73. Abraxas

Something was terribly wrong. Instead of the smile of victory that I expected to see on Tori's face, she was locked in place; her expression was contorted with pain.

"Tori, it's over. Come back to me." I reached out to her, but the surrounding air was hot enough to burn even me. I tried to push through, but the flesh of my fingers sizzled away and charred to black. "Tori, you must stop!"

Heronly answer was her body convulsing and seizing erratically as the power coursed through her. Her eyes pressed closed and then shot open, the blue light of the earth streaming out like a beacon. She opened her mouth in a silent scream, expelling more blue light.

Power, pure and undiluted, shot up from the ground beneath us. I swept Pallas and Jun away as I grabbed her, my skin sizzling in a sensation I had never felt. Mana flowed through me, but it was useless. Her skin cracked open beneath my hands; her body couldn't contain the power inside. I did the only thing I could, holding her to me and keeping our bond tight. The pain was unspeakable, but I would endure it. I would endure anything for her. Anything but this.

Thebond that tied our hearts stretched, and I sobbed. "Tori, you can't. You can't leave me behind."

Deathhad no pity. The bond stretched until it was no more than the shadow of hope, and she was gone. There was nothing. Only silence. She was gone. I couldn't hear her laugh, her labored breathing, or the beating of her heart. There was nothing. I couldn't even feel her cold body in my hands or see her beautiful face. Her skin cracked like mud baked under the summer sun, the lines filled with the remnants of that glowing power that consumed her. There was nothing because, without her, the world ceased to exist.