Epilogue

Epilogue 3.12

     I can hardly zero in on Em in all the chaos. I feel a dull ache, like an apathetic cavity. Death has come for at least one of us. Maybe all of us. This could be the last time I see Em's face. Or Martha's.

     Or Topher's.

     I pivot. Miu momentarily seizes control and forces me to dive behind a charred bone tree. I peek around the trunk, looking for my brother. He's always protected me. We've protected each other. We've survived together.

     At least allow me to augment your capacity for focus.

     Before I can protest, Miu does her thing. All the sounds die down, like I'm submerged in a bathtub. Everything gets all slow-mo. There's Comma, picking something up off the ground. Mya, chasing after a strix who's got her katana clenched between its teeth. Crawford and Edgar, fighting back to back. Martha, dragging a hysterical Jewel and a teary-eyed Eloise away from Jun. But no sign of Topher. Where...?

     There he is. My throat clenches. A strix is ripping the skin off his back.

     I estimate that our chances of survival are—

     "About to triple. Wheel's all yours."

     I don't just submit; I offer up my soul. Let her feed off it. My life force won't sustain us for much longer anyway. If skimming a little off the top will give us a fighting chance, what difference does it make? My body becomes weightless; I swim through the air. My aura pulses each time my palms flatten against a strix, each undulation shattering their bone structures from the inside.

     My consciousness slips away, mostly as a defense mechanism. Letting the shikigami go on a rampage really takes its toll on this frail little body of mine.

     But before I go under, I take one last look at Topher. Just in case.

     But something's wrong. His eyes—they're different. A pungent scent hovers around him like a cloud of asbestos. Death. He's drenched in it. But it hasn't come for him.

     It's coming from him.

---Comma---

     I knew this day would come. The strixes glide above us in a funnel cloud formation, blotting out the sun. My mouth goes dry, and a soreness resounds deep within me. My knees tremble as a familiar feeling washes over me.

     This is goodbye. When you've been abandoned as many times as I have, it becomes second nature. Okay, so maybe I've been the one doing the abandoning lately. The point is, I can see it coming. It's like watching somebody rip a page out of your favourite book, the one your mother used to read to you every night.

     I limp over to Em. He's got the usual stupid look on his face; he can hardly catch his breath, but he's determined to keep on fighting. My fingers squeeze on my chakram. "Listen," I say, breathing in a mouthful of ash. Edgar seriously went overboard. "About that kiss. I, uh..." This is stupid. Em pretends not to have heard me. But I can't shake the feeling that I won't get another chance. "I didn't hate it," I blurt out.

     And then everything falls apart. Instinct kicks in. Next thing I know, I'm fighting my way through a blizzard of feathers and talons, hacking at anything that gets in my way. I roll to the left and two strixes crash headfirst into the ground. Rex is nearby. He snags a strix with his teeth. His proboscises elongate, puncturing the strix's brain and sucking out its cerebral fluid. Something slices against my leg.

     I drop to my knees and crawl over to Rex, my nails scraping against the ash-covered earth. Grinding my teeth together to push the pain out of my mind, I bring my chakram down on his shackles. I set him loose. That levels the playing field enough for me to turn my attention back to Em—but he's gone.