Spirits: Waking Up Alone

The Final Chapter

     Kiara stared at Hunter's body as the flame was pressed into his chest. The white fire caught onto the wound in his stomach, burning up the blood and spreading along his body. She gave Stoke a worried look, "Are you sure this will work?"

     "No," he replied, stepping back as the fire leapt higher, sending blue sparks from its white core. It blazed brighter, making Stoke shield his eyes with a hand and Kiara step back away.

    Then the fire began to diminish, shrinking and crackling, shooting out more sparks like blue shooting stars. Then the fire blazed a bold scarlet as it flared up one last time, then it faded out into a pale smoke. Hunter's body was left limp on the ground, undamaged but smoking. There was no sign of any damage on him anymore, but he wasn't moving.

    Kiara crouched hesitantly beside him, resting a hand on his forehead. She pulled back as if burned, flexing her hand, "H-he's burning hot!"

    "Give it a moment," Stoke said, brushing off the rubble from his cloak, letting the dust drift off of him to the ground, "He was pretty far gone."

    Kiara bit her lip anxiously, looking for any sign of movement. Her sister had given up so much to bring him back, she didn't know what she would do if it was all for nothing.

     Elsewhere...

     Everything had been black for so long, the light ahead was welcoming to him. He drifted forward as if levitating in the dark, nearing the light as he had been doing for as long as he could care to remember. Then the cold around him began to fade, growing pleasantly warm.

    He twitched a finger in the silence, and the movement felt odd. The warmth continued to spread, growing hotter and hotter. He fidgeted uncomfortably in the sudden blaze of heat, but as he twisted around, he saw the light. He realized with a surge of panic that he was returning back to the shadows of the unknown. He didn't want to lose the light.

     The heat faded, but not back into the icy stillness that had consumed him before. Instead, he remained warm, comfortably so. It felt almost relaxing now, as if he was only asleep.

     Then he felt something hard pressing into his back as if he was no longer suspended in nothingness but lying down on a solid surface. Then he realized he couldn't breathe.

    He opened his mouth, trying to gasp for air, but couldn't. His mouth felt horribly dry and sore, but he forced a deep breath in. It hurt, tearing at his aching throat and making the dryness worsen. But air filled his lungs, satisfying his previous panic. Then he heard something move beside him.

     He opened his eyes slowly, blinking hard in the bright light that filtered through his eyelids. Then feeling returned to the rest of him, and memories flooded his mind. Carnirus, All Hallow's Eve, the shadowbeasts, ghosts, Kiara... and his own name, Hunter.

     Hunter let out a ragged breath, moving his hand to press into the ground beneath him. He was alive.

     "Hunter!" a voice gasped, filling with joy and disbelief, and he turned his head to see Kiara kneeling beside him, sitting on her heels. He tried to sit up, but she tackled him back in a hug. He winced, but didn't have the heart to pull away from her.

   "Surprise," he said weakly, trying for a faint smile. He supposed he failed pretty miserably, but she pulled him to his feet. His knees buckled and he fell on his face, "Ow."

     "Sorry!" she gasped, helping him sit up, "Hunter, you were dead! If it wasn't for Stoke and Melody..."

     "Melody's here?" Hunter's voice was hoarse, so he swallowed hard, "And where's Stoke? Who is that dude?"