The Crystal Guardians

UNRELEASED PART 2

Chapter: Another Embrace

Date: December 2018

uh so this ones a major spoiler but it happens maybe 3 or 4 chapters after The Discovery. very short,  not very polished, but still a draft i found. It's kind of meant to mirror the first The Embrace chapter, except this time the roles are reversed. In that chapter, Ever's preparing for her first mission in The Trials and its a bit of a turning point for Hawk and Ever's growing affection. This time, it's almost her downfall as sorts and when the world comes crashing down, who's there? You'll find out :)

I fell to my knees and surrendered. A barrier had opened, one that couldn't be closed. 

Ever.  

I cried tears of grief. 

I cried tears of sorrow. 

I cried tears  of angry. Pure, fiery anger, just like the wreckage which burnt around me.

I bled the melancholy that seeped through her wounds, my hands pressing down firmly, trying to stop the flow of blood. But just as it seeped through my fingers, so did she, her soul slipping away in the fog of the cool midnight air. 

There was nothing left for me to say or do, except to cry. I howled into the darkness of the night until I allowed it to engulf me in its void. It was now,  only anger I felt. It burnt my insides and churned like black bile at the back of my throat. 

I held her closer and tighter than I ever had before. Who knew blood held such a strong smell as I rocked her  back and forth, just as I used to as a kid. 

Before dad.

Before the trials.

Before this very moment as she died in my arms. 

The world had turned to a smoke and ash filled hell. I was spluttering in the wreckage when I finally decided to get up. It hurt, each step I took felt like a thousand knives stabbing through my body, but I wasn't going to let the both of us die in here. 

I won't let us die- I won't let us die-  I won't let us die 

A deafening rush drums through my ears and I squeeze my eyes shut, expecting the crashing roof to fall in and crush us. Except it leaves just as soon as it arrived, and when I dared to take a peek, the fire had stopped. 

There were no fire trucks other than the sirens in the distance. There wasn't even any evidence that the fire had been put out. It was just us, huddled on what used to be the lush, front lawn of my  home. 

"Ever..." the voice trails off, but I can't turn to face it. It's so familiar and I'm suddenly bathed in a comforting warmth. "Ever." He repeats himself, this time with less concern. His voice is softer and huskier with his breathe tickling the back of my neck. I realise how close he'd come to me and crumple into his sturdy arms. 

Robin wraps them tightly around us, leaving a small kiss on my forehead. The flashing lights of blue and red are blinding and people begin to step out the vehicles. Neighbours crowd the streets, trying to see what the cause of this commotion could be.

Nothing registers but Robin's warm and comforting embrace.