakes in Ravka with your most beloved

[cwritesforfun]

Nikolai Lantsov x Fem!Reader: Fake Marriage, Real Feelings

This is based on a conversation between Dimitri and Nikolai from Season 2 Episode 7. EXCEPT, in this, you’re the Sun Summoner and the firebird is one of your friends, not your love interest.  Y/N = Your Name & Y/F/N = Your Friend’s Name *** lines from the show are in italics & I do not own the lines from the show or the plot ***

Masterlist

Nikolai’s POV

I leave Y/N and walk with Dominik Vertov, my friend, and commander in the First Army. Dominik asks, “When was the last time you parted with your compass?”  I answer “The Sun Summoner means a great deal to me and Ravka. She needs it more than I do...Don’t look at me like that, I want her to be happy. I hope someday, when this nightmare is over, she can be.” He replies “It’s a fake marriage with real feelings. It’s almost comical. Almost.” I reply “Just don’t tell her, will you?” He smirks and replies “Of course not, dear friend. But you should share it before someone else steals her heart. She is the Sun Summoner and with that comes adoring fans and possible lovers.” I reply “It also means potential threats.”

Y/N’s POV

After I destroyed the Fold, I couldn’t believe all that had happened. Did I really destroy it? Is the Darkling really dead? Did I really kill Y/F/N? 

Y/F/N told me with her dying breath to tell Nikolai about my feelings for him. She told me it was obvious how much we cared for each other. I don’t believe he likes me for me. 

I open the compass and I start following it. Nikolai told me that it doesn’t work like a normal compass. It takes you where you want to go and where your heart wants you to go. I want to see Nikolai. We make it back to the base and I can see Nikolai’s outline. The compass really worked. I stop walking and Nina asks “Hey, what’s wrong? Your heartbeat is weirdly fast.” I answer “I just... I have to see Nikolai and tell him how I feel.” She replies “He loves you back, don’t worry. Deep breathing will do wonders. Do you want me to lower your heartbeat to make you calmer?” I answer “No I’m fine.” Inej says “If the Sun Summoner feels this way about a crush, there is no hope for any of us.” Nina replies “Pft there is hope. Believe me. Go on, Y/N, you got this.”

We walk up to everyone and they go over to the Crows. Nikolai sees me, does a double take, smiles, and runs over to me. He picks me up and swings me in the air before I realize what is happening. He places me back on the ground and says “Sorry... I ... I’m just glad you’re alive and here.” I smile and before I can respond, someone pulls him away. He is the King after all and he is needed elsewhere. 

Later, I find myself standing looking up at Nikolai’s ship. I miss our travels and all of the pure joy we had out there. I also miss sleeping in the same bed as him and just having him to myself away from all of Ravka. I hear “You’re cute.” I turn, see Nikolai, and I ask “What did you just say?” He answers “I said you look like a fruit.” I ask “What does that even mean? It makes no sense.” He replies “I guess not... so what are you doing over here by my ship?” I answer “I guess a part of me misses when we were up in the air or on the water just traveling. Life seemed easier up there. I was so happy.” He puts his hands on my shoulders and says “You just destroyed the Fold. You should be happy and rejoicing right now.” I reply “Yeah, but it doesn’t... did you hear that Y/F/N died?” He nods and pulls me into a hug while saying “I did. I’m sorry to hear that.” I ask “Do you want to know what our last conversation was about?” He answers “Only if you want to share it.” I answer “It was about how obvious it was that I liked you and how I should tell you how I feel. I know we started this whole fake marriage thing and it was political. It’s not just political for me anymore. Nikolai Lantsov, I really like you.” He pulls away from me and asks “Are you serious?” I answer “Dead serious.” He replies “That’s pretty serious. Dominik said something similar to me before he died too. He said that you and I were in a fake marriage with real feelings. I just didn’t believe him when he said you liked me.” I reply “The compass led me to you. I think that shows how much I care for you.” He smirks and asks “Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to find you and the compass took me directly to you? It knows what the heart wants.” I wrap my arms around his neck and joke “Are we about to kiss right now?” He wraps his arms around my waist and says “That was very forward of you. We haven’t even been on a proper date.” I reply “We just destroyed the Fold and the Darkling. I think we deserve a kiss.” He smiles and leans in. I lean in the rest of the way and we kiss. 

