Then desperate.
Then—
Screaming.
I know that voice.
It is fire and steel.
It is war and storm.
It is Hira.
And she is begging me to wake up.
Something pulls at me.
A thread of warmth.
A flicker of something more.
Not the cold of this place.
Not the weightless oblivion of the void.
But a tether.
Something tied to my ribs, to my soul.
Her.
Come back.
Come back to me, you bastard.
You don’t get to leave me.
You don’t get to fucking die.
A warmth spreads through the nothingness, curling around the edges of my consciousness.
And suddenly?—
I feel pain.
A deep ache, blooming in my chest.
My body, heavy and battered, calling me back.
I feel my fingers.
I feel the air, thick and cold against my skin.
I feel her hands, gripping my face, pressing against me like she can force me to stay.
And I know?—
I cannot leave her.