"I love you"
Those were the last words Rhys remembered saying to his mate, his love. The Cauldron was almost fixed, his - their people, almost safe.
He gave one last push, his magic beginning to sputter as he threw the last embers of his life and his soul into Feyre, hoping he heard all else he wanted to say with the power he sent to her.
Goodbye was Rhys' final thought as the Death came to claim him, impatient.
Rhys awoke, blackness surrounding him, a darkness darker than anything he could create, darker than the cave of the Bone Carver with no candles.
Rhys knew where it was, it was exactly how his mate described death. Knowing that everyone was safe, Rhys felt calm, knowing he'd finally given enough for those that matter to him, finally feeling as though he deserved the peace he wished for.
He felt that tug, toward something he didn't know, didn't understand. He moved toward it, an odd fascination making his choice.
Before he could make it to that soothing entity, Rhys felt a tug in his soul. A tug all too familiar, as he finally realized what he would leave behind. The mating bond.
He followed the tug until he could see the world through his mate, just as she had described the experience. It felt like swimming toward the surface of a viscous pool. Death wanted his company and he knew it, knew if Feyre or someone couldn't find a way to bring him back, Death would not wait long before dragging Rhys to the Other World kicking and screaming.
Rhys opened his eyes, Feyre's eyes really, and heard, and saw everything. And it broke his heard and rebuilt his love stronger for his mate.
He heard her screaming, felt her rage even if their souls no longer had a physical bond. He felt the anguish, anger, and desperation in his mates scream that could cleave the heavens in two.
He saw Mor try to comfort her only to be met with an icy sound that could be compared to that of a scream and growl mixed together. Cassian grabbed Mors hand, reluctantly pulling her away, giving her a leave her be for right now look.
Rhys couldn't watch any more of this. He went back down into the shadows, knowing there would be no way to save his body after what happened to him, his very essence vacuumed from his body by the Cauldron.
But something made him stay, a tug on his soul so strong he couldn't do anything but watch as his mate demanded the other High Lord's give him their power in some hope it would do something. He saw her learn how to do the same, and watched as her power went into his body.
Rhys heard Feyre beg Tamlin to give his power, willing to give anything. Rhys wanted nothing more than to scream no, yell to Feyre he wasn't worth the "anything" she was willing to give him. But Tamlin did not ask for anything, he muttered something even Rhys could not hear, and gave him the kernel of power from the Spring Court.
He heard her then, every thing she said describing when she first met him, how he made her feel, how she believed he saved her. Rhys watched as the image faded, knowing he was returning to his own body, so he listened, and he heard, and he knew that the love he though was only from him, was always reciprocated, just never acknowledged.
That's when he saw her, he saw Amren, in her, other form. Wings on her back, glowing as fiercely as her personality, and a halo of fire atop her head.
This Amren looked toward him, and recognized Rhys somehow. He reached out a hand in silent offering, and she looked at the hand for a moment, confusion on her face, but she took it nonetheless. Then the Amren he'd known came back. The child sized, fiery tempered woman he'd leaned to see as a sister, was back. Somehow. She noted his confusion and shrugged, as though he'd understand it later.
Rhys smiled, and Amren smiled back, tears in her eyes as she realized she would not yet have to leave her family behind. They would not have to leave their family behind just yet.
Blinding light greeted him as he awoke. He felt the weight of his mate on his chest, a reassuring presence. He looked around to all the worried faces and placed a hand on his Feyre's shoulder. "If we're all here, either things went very, very wrong or very right" he managed to say with no small amount of effort.
He'd lived, he was alive with his mate, and he was happy she decided not to let him go, to force him to stay with that bond even as death grabbed his shoulder to drag him back.
After a moment Rhys remembered the other person he'd dragged back with him. "Someone fish our dear Amren before she catches a cold" he said, pointing at the Cauldron.
Still holding on to Rhys, Feyre asked how. He gave a brief explanation and held her close to his chest as his mate looked at Amren, and just Amren, not an Other. Rhys saw the poor waterlogged woman across the outcropping smile at him with knowing in her eyes, then at the woman attached to me with a smile that he'd never seen in the hundreds of years he'd known his second.
A/N: I know it was pretty short, but I figured most of you would have already read it and didn't want a full recap of what happened during the book. Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you in my next work! - Fire and Iron Teeth