Chapter 28: Mersa.
IT DIDN’T EVEN look like Anoka’s chest was rising and falling anymore. Smudges of ash no longer puffed from her ears or leaked from her eyes. There was only thick grime around her mouth.
Sitting next to his niece, Render lit the tip of his finger on fire and placed the flame on Anoka’s lips. She took it in, but there was no smoke or billows of black ash.
As Render sat in the forgotten mersa room, he pondered how much he missed the days when she would get excited and black ash would go everywhere. He would give anything to go back to that.
Creating a flame in his palm, Render gathered it to his fingertips and set it on her lips once more. She took it in, but he felt like he was barely keeping her alive. This was going to be the end, but he fought her death. And fighting the enviable took everything he had in him.