“I don’t think we’re going to make it,”I admitted. Voicing those words out loud wouldn’t do any good. None of us needed to state the probability of what was about to unfold. We all had a pretty clear idea.
“You have us now.”
“Yeah, but you can’t kill them.”
“Not with our fire, but now that we don’t need to keep our distance, we’ll just have to do it the old-fashioned way.”He snapped his jaw, making a loud chomping sound. I lifted my gaze to his face.
“You definitely couldn’t dothatbefore.” I patted his chest.
“Oh, I could. Beetles were terrified of me.”
“Don’t remind me.” I rolled my eyes, shutting out the memories of hearing those beetles scream. The circle of life wasn’t always kind. I had a special kind of awareness for that.
Dae cleared his throat behind me.
“Tell him he smells rancid and I liked him better before.”
“Braxius. This new look suits you. You look fierce,” Dae said, placing his hand over my back.
“…Okay, maybe I still like him.”
“He can tell that you’re different,” I said timidly.
Dae hummed and nodded, an obvious sign that he didn’t want to talk about it.
“But he still likes you.” I gave a weary smile, finding it difficult to fake.
“Did he see how far away The Order was?” Dae said.
I hadn’t thought to ask. The question was a slapping reminder of our final moments.
“Some of their camp members rallied, the ones who avoided our attack. The Eleven marched forward, not caring that some of their own people were eviscerated by the dark magic. There were fifty or so marching when we flew overhead. Maybe five minutes?”
I stared into Dae’s mesmerizing brown eyes, trying to memorize every fleck and hue. “Five minutes.”
He kissed me like his lips would save me, save us. I flung my arms around him, arching back. I never wanted to forget the warmth of his caring arms wrapped against me, holding me close like I was a part of him.
When he withdrew just enough for our lips to merely graze, tears glistened on his face.
“Oh, Dae.” I wiped them with my thumbs. He looked like he was in pain, and that drove a lance through my heart.
“If I can figure out how to control the magic, I’ll keep it away from you. Until my last breath.”
“Dae, no. No, the more you wield it, the more it’ll corrupt you. You’ve seen what The Eleven look like. So far, your skin looks clear. I don’t want it to take over.” I brushed the hair away from his face, stroking his cheek and jaw with my palm. “I can’t lose you,” I whispered, losing the battle to keep my tears at bay.
“You never could.” He nestled his face into my neck, drawing me into a hug that only solidified how perfectly we fit together. I ran my fingers through his silky hair that remained unbound at the bottom. Our silence overflowed with the truth of what existed between us.
A wave of calm acceptance washed over me in the comfort of his embrace. Perhaps death would always come too quickly, maybe we’d always want more time. Maybe the amount of time we spent in this life mattered less than what we made of it.
In mine, I’d loved, I’d lost. I’d fought for what I believed in, I’d made a difference in others lives, no matter how small. I’d lost family, but created more along the way.
And in my last days, I unexpectedly fell in love. Holding the man of my dreams, tears that were a physical manifestation of gratitude and grief escaped. I bathed in this moment, unaware of how much time had passed. The others held conversationsaround the caravan, too far away to hear clearly from where we stood amongst the dragons. My focus wasn’t on them, anyway.
Our army settled when the dragons didn’t attack. In fact, most of the giant creatures looked relatively at ease, some preening themselves like cats. Big puppies, if they deemed you as ally and not foe. They participated in their own conversations, generally along the lines of how they were excited to eat something other than mountain goat.
Ignoring them was more of a task, but with Dae in my arms, his scent in my nose, the softness of his skin brushing against mine, I melted into him over and over again.
“Something’s wrong,” Dante said.
