Witchling Academy Semester Eight - Avery Song Page 0,58

because I'd recently pondered the idea of returning to the land of paradise to be with my family? Was...my duty already over? To protect Brianne and just...fade away?

She tried to speak to me. Heck, maybe she was shaking me. I couldn't tell anymore. I was simply transfixed on her and nothing else, the image beginning to engrave into my mind as creeping dark spots began to appear at the corners of this rectangle frame.

I'm dying...

I could accept that now as Brianne called out to me and shook her head yet again. At some point, I felt like she knew I couldn't hear her anymore because her eyes further widened before a glimpse of understanding flickered into the hollows of her eyes that were now completely black.

"Finnick!" Her voice boomed in my head then, but my eyes were growing heavier while more block spots fought hard to destroy the beauty in this image. No matter the hopelessness in Brianne's expression and the circumstances we now faced, this sight was one I craved to draw.

If only I could feel my fingers, they would be twitching in excitement to grab a pencil and sketch it all out: to get the lines right, the streams of wetness along her flushed cheeks carrying a soft tenderness while emphasizing the sadness they projected, to color the hollow darkness in her eyes and yet add hints of color to acknowledge the color that was now swallowed by the brink of desolation, and to show just how deadly her aura now was as it burned in defiance.

How our treasure could set lose a power far stronger than anything.

Stronger than Jax. Stronger than the professors at Witchling. Maybe even stronger than the woman who helped at the bridge years ago.

If only she could be here now to lend a hand. If only anyone was here to save us from this constant cycle of death and rebirth.

My death would kill a part of Brianne. I knew it with every blood cell running through my body. She'd be broken to pieces...just like I once was. I feared that no one would be able to put those pieces back together.

It wouldn't matter if they glued them back. There would be a single piece missing that would leave a black hole behind - a reminder of the flickering flame of life I'd contributed to her own burning soul.

The thought made me feel horrible because though I wished for peace, I didn't want this. There was a difference between satisfying my role in this world and gaining peace at the brink of death with my family awaiting my return, and having reached the halfway point and being forced to fail.

Being pushed into a ditch and left to sink all by yourself.

Fear crept in then as the black sheet continued to steal my vision until I had only Brianne's face left to look at while the rest of the world faded away. It almost was like we'd been wrapped around the blackness on purpose, but what would I know when my vision was clearly failing me.

I wanted to at least kiss Brianne one more time, to feel the warmth of those parted lips that trembled. My heart was shattering with every second that followed, as even her voice that fought hard to cut through to my thoughts once more seemed far away.

Her anger was like a blade that was ready to go into war against a nation, and yet she leaned right down and kissed me.

This was the sole moment I needed to not feel so alone. The single touch in this cruel universe seemed to give me the tiniest hint of feeling, allowing me to feel the burning heat of those lips.

I closed my eyes then as I felt the single set of tears leave me like the rest of the sensations in my body - my lips being the last. The warmth was fading as well, but I wasn't afraid this time, because that intense heat helped tame the fear.

Darkness was never something to fear. I'd understood that for a long time. It wasn't more dangerous than the element of light or any other energy force running through this world.

What made darkness scary was the sense of loneliness that always followed its footsteps, the sense of walking down the next darkened path by yourself with no guidance or comfort.

That was exactly how I felt now as I faded away - sinking into a world I was foreign to. When I imagined death knocking