Chapter 136: The Stars?

Astrid Vale

"We have to move," Eliza shouted from somewhere near the portal. "It won’t hold much longer!"

I didn’t move. Liora’s blood soaked warm and slick against my hands, her breathing shallow and uneven, and I couldn’t make myself leave her lying there on that cold stone floor.

"Astrid, please," Ivy said beside me, her own voice cracking with exhaustion. "We have to go."

"I’m not leaving her," I said, my voice breaking apart as I said it. Tears blurred my vision, dropping onto Liora’s pale face where I cradled her.

Then Reed was there, and Xander right beside him, both of them skidding to a stop the moment they saw me.

"Astrid." Xander’s voice cracked with something raw, relief and horror tangled together as he took in the blood, the exhaustion, everything written across my body.

"We found you," Reed said, his hand reaching for my shoulder like he needed to confirm I was actually solid, actually real.

"She’s hurt," I said, gesturing helplessly at Liora. "I can’t leave her."

Neither of them argued. Xander crouched immediately, helping me lift her more carefully, while Reed turned toward the soldiers still pressing in from behind us, his body already shifting into something powerful and terrifying, standing between us and the danger without a word needing to pass between us.

Across the chaos, I saw Roshan standing frozen, his weapon lowered now, his face stricken with horror at what he’d done. He hadn’t meant to hit her. From where he’d stood, he’d only seen a wolf looming over me.

"Keep moving!" Eliza shouted. "We don’t have much time!"

I held Liora against my chest as we made our way toward the shimmering opening, Xander steadying me from the other side. Her eyes fluttered weakly, finding mine through the pain.

"Does it really look the way you told me?" she whispered. "The sky?"

"Yes," I choked out, tears streaming freely now. "I promise, Liora. I promise it does."

"I’m scared," she admitted, so quietly I almost missed it. "I’ve never been outside."

"You don’t have to be scared," I said, my voice shaking as badly as my hands. "I’ve got you. I’m not letting go."

The portal flickered violently as we reached it, Eliza’s face tight with strain. "Now! Go now!"

I carried Liora through first, Ivy stumbling behind me, Reed and Xander bringing up the rear, fighting off the last of the soldiers who tried to follow.

Cold air hit my face the moment we emerged, and for one disorienting second I didn’t understand what I was seeing. Then I looked up, and understood completely.

The sky stretched endlessly above us, black and vast, scattered with more stars than I’d ever properly appreciated in my life. The moon hung low and full, casting silver light over everything, and wind moved gently against my skin, carrying the smell of grass and earth and something achingly, wonderfully ordinary.

Liora’s breathing hitched, and I looked down to find her staring upward, her eyes wide, tears streaking silently down her face.

"There are so many," she whispered.

"The stars?" I asked, my own tears falling freely onto her cheek.

She gave the smallest smile I’d ever seen, soft and wondrous, completely unguarded. "They’re beautiful," she breathed.

I held her tighter, both of us crying now, hers from wonder and mine from grief already beginning to claw its way up my throat.

Her breathing grew weaker with every passing second, each breath shallower than the last. I pressed my forehead against hers, sobbing openly now, unable to stop myself.

"Stay with me," I begged. "Please, Liora, stay with me."

Her eyes stayed fixed on the sky above us, that same soft wonder never leaving her face even as her body grew still and quiet in my arms.

She didn’t answer.

I felt the exact moment she was gone, some fundamental stillness settling over her that hadn’t been there a second before, and I broke completely, a scream tearing out of my throat that had nothing left to hold it back. My mother’s face flashed behind my eyes, that same helpless grief, that same powerlessness watching someone I loved slip away while I could do absolutely nothing to stop it.

But this time was different. This time, I’d been able to give her something. I’d shown her the sky she’d spent her entire life dreaming about, and she’d died looking up at it, smiling, grateful, at peace in a way I doubted anyone in Elaris had ever been allowed to feel.

"Astrid," Eliza called, her voice tight with urgency. "The portal—"

I looked back, and through the shrinking opening, I caught sight of Dr Audrey standing frozen on the other side, his face contorted with horror as he watched everything unfold.

"NO!" he screamed, his voice barely reaching us before the portal collapsed entirely, the shimmering light folding in on itself and vanishing completely, sealing Elaris away from us once and for all.

The silence that followed felt enormous, broken only by my own ragged sobbing, Liora’s body still cradled against my chest, her face turned up toward the sky she’d only gotten to see for a handful of seconds.

I didn’t want to let her go, even now, even with her gone. Some part of me still wanted to believe she could hear me.

Ivy sank down beside me, her hand finding my shoulder. Reed knelt on my other side, his hand pressing gently against my back, and Xander crouched in front of me, his own eyes wet, watching me fall apart with an expression I couldn’t fully read.

I felt my body finally give out, everything I’d been holding together for days collapsing at once, exhaustion and grief and relief tangling into something I no longer had the strength to fight.

The last thing I felt, before the darkness took me completely, was Reed’s arms catching me, Xander’s hand closing tight around mine, both of them holding on like they’d never intended to let go again.