The Fire and the Sky (Book 3 of the... - Chapter 47: Chapter 47

This time, when Em pushed back, May was in no state to resist her. She wasn't even in the right state to comprehend what she had just witnessed. A sound like a high ringing bell filled her ears, muffling the sound of Em's wailing. The world moved so slowly.
May tore her eyes from Welkin to look at Sita. The Star had turned when Em screamed and watched as she sprinted from the grass without so much as a flicker of emotion.
Get up, May willed herself. Get up and do something.
Despite the shaking in her knees, the act of getting to her feet seemed to wake May up. The world and all its sounds and sensations came roaring back to her, and with it, a searing firebomb of rage that detonated in her stomach and exploded outwards.
"What did you do?" she screamed, launching herself in bounding steps toward Sita. She wasn't sure what she was going to do when she reached them—rational thinking didn't seem within her grasp at that moment—but it didn't matter. When only a few remaining strides separated them, Sita made a small flicking motion with their fingers and May's legs seized mid-step. She flailed her arms and fought against her invisible tether but nothing helped.
"I came to exact the will of our Council," Sita said with a softness that may have belied pity. "Welkin understood the conditions of their exile and knowingly disobeyed them. They accepted the consequences of their actions."
May looked down to where Em had collapsed at Welkin's side. Em had rolled the fallen Star onto their back and was cradling their head in her lap, calling for them but receiving no answer. Welkin's eyes were open, staring hauntingly up into the overcast night sky; the brilliant gold was gone, replaced by something that resembled dark, murky wells. Em sobbed and May's heart broke.
There was no question: Welkin was dead.
"Fuck you!" May screamed. She hinged forward and snatched a field stone that laid at her feet. With a wild swing she threw the rock at Sita. Her aim was good enough that the Star was forced to step out of the way. "All they ever did was love. Did they really deserve to die for that?"
"Welkin interfered with the fabric of this world, knowing full well such meddling would disrupt the Plan. It is forbidden among our kind and so, yes, they earned their punishment."
"Give me a break." May reached for another stone, only to have her arms freeze too. "If that's your standard, then your entire Council in complicit. How dare any of you act like interfering is against the rules when your stupid wishing star has literally ruined lives. Something you created screwed up your almighty Plan more than Welkin ever did, but I don't see you doing anything about that!"
For the first time, Sita bristled. "Because to do something would be to interfere. What part of this don't you understand?"
May rolled her eyes, one of the only defiant actions she had left at her disposal. "Right. Because asking your followers to do your dirty work for you is in no way interfering. I mean, you only inadvertently started a war, but what do I know, right?"
From her place at Welkin's side, Em lifted her head. "May, stop. Please, just let it go."
"I will not stop," May snapped. "They need to hear this. If they're so concerned about their precious Plan getting messed up, maybe they should actually do something about it." She turned a fierce gaze to Sita, locking their golden eyes with hers. "If you won't do something, I will. And I'm not stopping until this is over. Take that back to your fucking Council."
Her words were like fire and Sita was scalded. The Star shrank back from May and her vitriol, slinking further into the shadows. Their form began to glow, stardust whipping around them like a swirling nebula. With another quick flick of their hand, May's body came free. But before she could act, Sita collapsed into a flash of light, and with a firework-like whistle, retreated into the sky.
For good measure, and to give her rage somewhere to go, May stooped to grab the second stone and hurled it after the Star. She screamed, a primal, wordless riot, and came back to the moment panting and exhausted. When she turned her attention back to Em, she found her hunched over Welkin's body. Though still sobbing, Em hovered her open palms over them. Her brows were furrowed with concentration and effort.
"What are you doing?" May said, rushing to her.
Em didn't answer. She kept her gaze locked on Welkin, her diamond eyes focusing somewhere through them rather than on them. As May held her breath, Welkin's body took on a dim blue glow. Slowly, that light wisped upward like smoke and came to join a churning, restless mass forming between Em's hands. When the last traces of light had been siphoned from Welkin's body, Em sank back with a shaky exhale. Sweat shimmered across her forehead and down her neck, her hair damp with it. Trembling, she looked up at May.
"This was all I could get," she said, her voice breaking. "This is all that's left of them."
May inhaled sharply. Now she understood: Em was trying to contain what remained of Welkin's life force, just like Welkin had once done for her.