Masterlist

[lilisouless]

sorry, i know you are sick of my self promo already but i am still copping, i am not feeling okay like the rest of the world

Chapter 1.

Alina peppersprays Mal´s face

Alina drives a tied up Mal and threatens him with a taser

Chapter 2

Kaz steals Alina´s car keys

Genya, affectionately, calls Mal a cheap whore

Morozov almost rolls over Alina with his car

Chapter 3

Alina takes tea with Colm

Mal ask Alina to a "no date" and says goodbye before forgeting he never asked where she is staying

Morozov reveals his magic to Alina, who runs away the second the turns his back

Chapter 4

Alina believes she must be on a prank or gasligthing tv show , so she asks Mal to take off his shirt to search for a mic, then quickly stops him cause "i am not giving those pigs some fanservice material"

Mal licks a piece of a statue to prove what material it´s make off

Alina makes a list of the citizens she met-the characters they may be playing and Kaz´s section is:

- Karl Baz Klark Vanz    Kaz (written by Mal)- unknown (altought he might be Shrek) 

Chapter 5

Alina and Mal break into Kaz & Zoya´s house, they are busted because they took two candies from a jar and Zoya has them counted

In Kaz´s room, they find a note in a drawer while he is absent: ”Looking throught my stuff, Miss Starvoka,That´s a dissapointment, i was expecting better from you PS: If Oretsev is with you, tell him that from him i didn't expect better"

They find a wand that turns out to be a bubble bottle in Kaz´s hiddings

Chapter 6

(Simplified) Morozov: And Alina, this is very important, don't say a word of this to Mal (cut) Mal: not a word to Mal?!

Mal chases a fox that has Alina´s keys on it´s mouth

Mal encounters Baghra being the bitchy old lady she is (aka he gets insulted and hit with a cane a lot)

Chapter 7

Alina has lunch with Ohval but she fears the food is poisoned so she has to throw it in plants or under her shirt

Mal throws himself in the fountain and cuts his pants into shorts to prove he doesn’t have microphones

Morozov has to force himself to awkwardly and reclutantly hug Mal as a thank you for helping Ulla (both are completely disgusted)

Chapter 8

Kaz steals a watch from a dead man in his funeral

Zoya offering her lawyer services to the widowed woman while she is crying on the same funeral

Alina sticks her hand on the corpse’s mouth to make sure it’s real

Chapter 9

Kaz gets in a fight by saying a “your mother” joke

Mal and Alina being jealous from a distance , so unsubtle that Ulla only can look in disappointment

The names shown on the graves: Per Haskell, Dominik Vertov, Ylva Brum, Jordie Rietveld,Wylan Hendriks,Isaak Andreyev , a triple thombstone

Chapter 10

Alina stealing food from a funeral,then Hanne also stealing some from Mila

Mila stabbing a raggedy mouse chanting “bad Zak,bad Zak”

Hanne making a flower crown for Mila

(More things happen but i consider them too serious to call them random shit)

Chapter 11

First thing Nina does after being freed, is dolling herself up in the mirror

Kaz taking care of a drunk Zoya

Ivan and Fruszi being disgusted of having to act like a couple and finding a loophole so they don’t have to kiss

[moonminho]

𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕭𝖔𝖓𝖊 ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ 2 ʀᴇᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ #173 ↳𝟸.𝟶𝟽: 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠

[botticellisflora]

PATRICK GIBSON & LOUIS BOYER as NIKOLAI LANTSOV & DOMINIK VERTOV in Shadow & Bone (2021-)

[darjeelinh]

tell me this is not what happened

[ricardian-werewolf]

Chapter 7: We were Never Alive

Ao3 Link

Summary:

Alina and the gang find the stag in the wilds of Tsibeya, and are forced to come to terms with what the amplifier means for Alina. They must be ready for just how far the Darkling is willing to go to gain utter and complete power. What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men

Notes:

Tws: The Darkling, brutal violence, pain, abuse and physical assault

Taglist: @lordbettany, @fauxraven, @dreadbirate, @hysterionic

Chapter below the cut.

