Page 150 of The Star's Sword

I wanted to throw up. “I hope it worked.”

I flew up into the clouds, leaving Griffin’s back despite my pain and weakness. It felt like my wings could barely flap. “Bring the Morning,” I said in advance, feeling my sword grow once again.

I had done my duty as the Morningstar. Now, if I wanted to use my sword to bring back my boyfriend, that was my business, wasn’t it?

I shot up through the clouds, faster and faster, and when I reached the fake ninth realm area I moved higher again.

Back to where I fought. Back to Samael. Had I saved him or killed him? Regardless, I hope he felt my love.

Knew that I did it for him.

I burst through the final cloud layer and into the true ninth realm, and I gasped as I looked around. The air was clear, not dark. It was blue up here, but a regular blue.

There were bits of burnt matter floating here or there. Quite a lot of it, looking like crumbs spread across the sky.

But there was a fresh feeling unlike I’d ever felt. Like everything was new and untainted.

A new beginning.

I saw Simon’s large shape, flapping next to Mark, and I began to fly over to them.

Then I saw a dark, burned shape in front of them. In the shape of a man.

My heart screamed so loud I couldn’t hear my own thoughts, and pain so sharp a million night swords couldn’t have hurt me as much took over my entire existence.

I wanted to fall, but I had to go to him. I had to see him.

I flew forward, pushing my wings as hard as I could. I shoved Simon and Mark out of the way, and saw Samael’s burnt, blackened body floating amongst the wreckage.

He wasn’t moving.

Half of him was just…gone.

I screamed again, throat sore, and threw myself over him, holding his body against me. But it didn’t matter. He was cold.

Zadis was nearby, I realized, watching with Mark and Simon.

But I couldn’t care as I just kept clutching Samael, holding him to me, murmuring words I couldn’t even understand, as my heart was too broken to compute language.

Even though he was badly damaged, and even though I knew it was risky, I held my Morning sword high and plunged it down into him.

If he was too destroyed to be brought back, because he was truly eradicated, then he wouldn’t be able to go back to this world with me.

I would die.

But at this moment, I didn’t care about a world without him.

“I’m sorry, Simon,” I said. “I’m sorry, Zadis. Mark, I would have liked to get to know you more.” I held Sam’s body tight, knowing I would never be able to let go of him. Never be able to put him in some dark hole, where I would never see him again.

“Bring the Morning,” I said, and the sword burst with light beams, enveloping me with white hot energy, growing until I felt myself sucked outwards and downwards, and the world disappeared around me, everything going dark.

I opened my eyes in the void realm, a land of darkness of blankness that seemed to go on forever. No sky. No clouds. Just endless black.

I’d been here once before, to find Zadis. I looked out across the blank landscape and saw something moving.

Something black.

Samael.

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