Another meteor struck near the small group. Niall looked around at the swelling chaos. Winds were bending trees to their breaking points, unseen teeth and claws tore at the flesh of those nearby. The flash of a blade and a cry drew his attention. Hannai lay on the ground, blood oozing from a jagged wound. Drexel was bent over her, fearfully trying to hold closed the wounds to her chest. Riordan was a whirlwind of blades, focused and tenacious.
Hannai’s eyes were like glass. She smiled softly to Drexel as he held her in his arms. “My love, the Fires are calling me home. Please, let me go. We will meet again in the next life,” she said, gently touching his cheek.
“I do not wish to be a moment without you, my own heart,” he whispered through tears.
“It will be but the briefest of moments, my love.”
He held her closely and kissed her forehead, tears falling into her now moon-silver hair. “Until the Fires unite us again,” he whispered.
“Until the Fires…unite…us…ag—.”
He squeezed her tightly to him, his tears flowing like water over a burst dam. Lying her down gently on the ground, Niall was at his side and helping him to his feet. As they stepped back, the sparkle of a twilight’s first stars seemed to elevate from her body, dancing in and among each other, before funneling their way to the heavens.