Lillia—Fenris snarled, a warning vibrating through her chest just as something suddenly grabbed Lillia’s leg. It was very cold. Pure chaos washed over her body as she shook it away violently screaming into the darkness. Her grip around Amelia’s legs tightened as her gaze searched wildly in full circle. Lillia… we have to get out now. “I cannot. I cannot leave her here.” Lillia began pulling again, this time even more desperately as whispers began to echo around her. Another grip at her arm and she shouted, shaking the coldness off her body. She couldn't see what they were but she felt the coldness, the animosity as the growing stench intensified. “Amelia—” Lillia cried out, her heart pounding so violently against her chest it bordered on pain, loud enough that she could hear it echo in her ears. Yet Amelia did not respond. Lillia shouted louder, pulling harder as the force around her body intensified. It tightened around her legs, her arms, her hair, her back, each pull growing stronger than the last. But even as her body began to lift from the ground, she did not let go of Amelia. “Amelia—wake up!” Tears streamed down her face, but her gaze had sharpened wildly and resolute, hardened by desperation as she continued to call Amelia’s name, refusing to yield, refusing to lose her grip. Death had always lingered at her door, tracking her like a bloodhound by scent alone. Yet still, she wanted to live. She wanted peace. Happiness. A life untouched by this fate. But fate had not been kind. Lillia’s hands began to slip. But she caught Amelia’s dress just in time, her nails tearing and bleeding from the strain of holding on. Amelia needed her. She had stepped through that door for one purpose—to save, not to die. So she would not die. Lillia echoed in her mind. Not today. Then something stronger coiled suddenly around her neck, tightening painfully as her voice escaped in a strained sound. “Ame… Lia—please—” Before Lillia could react, a violent force wrenched her away, dragging her into the darkness. Her fingers tore free of Amelia’s grasp, clutching only a ripped fragment of fabric as she was pulled farther and farther away. Lillia watched as Amelia receded into the distance, swallowed by the void, while the coldness and hostility around her deepened, pressing in from all sides. Her body was tossed and dragged as multiple unseen forces fought to claim her. The air grew thick with a foul stench, suffocating her senses as she was pulled deeper into the void, deeper toward a point of no return. But as her strength began to wane, Lillia closed her eyes, her breathing slowing to quiet as she reached inward toward Fenris. Fenris… I know you’re weak. But I know you’re still here. If you would give your last strength to save me, then I will give mine to save her. And if we perish… then we perish together. I cannot exist in a world without you, because you are part of me as I am part of you. Without you, something in me is lost forever. I am nothing without you. For a breathless moment there was nothing but coldness. Then—warmth flickered, then surged deep within, enveloping her as Fenris stirred. A faint whimper echoed in her mind, followed by a quiet voice. “Then… let us kick death in the teeth one last time.” —To be continued. >>>click to read<<<