“Someone stop him!” I cry out to them.
A beaming light parts from the clouds, white hues mixed with a golden shimmering substance falls from the sky and down towards us. The wind catches Florian’s hair, brushing it widely across his face as his veins beneath his skin erupt in a bright golden hue.
He grips Koen’s chest, breathing out a torturing cry in agony as he screams to the heavens.
“Please stop!” I hold Koen’s body tightly against my chest. My whole body aches with pain.
“You will die!” I shout once more, finally catching Florian’s attention.
His head shakes, brows caving deeply in as his eyes flicker the fire I once saw when the dragons chased us in the darkness. “I am already dead.”
I heave, breathing out a shaking breath as the light flashes brighter. The clouds break apart as streams of hues glisten down and up from Florian and Koen.
The descendants of the Gods, the light inside us is how we live. How we survive.
The light inside us is what gifts us the powers from them.
They way to communicate with the Gods.
Yet, here Florian is, doing everything in his power to give Koen his last bit of life when this has only been done once before… with me.
But the oracles helped.
And the oracles are not here.
This cursed the lands once.
What would happen again if this were to work?
Florian glances over his shoulder towards me, his hair dancing across his face. “Everything has always been for you.”
I clench Koen’s suit tightly. “Please don’t leave me too.”
Florian’s lips pull into a slight smile. “You will be okay. I must do this. For the both of you.”
“This won’t work!” Kaine shouts, hands flailing widely in the air. “Make him stop, Ren!”
My eyes flicker between the two of them, catching Florian’s gentle head shake. “Nothing can stop me from trying to do right by my brother. It’s the least I can do.”
Florian’s head lifts while the beaming white light brightens, casting a bright wave of light across the land of Darkness. The power of the energy blasts a strong gust of wind, knocking the others to the ground as I grip Koen’s body tighter.
“Please don’t take them both,” I beg the Gods.
“Please don’t take them both from me.”
My eyes clench tightly, praying that the light as bright as the heaven’s gates vanishes at last and finally, it begins to dim.
My breathing steadies, listening to the beats of my heart as the ringing sounds begin to finally fade away.
Through blurred vision I see Theon and Kaine rising, helping Klayra and Death up to their feet. Hyreo is dusting off his ash-filled suit, the gust of wind from the light by the Gods covering us all in the dirt of this land.
Dryden limps in, unsure how he is even alive still. But we will leave for the sea once…
No.
Florian lies beside Koen. His golden hair cascades along his face.
“Florian?” I whisper out, gripping his leg that is beside me and shaking him with all the strength I have. “Florian!” My throat rips a violent scream.
