The two of them swing at once, and I can’t dodge them both, so I take a dagger to my side. Bile rises in my throat as my vision clouds.
“See through the stars.”
The whisper of reassurance does little to put me at ease when I’ve accepted I’ll lose this fight. But I blink my vision into focus and maintain my grip.
Blood stains the wintry ground, painting a picture of every step, every stumble.
The males are too quick. I’m losing my footing. My arms continue to strike, and my legs continue to move, but I’m no longer in control of them.
The snow muffles the echoes of metal clashing in the street. I swing wide, finally striking the dark-haired male in the side. My blade lodges, but just as I pull back, something slices through my center.
I barely feel it at first. My insides splitting open with the blade that pierces me. It isn’t until I look down and see it peeking out of my side that I realize I’ve been stabbed all the way through.
I drop to my knees when he pulls out his blade, but I don’t release my mother’s sword. It hangs heavy in my grip, frosted in ice and dripping with blood.
And I know this is it.
This is the moment I die.
My chest warms, and I close my eyes, waiting for death to carry me to the After.
Chapter 5
Elorie
“See through the stars.”
Screaming fills my ears. I blink, but my vision is too blurred to make anything out clearly. My head tips back, and I swear the clouds are parting, but that wouldn’t make sense. The storm was raging only hours ago, and the cloud cover stretched all the way out to sea.
My head swims as my blurred gaze drifts to the street. People run in every direction, abandoning their homes as the rebels close in. But the two males I’ve been fighting have taken a step back. Their eyes are wide, scouring the street around us. My gaze follows theirs, and I notice the snow on the street has melted, leaving only the drifts that cover the roofs. The wind is cold, but I’m warm.
Burning up.
What is happening?
Am I dying?
Or has Alyssium finally reached its end?
Pain shoots through me, and I grab my stomach. Blood soaks my clothes where the Fae stabbed me cleanly through. With theblade gone, I should have bled out by now. I don’t know how I’m alive, still fighting through as my vision swims.
The sky is clear blue and bright.
I’m hallucinating.
There is no sunshine on Alyssium. Only cloudy, gray days that blend into cold, dark nights. Maybe I’ve died already, and this is Sarrow welcoming me as I cross through to the After.
I suppose it’s possible that death isn’t an endless night like it’s said to be. Maybe it’s a warm day. Bright and welcoming. Maybe Father was right, and there’s nothing to fear in the After.
Father.
I heave forward, nearly vomiting at the sight of him. He’s still sprawled out on the street, unmoving. Darkness sweeps through me as I try to stand, and time skips. Black spots dot my vision.
The stony ground scrapes my hands as I crawl toward him.
“Father.”
My fingers shake against the cobblestones, and my knees ache from how the stone jabs into my skin. My head is lighter with every passing moment.