Tsibeya - Early Spring.

In the moment of lucidity that Alina felt while she stood between the Darkling and the stag, she realised just how unprepared she was.

To fight him. To live another day. The trek had been easier after they’d commandeered the Costa’s long-boat and bumped into Mal in the foothills. Weeks of tracking, traipsing up and down and back up mountainsides had brought them… here. To the clearing of the herd. On Mal’s advice, the four of them had reluctantly set up camp under a thicket of low-hanging pine branches and burned no fire. Alina’s light had given them enough heat to stave off dying of the cold. They’d eaten the last of their rations and Mal had prepared to lay traps.

Yet… When twilight had fallen, from the fringes of the clearing came the Darkling’s Grisha and the Black Heretic himself. Amongst them were First Army soldiers armed with rifles and bows, along with the needed local trackers from nearby mountain dachas . All had been going well enough until one of the soldiers saw Alina’s flash of uniform and chaos erupted.  A scuffle had broken out - Three Grisha and one tracker against a centuries old Shadow-summoner and his team of well-trained soldiers, Grisha and not. It was an unfair fight by any standards. In the chaos, the herd had bolted, and someone had shot the stag clean through the left upper shoulder. It had staggered, then fallen, its legs breaking under it. 

Alina had made the stupid decision to bolt for the stag at the same time one of the First Army trackers shot Mal through the stomach with an arrow. Charging into the mess, she yanked Mal up under his shoulder blades and the two orphans collapsed in front of the stag. Throwing her hands up, she summoned a dome of light.

“Bloody hell, Alina…” Mal groaned. “You idiot, what're you doing?!”

“Trying to keep us alive!” She yelled. 

Alina’s hands shook, sweat pouring down her face and settling into her armpits and curves of her body as she fought vainly to keep the shield up. By her side, Mal lay prone. Genya was switching between her Corporalki training and work with Nikolai every moment it seemed.

And Nikolai… Her fox-prince was firing off on all cylinders. His pistols let off smoke in the frigid cold as he switched off on firing them with excellent accuracy or cutting down the Darkling’s Oprichniki with his officers' sabre. Either way, he was the blade Alina had desperately hungered for. Yet… even he was mortal.

She could only watch in terrified horror as his powers, stolen and corrupted by the Darkling, crept over him slowly. Merzost sunk its claws in deep and made his hands cramp with unimaginable pain. All of it made him that bit more sluggish. So when an Inferni ’s flame shot found him, Nikolai couldn’t dodge. It threw him backwards, crashing through Alina’s light shield. He hit the snow-bank with a sickening thud , and laid there, blood pouring from a wound in his leg.

But he still cocked his pistols back and got to his feet. Blood dripped in a steady stream onto the snowbank at his feet. Yet, he fought on. Alina’s hand gripped his arm and she shook her head, begging him not to exert himself so. “Please, Nikolai…” She whispered. “You’ll die.”

“At least I’ll die on my feet.” He shot blindly, the bullet clipping the Darkling’s left ear. Silence followed. 

“Enough!” The Darkling shouted, shadows cloaking the ground around where the shield touched the snow. “Your tracker is hurt, you don’t know what you’re doing, Alina. Time is running out for your blessed prince! Before long, he’ll to a monster and kill you!” He taunted.

“No-” Nikolai groaned, stepping in front of Alina. He tugged off his greatcoat and rolled up the sleeves of his dolman . Alina’s eyes widened as the black veins stretched up his arms and writhed . Somehow, they were alive. “She knows just what she’s doing.”

He raised his hands in front of him, his nails becoming long black claws, jagged and edged with something sharper than diamond. Shadows - not the Darkling’s, but the ones Nikolai had cast long ago at the crossing in the caravan to the Little Palace - poured from his hands. They formed something monstrous at his feet. Something with teeth and jagged claws. 

“Drop the shield, now!” He yelled over his shoulder. Alina barely had time to cry out as she did, and the shadows - the Darkling and Nikolai’s - careened towards one another. The explosion created a shockwave that rattled the trees, and in the darkness, Alina gasped as Nikolai grabbed her wrist. Light exploded out in a multitude of colours and surged up in a solid beam . Her other hand was latched tight around the antlers of the dying stag. In the twilight, Nikolai’s eyes burned gold . The beam of light formed a stronger shield, illuminating everything around them so that the snow was blinding . 

