CONNOR POV
I had always imagined the worst pain I could ever feel would be something physical, something my body could bleed from or shift through or fight off, something Cain and I could tear into pieces and spit out, but I learned in one single instant that nothing in this world, not claws or fangs or steel or magic, could ever match the sensation of watching the person you love choose to die in front of you, not because she wanted to leave, but because she genuinely believed it was the only way to save everyone else.
One second I was still trying to shove more water through my hands and into the guardian, trying to tear the glowing bastard apart as it kept reforming, feeling my muscles burn with the strain of pulling moisture from every corner of the cavern and forming it into blades
