Trail of Lightning

Chapter 32

I am on fire. Blazing inferno. My skin peels from my bones, the blood in my veins boils and evaporates. I scream as I ignite.

And then water. Like the mountain rivers of the spring thaw, rushing and powerful and cool, spreading through me to wash away the scorching firestorm.

A tsunami of sound, all at once. So loud it hurts. Cacophonous. Screeching awful sound. Two hundred people shouting together.

And pain. So much pain. An agony of screaming nerves, muscles distended and bones shattered. God, I hurt. I try to curl inside myself.

An echo of sound, an urgent cry pulling me back.

Whatever you’re doing, hurry. He’s coming back!

But it’s distant. Too distant.

No, Mags, stay with me! I can save you, but you’ve got to fight! I need you to fight!

That voice. I know it. It is kind. And when it speaks, it makes me want to fight. I want to. I do.

But I can’t do as the voice says. I was so stubborn. I already fought. And I lost.

And now my heart won’t work.

Because it’s broken.