“Sunshine, you’re glowing .” His grin was infectious, and Alina looked around at their little motley. Mal was still collapsed at her feet, but even his pallor looked healthier. Genya had stopped in her heart-rending to watch this light-show, and through the wall of darkness, Alina saw the Darkling’s soldiers stagger backwards in awe and horror.

“W-what…” The Darkling breathed as Nikolai waved his hand and the shadows faded. In its place, only a surge of light flowed upwards around Alina and her crew. Her left hand was clutched tightly in Nikolai’s, and her right still clung to the antlers. 

Alina closed her eyes, the surge of power almost knocking her over. She needed the amplifier, like a dying man needed a healer. She grasped Nikolai’s hand tighter and kissed his bloodied knuckles. Snow fluttered around them, sticking fast to her hair and his coat-collar. But the moment of peace ended with a wet noise coming from Nikolai’s mouth.

None of them, foolish teens as they were, had remembered that Nikolai was wounded. That the clock to him becoming a monster was indeed ticking down. He sank to his knees in the snow and pulled Alina down with her. The beam faded and the shield cracked , its strength fading more with each second.

“Nikolai!” 

Her grip on the antlers slipped, and the power surge died, leaving her wanting more than ever. Desperately, she lunged for the antlers once more, but screamed as a bolt of shadow drove into the back of her hand.

“NO! NO!” Panic filled her as she saw the Darkling advance and spread his hands wide. Shadows rose up in waves and rushed towards them. Desperate, Alina threw her hands over her face. Light fought against the inky blackness swallowed her, blocking out her vision. Distantly, she could hear Genya’s screams, and Nikolai’s hoarse cries filling the air.

“Nikolai! Genya! Where are you?! Help me!”

“Alina!”

The darkness lifted with a great, sudden whoosh of air, and Alina glanced up. Buried as she was in the snow, she’d fallen within a few feet of Nikolai. He’d caged Genya under him and his hand was scrambling in the snow for anything he could fight with. But he stalled as the wound in his leg became too much and fell sideways, pulling Genya against him. His free hand snatched Alina’s wrist and she was yanked harshly into his embrace. Rage had furrowed his brows and he glared up at the figure leaning over them.

Zoya.

“Don’t move. Not one of you.” She hadn’t lifted the darkness completely, merely moved it a few feet to shield the Darkling from the sight of her. She knelt before them and adjusted the collar of her kefta , then dug around in her pockets. She seemed to be looking for something, but in low words spoke to them:

“He’s going to wound you in more ways than one. He’s already got Nikolai, and Genya…” Her voice broke as Alina’s gaze snapped to the Tailor. Shuddering, shaking in Nikolai’s arms, Genya had thrown her hands over her face. She pulled them down to reveal black wounds dripping blood. Somehow, the shadows had slashed all over her body, torn her Sarafan in multiple places and ripped out her eye.

Vomit surged up the back of Alina’s throat and she crammed her hands over her mouth. No, By the saints, no! She gasped, reaching for her friend. Genya flinched, smacking Alina’s hands back. “No!” She howled. “No! Not me! Baghra said I had nothing to fear!” 

“She was wrong..” Nikolai groaned. In the dim twilight, he looked pale. Distantly, Alina heard the moans of the dying stag and Mal’s whimpers. The arrow was still embedded in him. She looked up into Zoya’s eyes. 

“What if we surrender? W-would he heal them?”

“Only to use them as pawns against you.” Zoya replied sharply, fishing out a dark blue hair ribbon. She tied back her braid and her sleeve slid down to reveal the amplifier embedded in her skin. The wound had festered and rotted for years, but such was the price to pay for such power.

What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men.

The greed of the Darkling has no end. He will never be satisfied. We are all just his means for an end. A way forward for his conquest of power. 

Alina’s gaze locked on Zoya once more. “Do it. Go back and tell him we submit. Tell him that…” She closed her eyes. “That I’ll allow him to put the antlers on me.”

