Darkness. Complete. Absolute.
The flame was gone. My hope consumed. The Snark's dying-star eyes the only light in an ocean of void.
I felt myself fading. Becoming hollow. Becoming Husk.
The emptiness was already spreading through me, cold and numbing. Making everything distant. Making surrender feel inevitable. Making the pain stop by making everything stop.
This was what the Husks had promised. Peace through emptiness. Relief through giving up.
And they'd been right. It didn't hurt anymore. Didn't ache. Didn't bleed.
I just felt nothing.
Then I felt movement. Astro, shifting in my arms despite the black fire consuming him. Despite being more dead than alive. Despite every logical reason to stay still and let the end come peacefully.
"No." His voice came stronger than it should have been. Fueled by something beyond his dying body. Beyond reason. Beyond survival instinct. "Not. Her. Not. Like this."
