From the Ashes

Chapter 20

"Jaina!" Cries a voice from far away. "Jaina, you have to wake up!"

Someone jerks my shoulder back and forth. My eyes open with a start, and I see Dragon standing over me. I haven't taken a breath since the darkness closed in. I try to breathe, but it's useless. As my surroundings begin to make sense again, I feel something warm curled tightly around my arms and my throat. Much too tightly.

The flower. The pain. The Trials. It all comes back in a flash.

Xana shakes me again, trying to keep me awake. She pulls at the coils around my neck and holds the vine open for a few seconds, allowing room for me to suck in a few breaths of precious air. The flower tightens its grip around my throat, stopping my breath once more. Blood pulses through me so hard I think I might explode.

"Hold on, Jaina," Dragon pleads. "You have to hold on." He climbs over me and pulls his MED free from his holster belt.

We've won the past two Trials. We're so close to victory. I can't die now!

I'm suffocating. Consciousness starts to evade me again. This time I might not wake from it.

At least he is with me. That seems to make everything right. It's how everything started and how it shall be finished.

I remember his young, beautiful face as it was all those years ago. He was handsome, even then. I look at him again. Not too similar. But not so different from who he was.

I'm about to die, and all I can think of is him.

Dark spots cloud my vision again.

Things start to blur.

It becomes harder to think.

I feel cold. I try to free my hands and grab at my throat, but Xana and Dragon can hardly do the job themselves. The flower continues to fight back.

This is really it. I try to breathe a few more times before giving up. Nothing happens. My lungs constrict, and my head is pounding.

Just say it.

You've known the truth all along, says a voice in my head.

I close my eyes in defeat. Consciousness is fading fast. This is my last chance. And before I can let go of life, I have to say it. So I do.

I love you, Dragon.

I am, in every way, in love with him. I wish I could have told him. Now, I'll die and he'll never know.

There will be no escape from my imminent fate, and an eternity of cold.

Just as my eyes flutter closed, Dragon takes one swift motion with his dagger across my throat. The blade cuts so close to my skin I'm almost sure it'll draw blood. I pull away with my last reserve of strength. The tension around me is released.

An animal-like gasp escapes me as I take a hard breath of the sweet jungle air. I'm still alive. I can breathe, I can see.

My arms are still tied up tightly. Xana and Dragon work on freeing me. The cool, rough vines pull on my skin as they fall away. Its tight grip is suddenly gone. I bring my hands to my throat and take as many breaths as I possibly can. I never realized how thankful I should be for the ever present air around me. I'm light headed from the total lack of air and the sudden return of it.

Dragon kneels down beside me. I hold out one hand and watch it shake a little. He looks at it, then takes it in his own.

"Jaina, are-are you all right?" he stammers, frantically touching my arms, rubbing warmth back into them.