“Alina-” Genya grabbed Alina’s hand. “No.. no, please… no.” She sobbed weakly. “He’ll break you.”

“She’s right, Sunshine.” Nikolai growled as he sat up. “You’d be his slave forever. I can’t lose you.”

“You’d be dead!” Alina sobbed. “Both of you!” The rage of weeks, months spilled out of her, causing the shadows at their feet to rear back in fright. Light surrounded the three of them, bathing them all in its incandescent glow. She shook her head, the cold freezing her tears in their ducts. “I won’t let it happen. I’ll… think of something.” She gripped Nikolai’s shaking hands in her own, and pressed her face into the expanse of his shoulder blade. 

“Are you certain, Alina?” Zoya asked softly, leaning over them once more. The light shining around the three of them bathed Zoya in the dimness of a new dawn, and her deep blue eyes reminded Alina of uncut sapphires. 

“Yes.” She replied, her voice breaking. All of the hopes to be the first to take back the stag, to win against the Darkling once and for all, were dashed. She hung her head, and wept unabashed tears of defeat. The fight drained from her in that instant, and she felt Nikolai kiss her forehead. He murmured something against her eyelids, tears dripping down his face. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

Those were the last words Alina heard before she was pulled under by one of the Darkling’s heart renders lowering her pulse. 

Alina woke in darkness.

In a sense. There were sputtering candles, but the dimness of a low heart-rate, pounding head and blurred vision made them glow like distant stars. She stretched out an arm and felt her knees buckle. Her face smashed into a rug of woven threads. She was tired - so, so tired. Rage, and the cost of fighting this endless race against the wretched Black heretic was getting her nowhere. He would win. He was stronger, older and wiser than she was.

Where the hell is this coming from?  

Alina shook her head, knowing these thoughts of defeat were not hers, could not be. She had hoped this doubt had been behind her after all of these months under Nikolai’s care. She’d been shedding the skin of the little, frail girl she’d been. It was only upwards from here, right?

No. You’re back in his clutches. What will he do to you for this transgression?

Alina knew what was going to pass, knew instantly the cold, sickening bite of the antlers around her neck. A chokehold. She could feel the antler tips pressed to the fragile skin around her collar bone and brushing her chin. She knew what an amplifier did to a grisha’s skin - it dug in deep and the power fed into one’s very veins. Sickening their mortal bodies to open them up to the powers they needed to stave off death . There had always been the argument in Grisha theory that an amplifier strengthened a Grisha, sanctifying their craft with godly purity.

In reality, it weakened them. Broke them. To remove an amplifier was to strip their power from them. Alina had seen the greyness under Nikolai’s skin. The Darkling had first infected him and given him the amplifier when it was still an animal. He must’ve killed it and fused the bones to his wrist. Somehow, it had broken and fallen from Nikolai. His half-deathly pallor in the low light of  morning showed just how sick he was. 

What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men. What is Infinite? The Universe and the greed of m-

Her thoughts broke, scattering like petals in a gale with the sounds of low, pained moans. At the other end of the space before her, the door - no, tent flaps - parted, and in stepped the Darkling. He had Nikolai’s hands bound in chains. His shirt-sleeves were pushed up to reveal the black veins of his arms. 

But it was his face that broke Alina’s heart. Blood trickled from a wound in his temple, and his face was blackened and blued from angry fists. She glared at the Darkling’s Corporalki guards, baring her teeth. Finally, she noted the Fabrikator with them - David Kostyk.

Genya’s sweetheart. He was fiddling with his glasses lens, wiping them on the hem of his kefta , and adjusting his dark mane of hair. His kefta’s sleeves were pristine… something that Alina had never seen once in her time at the Little Palace. She felt confused, terrified. What was Nikolai here for? To witness the Darkling shoving the antlers around her neck, to witness the removal of her power? If he wanted her acceptance, he had it already.

“Alina.” 

Her gaze snapped to the ink black eyes of the Darkling. The endless depths of his pupils and irises dragged her into his thrall. She shook her head, bowing her head. “N-no.” She whispered. “P-please, no.” 

“Alina!”

