Blinding pain tore through me. The vibrations of metal splitting my ribcage filled my chest, echoed deep into my core. My own blade met its mark in Vapula’s gut, and he hesitated—just for a moment, just long enough for me to tear the dagger along his stomach, a maneuver I’d once been victim to, now manifested as revenge. I pulled it free. With it came gnarled viscera and a shower of blood. Vapula drew a shuddering breath, his eyes wide. Clutching the near-fatal wound, he fell to his knees.
I cast the dagger to the side and readied the chain in my hands. Wet warmth gushed from my wound, flowing down my stomach like a waterfall. The sword still impaling me twisted and tore, raking across my insides as I moved. It was agony, but I’d endure it for a few moments longer.
I’d waited seven long years for this, and I’d have it, at any cost.
“Until the darkness kills the light, Vapula—until the heavens cease to burn!”
“Lillia,wait!”
But Sitri’s desperate cry came too late.
I brought my chain down on Vapula’s head. My insides ripped, shredded around his sword as I folded in on myself. With a sickening crunch, the impact shattered his skull, sending a spatter of gore to the ground.
He fell broken, never to rise again.
At last, it was over.
The finality of the moment seized me like a vise. Sitri and I both knew what I’d done; that Vapula wouldn’t be the only casualty. Alone and far from help, this wound would prove fatal.
I’d made my peace with that.
I staggered. My strength failed me, and Sitri rushed to my side. As I fell, he dropped to his knees and caught me, eyes alight with fear, hands shaking. Every beat of my heart brought fresh anguish, fresh blood that flowed down my sides, running together with Vapula’s and Sitri’s. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, and I let them fall freely.
“I love you, Sitri.” Every breath was a struggle. My words came as a whisper. “I love you, and I’m sorry.”
Sitri’s face twisted. His fingers cradled my face, so warm against my skin. The cold of the stone had never really left my body. As my blood drained away, so did any hope of driving it out. Only my chest held any heat at all, and itburned—burned like fire, searing upwards from the sword embedded in my stomach, running up my center and gathering over my sternum.
“You are going to be okay, darling,” he murmured, tears welling in his eyes. There was no deception in his words, except for the lie he told himself.
He believed it, believed I’d be alright… but I knew better.
Holding my eyes open took too much effort. At last, I let them close. Familiar darkness gathered around me, hungry for what remained of my life, and I would let it feast. I’d known its embrace the night I’d died on the balcony, oh so long ago. It didn’t scare me—even as itthickened, and I began to sink.
My senses faded away. The pain numbed, and though I faintly felt the vibrations of Sitri’s chest against mine, I couldn’t hear his words anymore. Everything dissolved, faded until nothing at all remained.
One last breath slipped from between my lips. My soul and mind went still.
I surrendered myself to annihilation. Just as death had done before, it opened its jaws and swallowed me up.
