Page 186 of The Last Guardian

A piercing, searing pain struck just below my breast, stealing what little breath I had left.

Warmth spread on my skin, weakening my muscles. My vision faded…

My hands instinctively clutched at my chest, but it did nothing to stop the fire that coursed through me.

The world blurred as the ground pressed harder against my trembling body. A cold dread crept into my bones.

Brazen drew out the dagger from my flesh, wiping my blood from it on my green dress.

“Problem solved,” he said, smiling and putting the dagger back in his boot. “Come on, lads, the master is waiting for the good news.”

“What a waste,” said one of them. “We could have at least fucked her raw before killing her.”

The three men scoffed and disappeared in a crimson mist.

I whimpered in pain. A cold sensation washed up on my body as I tried to stem the flow of blood. My vision, my soul, was drifting…

Heavy footsteps echoed in my ears, making the ground tremble. But my body was letting me go⁠—

“Alyana?” my mother’s voice called. “Alyana!” she screamed as her body pressed against mine, holding me tightly, clinging to me.

But sleep… I wanted to sleep.

“No! Stay awake!” she ordered, stroking my face and my arms. “Stay awake!” she begged.

Her face blurred as hot tears fell on my skin. Her hand pressed against the wound.

“Help us!” Her scream broke into a sob. Agony trembled in her voice, making the world shake in its wake. “Help us! Please.”

She kept screaming and screaming. Shouting for anyone. Saying my name, over and over.

But nothing. No one.

A silence fell.

Her forehead pressed against mine as her tears kept falling on my face. Her cries broke in her throat.

Hearing her pain was worse than feeling my own.

“My little girl.” She rocked me in her arms gently, trying to cling to what was left of my soul. “My sweet little girl.”

I wanted to tell her I was sorry. That I should’ve listened to her. I should’ve stayed in the carriage. But my strength left me; my eyes rolled back in my head. And then⁠—

A scream shattered the silence. So deep, so violent, and full of agony. It echoed in the trees, on the ground, in the sky.

A howl resonated through the decaying world, reaching the heights of the heavens and the depths of Hells.

She cried out my name, her head falling on my blood-soaked chest. My still, motionless body.

How could I see this?

My gaze drifted, searching for where I was.

I was in the air, floating around my mother and my limp body. I was outside my body, but my mind refused to let me go from this world. Why?

Mother shook me, crying my name. Her hand clenched my dress, pressing my chest—where my heartbeat was no more.

Her palm lay flat against my heart. She shattered.