That focused her gaze. She looked up once more, tears beading in her eyes. “I am not going to kill him. Nor the tracker.” The Darkling’s gaze was almost kind. Almost . The hint of something dark and endless danced behind his pupils. “You surrendered. You came willingly. You accepted your sins as merely a girlish mistake. I am proud of you.”

I am proud of you.

Alina shivered. Not once had Baghra said that. Nor Ana Kuya. She had never heard anyone say to her that they were proud of her. No one had ever said it. She’d never received a scrap of love in her life, or from any sort of fellow figure of authority. And now…

Saints, how she almost believed him. She hungered to go back into his embrace, if this would be what awaited her. She could see herself once more, his pet , his beloved Sun Summoner. She could easily submit, turn her back on the Little Palace and its cliques, rule at his side, rule-

Nikolai! A small part of her mind screamed suddenly. If you go with the Darkling, he’ll be gone! Forever!

Maybe not. Maybe he’ll stay… be an advisor of sorts. Or he’ll go back to First Army and go quietly… A small, girlish voice begged. Alina realised it was her… before she’d met Nikolai, before all of this. 

ARE YOU STUPID? The other part of her screamed. The only place he’s going is hell! The Darkling will kill him to make an example and make sure that you are so utterly broken, you’ll let him pour whatever nice words you want down your throat so that by the time the mask comes off, you’ve obliterated half of Ravka!

Alina flinched, imagining her power in the hands of the Darkling. She could see the fires burning from Os Alta to Kiribirsk, cutting a swathe of death and suffering. The power would not be hers, it would never. She would be all his, in name and word if not…

Body. He had made no uncertainties of his desires to have a romantic relationship with her, despite being thousands of years older. Despite her only being 17. Despite the obvious power imbalances… all of it. He wished to possess, to control her.

“Well?” The Darkling asked, tapping his booted toe against the floor of the raised platform his tent had been pitched upon. “Do you wish to renounce your sins, to come once more into the embrace of the Little Palace?” He stepped forward and tilted her head up. She skirted her gaze to Nikolai, to see her prince so broken, so wounded. This was a trap the too-clever fox couldn’t escape.

Not without help. Not without a lockpick and a few prayers. She settled her gaze upon the Darkling once more. “Not without one condition.”

The Darkling gave a lazy sort of smile, a one to lure prey in. The kind of movement a cobra made before it killed its target. Alina bared her teeth once more. “State your treatise, little Saint , and I will decide whether or not to meet it.”

“Nikolai is granted full pardon. He will be allowed to leave Ravka and come as he wishes. He will not be brought into whatever plans you decide to operate. He will be allowed a life you and I will never gain.” 

She licked her lips, panting. Rage and the fight to survive had exhausted her.

“And what if he simply escapes across the True Sea to another place? Another time? We found this map on him-” The Darkling produced the map Nikolai had been studying in the Costa’s longboat. “He could simply go anywhere. Raise an army against us.”

“Then…” Alina’s gaze hardened. “Let him. Let him go against you. Saints know Ravka deserves a change from a thousand years of your festering rot creeping in under the floorboards.” She reared back, the chain that bound her legs snapping with her movement. The strike of the cobra’s fangs missed .

“David!” The Darkling shouted. “Undo the Prince’s chains.”

David’s eyes widened with fear. Alina stilled. What is he planning? She thought as the Darkling stepped over to the richly appointed sideboard and peeled off his gloves. He signalled to Feydor and Ivan, who gave him surprised, almost shocked glances. But they agreed to whatever pre-planned idea the shadow summoner had in hand, and raised their hands. Alina’s pulse dropped, but not enough to put her under. She grunted, her fingers twitching. Nikolai was shoved into position beside her, and his hand wrapped tight around hers. The momentary warmth of the contact was immediately poisoned as the Darkling had Genya - poor, ruined and wounded Genya - undo the shawl around Alina’s neck that hid the antlers. In the dim lamplight, they shone molten silver, and refracted the light back.

“I’m sorry.” Nikolai began. “I’m so, so sorry, Alina.” He whispered. She stilled. “W-why?” She breathed. “Why are you so-”

She was never given a chance to ask her question. David’s trembling hands touched the antlers at the planned joining point of the two pieces, while the Darkling’s hand gripped the upper tips in his slender, pale hands.

