“I wish I could’ve met her.”
“I wish you could’ve too.” His voice tightened. “She would’ve loved you.”
A light tingle vibrated at the base of my neck before Samantha’s disembodied voice pierced my ears. “Come to my home, Fawn. This will be the last time we will see each other. I’m sorry for this, buthurry.”
Silas’s grip on me tightened as fear spiked through my vessel.
“Silas,” I choked out as my heart twisted and swelled in my chest.
I wasn’t ready to lose her, but I had told her years ago if anything were to ever happen, she had to call me so I could help put her spirit at rest. I didn’t care if the world was in trouble at that moment. If she needed me, I had to be there.
And I would follow through now.
“We’ll both teleport there, okay, muse?” His voice was soothing, but I could feel how tense he was through the bond.
I nodded, murmuring the teleportation spell in sync with him as he kept his gaze on mine.
Our bodies tingled with magic before we teleported to Samantha’s home.
The scene that stretched out before us was one of devastation and pandemonium—a sight that her powerful wards should’ve been able to stand against. Her once-cherished home lay in ruins, the air heavy with the pungent tang of destruction, tainted by Matthieu's malevolent magical signature.
I rushed forward with my heart clogging my throat, stumbling over debris as my spirit vision surged forth, leading me to where the faint echo of her feeble spirit clung to her fragile vessel.
Finally, I found my fierce friend, her motionless form trapped beneath a hulking mass of debris. Her strength dwindled from her spirit like a fading ember. Her visage, once vibrant, now bore the scars of her struggle—lips marred by a purple hue, a testament to the agony I knew she must’ve endured.
My heart was in my throat as Silas wielded his water magic with haste, freeing her from the wooden prison that ensnared her.
Grief constricted my throat as I sank to my knees beside her, icy tendrils of despair winding their way through my veins.
"Samantha," I whispered, voice drenched with sorrow as my trembling fingers brushed against her face. "I'msosorry."
I could sense her spirit desperately trying to control her vessel, and after a few tries, her eyes barely cracked open as she gave a rattled cough.
“You silly mage,” she rasped with a wheeze. Her voice was a fragile whisper that clung to the air like a wisp of smoke. Her complexion bore the pallor of impending death, her life force ebbing away with each strained breath. "This… isn't your fault.No apologizing.”
Tears blurred my vision, blinding me to the world beyond as I brushed strands of her silver hair, now matted with blood, away from her frail face, where it had fallen around her head from its usual bun. "I love you, Samantha," I murmured, the words laced with a bittersweet ache. "You're like the sister I never had."
“I know.” Her cracked lips twitched like she wanted to smile, but a dribble of blood came from the corner of her mouth. “I love you too, Fawn. I’m proud of you for opening up your—” A racking cough tore through her fragile frame, the sound gut-wrenching as blood spilled from her lips, a reminder of the cruelty that Matthieu had dealt her.
I knew Samanthahatedto be helped, but I couldn’t stop myself from wrapping my arms around her shoulders and lifting her bleeding head into my lap. Her spirit could barely hang on, and her vessel was damaged far from any repair of a healing potion.
“I’m fine,” she rasped, narrowing her gaze at me before wincing. “As I was saying, you opened your heart to love. I’m so happy I can leave this world knowing you’re going to be in love and happy…” She glanced at Silas. “You better take care of her forever.”
“Always,” he vowed, bowing his head to her. “You have my word.”
“Samantha,” I murmured, hot tears streaking down my cheek.
“Matthieu…can transform between monster…and mage with a potion of some sort.” Her words tumbled forth, lungs crackling as she breathed. “He boasted about a weapon to kill you, but he made sure to tell me…it wouldn’t work on him. I think he’s full of—” Her body tensed as she trembled, and her hand gripped my wrist. “—shit! He’s scared, Fawn. Keep doing whatever you are.”
“I will,” I assured her, my voice quivering with a mixture of determination and anguish. “I’ll avenge you. I swear it.”
“Don’t do that,” she barked, her grip on my wrist loosening, her voice was a plea tinged with urgency. “Don’t let revenge be your purpose. Defeat that bastard because he embodies pure evil and because he's a stain upon everything we hold dear. Nothing more than that. Do you hear me?”
“But, Samantha—” My protests caught in my throat, choked by the weight of her words, by the raw emotion that poured from her weakening spirit.
“Let me go,” she whispered. Her words were like a fragile exhale, a plea for rest that sent a shiver down my spine. “I'm fading. My spirit is growing weaker with every passing moment.”
Her request pierced my heart like a thousand shards of glass, each word slicing through me with a searing pain.
