And it hurts.
The tree drinks like a dying animal gasping for air, and I give it everything. Every drop.
My heart pounds in my chest, wild and thunderous.
But then…
It falters.
A beat skips. Another comes slower, then slower still.
A strange hush falls over me, as if the world has dipped beneath water.
My breath catches on the edges of my lungs. I try to draw in air, one deep breath, but it rattles, thin and useless. It doesn’t reach. I try again. Nothing.
Why can’t I breathe?
The bark under my hands swims, turning soft and unfocused.
I blink, and the castle spins.
There’s a ringing in my ears now. No, not ringing. Silence. A perfect, terrifying silence.
And through that silence, a cold truth unfurls inside me.
I’m dying.
The thought doesn’t scare me. Not yet.
It lands with a dull, faraway clarity, like I’m watching myself from the other side of a mirror.
I gave too much. I let Castletree take it all.
And it still wasn’t enough.
My body is here, trembling, broken on the stone. But my soul is already fading, pouring into the roots of this ancient tree. The tether has become a noose.
What will happen to Dayton and Farron? Our lives are tied together. If I…
If I die.I make myself think the words.
I need to be strong for them, but I can’t. Their love is so powerful. Maybe it will be enough to keep them going without me…
I feel my heartbeat stutter again.
Once. Twice. Then slower.
Thump.
Thump.
It shouldn’t feel peaceful. But it does.
My vision narrows to pinpricks of golden light. I try to dig deeper, to reach the tree’s roots, but I’m more likely to find a way to swim through stone.
“Rosalina!” Mom’s voice slices through the haze. “Keep going! You can do this!”
But I can’t. I can’t.