He closed his eyes, and the process began.

It was excruciating . As the antlers sunk into Alina’s flesh, they cut the skin and tissues of her collarbone and fused to her bones. The collar had no clasp, no endpoint. It was fused into her tissue, bound up in the very strands that made her… her. The moment passed with the agonising slowness of a bullet being removed from a wound - not that Alina had ever had it happen to her, but the screams of the wounded wormed their way under her skin regardless. She hoped, for a moment, as nothing happened, that the Darkling had gotten it all wrong.

But a whine from Nikolai showed her the wrongness of her hope. Her eyes flew open, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. In her moment of foolishness, she had grabbed his hand and wounded his hand from the pain. But… this was no mere whine of a trod upon foot. He looked sick, weak. As though the mere moments of weakness she had seen in his body were magnified.

“Summoners are the only Grisha capable of removing another’s power.”

Removing another’s power?   She thought mutely. Both the Darkling and David looked no more different than they had moments ago, but Nikolai…

“Your hand in his caused the power surge to rend his powers from him.”

What?! Alina thought, her mind screeching to a halt. “W-what?” She breathed. She looked at her prince, felt his hand once more in hers. His skin was cold, clammy. Fever burned in his face. He had never been a healthy boy… but his Durast powers had been his stop-gap from illness, from the decay of whatever the Darkling had put inside him.

“Why?!” She cried suddenly.

“He could never be allowed to roam free, Alina.” The Darkling tutted, his face gleaming with a triumphant smile. He looked every inch a man who had just won a game of cards and walked away from the table leaving the other in crippling debt. “Now, he is merely nothing. A prince. A second son, too weak even to do any-”

Nikolai’s hand shot out and he yanked the Darkling by the jugular. “Shut up.” He growled. Sweat dripped down his temple. He was shaking with the effort, with the exhaustion. “St-” 

He pitched to the ground. The Darkling leapt aside and nodded at Ivan. “Good job.”

“Thank you, Moi Soverenyi .”

“See that he is put on the first troop transport back to Os Alta at once.” 

Alina’s eyes widened and she dropped to her knees beside Nikolai. “Please, please, no!” She cried, shaking his body. He gave a low, dying moan  “R-run.” He whispered, his fingers twitching. “Run, Alina.”

Tears formed in Alina’s eyes as she pressed her head against his side. “I’m so sorry.” She cried. Sobs wracked her, blurring her vision as she wrapped her arms around him. “So, sorry.” She pressed her cheek to his, and felt his pulse dropping

Ivan and Feydor pulled them apart. Alina bucked wildly, lashing out like an animal. She kicked her feet and lashed out, baring her teeth. Screams tore themselves from her throat. “YOU MONSTER!” She cried at the Darkling as she was put back on her feet. Dimly, she watched Nikolai be carried out by First Army stretcher bearers. Bowing over at the waist, Alina tugged at the stag’s antlers and sobbed at the blood that coated her hands.

“W-why?” She wept.

The Darkling's hand returned to touching the antlers, and Alina screamed as Nikolai had. Light poured from her, framing her face. It was as gold as a prince’s hair, and as wild as the roaring ocean that he so loved. 

But it was not hers. It would never again be hers to control.

The Darkling smiled, but his eyes were full of pain. 

“He was no good for you, Alina. Men like him are no more than spring flowers. Beautiful in their blossoms, but so quick to fade. He will be a mere flash in the night sky, while you will be eternal. He would only break your heart.”

Through her reddened eyes and blurry gaze, Alina spoke with full malice, full rage.

“I would rather live knowing he will die in a month’s time than share my bed with you.”

The Darkling stepped back, and the light faded out, the tent returning to its dimness. He turned toward the exit, and had Zoya, who had stood by the doorway witnessing it all, wave her hand. The light snuffed out at once, and she departed with the man who had ripped Alina’s power from her. 

Alina’s legs buckled, and she fell to the floor once more. She dimly crawled into the space Nikolai had laid in, and curled into a ball. She dragged the wool shawl over her shoulders, pressed her face into her hands and cried. Once more, fate had dealt her a cruel hand, and she would bear the burden.