"What do we do now?" May asked. She eyed the glowing nebula suspended between Em's hands with a mixture of fear and awe.
"I don't know." Em was quaking harder now. "I need to put them somewhere. I can't hold them like this for long."
Instantly, May's mind raced to her pack. "I know just the thing."
"I don't think I can move, May. I'm not strong enough."
"That's okay, just wait here." May was already sprinting back toward the farmhouse. "I'll be right back. I'll bring help."
Arms pumping, May's feet hammered the earth as she raced down the path. She didn't even pause to unlatch the gate — instead using her arms and the adrenaline in her system to hoist herself over it like a professional athlete. By the time she reached the backyard, Connor was already outside waiting for her.
"Was that lightning?" he asked, his massive wrench raised at his side. "We thought we saw a flash."
"We need your help," May shouted as she sprinted passed him and up the back steps. She didn't pause to explain — there was no time. "Dom! Lety! Where's my pack?"
Dom poked his head in from the living room. "I put it upstairs in Em's room. Why?"
"Shit!" May's lungs were already burning, but she took the stairs two at a time. In Em's room, she found her pack waiting on the bed. She ripped it open and dumped its contents onto the mattress. Out rolled the champagne bottle Welkin had given her for safekeeping. Snatching the bottle, May turned and ran back downstairs. The others leapt out of her way, calling for her to tell them what was happening, but she couldn't stop.
Connor was still waiting for her in the yard when she burst through the back door.
"What's going on?" he demanded, still brandishing the wrench.
"Follow me," May replied. She was already out of breath and her lungs ached. "And hurry."
Together, the pair bolted toward the field. May kept a desperate grip on the bottle as she led the way. When they came to the gate, Connor hoisted her up and dropped her on the other side before she even had a chance to consider her options. Slightly stunned, she stumbled forward into the darkness.
"There," she huffed. Down the path, she could just make out Em's silhouette backlit by the muted glow of Welkin's life force suspended between her hands.
Connor paused and squinted at the scene. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust his vision to the gloom of night. "Is that—May, what happened?"
He didn't wait for an answer. In a few bounding strides he made it to Em. May watched as his face fell. Connor raked his hands through his hair and fell to his knees beside her.
"Welkin?" he said, his tone light with disbelief. "No. No, what happened to them?"
May figured the answer—and the long, terrible story that went with it— could wait. She crouched down on Em's other side and pulled the stopper from the bottle.
"Here, Emmy," she said, holding the mouth of the bottle out to Em. "Put them in here."
"Are you sure it will work?" Em asked. Her voice cracked through a throat raw from crying.
"I know it will."
While May held the bottle, Em concentrated on directing Welkin's life force inside. When she was finished, May pressed the stopper firmly into place and held it up to inspect.
"It doesn't look like enough," Em wept. She caressed the bottle's glass. The swirling nebula of stardust and shimmering light reflected back on her pale fingers. "Maybe I did it wrong. What if I—"
"Em, you did the best you could." May pressed the bottle into her hands. "You did great."
Beside them, Connor dragged a hand down his face. He exhaled, long and slow, then reached down to gather Welkin's fallen body in his arms. May had called on him because of his otherworldly strength. She knew neither she nor Em would have been able to bring Welkin back with dignity. But seeing them now, limp and lifeless in Connor's arms, they looked so small. It was only then that the weight of what happened truly settled on her, and she buried her face in her hands to hide her grief.
They walked back in a silent procession, accompanied only by the wind and punctuated by the sound of their weeping. At the gate, Fargus waited. He cocked his head and let out a low rattle. When May paused to open the latch, she stole a moment to run the back of her finger down the raven's downy chest.
"Can I ask a favor?" she whispered. Fargus answered with another rattle. "I need you to get Emandi. Bring them here. We need their help."
Again Fargus tilted his head. He trained his eye on Welkin and considered them for a moment. Then, with a caw of acknowledgment, the corvid unfurled his dark wings and lifted off into the night.
Once on the other side of the gate, May could see the others gathered in the backyard, bathed in the warm yellow light streaming through the kitchen window. They stood tense and at the ready, as if they anticipated a fight.
But when Em stepped into view, followed by Connor and his precious cargo, their demeanor changed instantly. Disbelief and sorrow swept the yard like a plague, because they didn't need to ask: they just knew.