Last Shadow || Deception Book III

Chapter 16

A/N: Okay guys, so you know how I'm going to China next month? Well, I realized that it'd probably be physically impossible for me to actually publish (both because of technology and because of time) so this will be the last update until I get back, which will be early August. So basically, we're going on a 1.5 month hiatus. I'll see you guys in early August :)) I hope everyone enjoys their summer break, and if you're not on summer break, well, I hope you enjoy your summer. 

Thanks everyone for reading and supporting by voting and commenting, and see you guys soon. Love you <33

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Clarianna 

The huge ebony doors closed with a hollow thud and I sank to the floor, trying to not curl into a ball and cry away my sorrows. The emptiness of the hallway echoed through my bones and into the fabric of my soul, leaving behind nothing but an empty husk of my heart.

Luke was gone, and the cold wind blowing across the obsidian floors shimmered with it, reeked of it, leaving me bereft and alone with my aching pain. He was gone, and the glistening black walls that arched around me were reverberating with the coldness of the world. He was gone, and with him, my spirit.

For a long time, I sat there in silence, my tears falling silently to the floor as wave after wave of numbing pain swept through me. I was never going to see Luke again. I was never going to see his soft smile or lose myself in his depthless blue eyes. Never hear his laughter, which was more sweet than the melody of Apollo's lyre to my ears. Memory after memory flashed through my mind like a video, each one more cruel and painful than the last. The first smile he'd given me when we'd first met. That day he'd tossed me into the lake and his smile which had belied his mock irritation when I'd pulled him, laughing, in with me. My head on his shoulder every time as we watched the stars, the fireworks, the beautiful vastness of the sky. A fresh sob ripped its way out of my throat as I remembered that night in Costa Rica when he'd looked at me like I was the only person in the world and asked me to dance with him, our feet flying across the sand to our own rhythm as the music wrapped around us gently. The heart-wrenchingly tender caress of his hand as the two of us had danced our sorrows away under the bright lights of a thousand sparkling stars.

Luke had been the person to lead me on this path, and had brought me into a whole different world. He was my link to the world, my safety, my friend, my love, my home, and now he was gone and there was nothing I could do to bring him back. And I missed him so, so much.

It hurt, I wanted to say as I sat there, numb, on the cold floor of Othrys. It hurts so much. I wanted to scream, to cry, to rage my pain to the world, yet all I could do was sit there, numb and aching and hollow. My tears had dried, the salt staining my cheeks, and I knew I had nothing left to give. I wanted this to end.

Hours passed. Or maybe it was minutes. I didn't bother checking, but slowly, dimly, I registered a faint shaft of sunlight on the smooth black floors leading into the courtyard. Light, where no light reached. I stared at it numbly, watching it slowly creep across the hallway with the sunrise until it was close enough for me to touch. Blankly, I lifted my hand to the sunshine. I didn't know what I was thinking, or what compelled me to stretch my hand towards it. Maybe it was the aching darkness of the hall and the never ending night that haunted me. Maybe it was something else. Regardless, I slowly stretched my fingers to the light.

Soft, gentle warmth touched my fingers and I gasped as that warmth spread through my veins, driving away the chill that had settled in my heart when Luke had left. Slowly, I blinked, the grief clouding my thoughts fading away like fog under the morning sun.