Distant from her, Nikolai’s form was carried not to the waiting first aid cart, but to the grouping of buildings who made up this outpost of snow-covered tents and rotting buildings. It had been here that Nikolai had tapped into the merzost that had saved Dominik three years before. In the dim light, He was carried into the main barracks mess hall. The space was clear of tables except for a single one. Awaiting him was a first Army surgeon, a corporal, and a woman wearing a mourning sarafan and button boots. 

“Go.” She croaked. The stretcher bearers bowed, and departed. The surgeon turned to his aid. The colonel shooed him away from Nikolai’s body, and instead began to unbutton Nikolai’s bloodied tunic. “Nik…” He whispered.

Nikolai’s face grimaced in pain. “Dom…” He breathed, his voice as light as a moth's wing. “H-help,"

“We will, old boy.” Dominik replied. He nodded at the woman in the mourning gown, and she pushed back her veil to reveal a mane of inky black curls so like her son’s. “The Little Saint has been careless, but there is still enough here to save. I will need time alone with him.” She indicated Dominik and Nikolai, then looked at the surgeon.

“Your services are not required.” She jerked her head toward the door. The Surgeon bowed and left, his aid trailing him. As soon as the door was locked, the 22nd Regiment’s elite soldiers stepped in front of every possible entrance, threw tarps over the windows.

Their major was wounded, nearing the inky blackness of death. But they would die before allowing him to cross the Styx. As the woman helped Dominik tear off his tunic, Nikolai spoke. 

“Baba?” He whimpered. 

“I’m here, my boy. Always.” Baghra kissed his knuckles and stroked her hand over his face. “Always here, when no one else would be.” She replied. “My poor son.”

Dominik froze, but continued to work. Nikolai’s healing took precedence over his lineage. He of all people, knew that. Turning back to the mending of Nikolai’s broken and scarred body, Dominik began to pray.

“Sankts, give us hope. Bring us not unto temptation, but saveth the man who layeth before me. Bring him not into your embrace, not yet. He has fought long and hard, but it is not his time.”

The same prayer was whispered over Alina’s slumbering form by Zoya and Genya, who carried Alina to her bed and cocooned her in blankets. The same prayer echoed in the words of Nikolai’s men, of the Grisha who had come to like Alina, even as the Darkling sat in his tent and penned a letter to the Apparat to be ready and waiting in Kirbirsk. 

If the Saints were able to walk amongst mortals, they would discover how feverishly the intonation to protect the weak and dying was spoken. How desperate mere mortals were to save a little boy and girl who had seen more horrors in their short lives than their ancestors saw in decades.

Alina faintly heard her friend’s prayers, and in reply, reached out a trembling hand. She was too deeply asleep to stir, but somehow she felt that Nikolai was in pain, nearing the end.

“Nikolai..” She breathed. A faint shimmer of light flickered from her hand, before dying out.

All across the camp, the candle-lanterns and oil lamps snuffed out.

End of chapter 7.

[the-lonewriter]

Soldiers did not cry. Princes did not weep. Nikolai knew this. But the tears fell anyway. “Dominik the brave. Hold on a little longer.” Dominik squeezed his hand.

“This country gets you in the end, brother. Don’t forget it.”

[stromuprisahat]

Nikolai: "Hello, my name is Nikolai Lantsov. You killed my boyfriend. Prepare to die!"

Aleksander: "But you don't have all the facts!"

Nikolai: "Which are?"

Aleksander: "I'm hot and I have a point!"

Nikolai, skeptically: "... continue..."

~

after the Darkling explains his plans for Ravka:

ghost!Dominik: "Remind me again, why we fought AGAINST this guy?"

~

Some time later:

Aleksander: "Ah yes. Me. My husband. And the ghost of his boyfriend, whose death I've indirectly caused before we've even met properly..."

[luv4estiebestie]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Shadow and Bone (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Nikolai Lantsov/Dominik Vertov Characters: Nikolai Lantsov, Dominik Vertov Additional Tags: Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Angst, Character Study, Character Death, Hurt No Comfort, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories Series: Part 1 of Dominikolai folklore Summary:

The One - folklore Nikolai had lost and lost again, but Dominik was always the one to stay in his mind