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This would be my life

I think of the pile of stones we had to leave behind in theofinto her frozen hair, telling her over and over again that I aive oddess of Death, if we all do, then perhaps, just perhaps, she will return ain; perhaps ill all walk out of here The possibility is fleeting, but it is there and it sends a shudder of wild hope throughI can fix what I have broken between us

And I can save myself

Slowly, I rise to h The whispers inat ! they screa at you--your ene stake? This is life without power

I stand firht No, that is not my life without power My life without poill be one of walking through a croithout darkness tugging atworld, s on the back of a horse with Magiano as we crest anotherfor adventure It will be a life without these whispers in host

It will be a life

I look at Moritas Then I reach deep within rasp the threads that have entwined themselves around my heart since I was a child I pull them away And I relinquish them

The whispers shriek

At the same tiiano offering his power ofhis connection; I see Lucent returning her ht to the Underworld

The world around round I suck inwrenched away fro They scream in my ears, their pain my own I curl in on one The whispers that have hauntedEvery word, every hiss, every claw Every tendril of darkness that wrapped itself in the corners of rief and joy, fillson the other end No threads to grasp I aods’ voices echoing hers Return to thehere

I clutch oing home

Then I see, across the shattered reure of my sister Violetta She is still encased in her opalescent tomb, her face peaceful in death, her arms folded across her chest She hovers there before me I reach out for her I look for her to stir back to life

But Violetta does not wake My eagerness wavers In this overwhel silence, I wait desperately for her to open her eyes