Page 188 of Warlord's Plaything

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.

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