p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" strong Blood and Dreams/strong/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="left"emspan style="mso-tab-count: 1;"Events occurring during the Assassin and the Empire./span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left" His lungs felt as if they were on fire. Sam wheezed a breath, sending pain screaming through his chest. His head was pounding as he fought to wake up, memory crashing through his mind. He remembered the smoke first, probably due to the musky scent that clung to his very skin. He remembered it thick and swirling, filling his nose and mouth, robbing him of control of his muscles. Next came the masks. He remembered how strange he found them, with their curled cloth mouthpiece./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThen he remembered Farran./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm afraid I must apologize; I cannot spend as much time with you as I'd have liked. I'm afraid we're on borrowed time."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSam struggled to open his eyes, the effects of the foul smoke still paralyzing his body. Farran was leaned against the opposite wall, a wide grin plastered across his face. Sam was laying on a hard, wooden table, his arms and legs strapped down with thick leather shackles./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I know, I know," Farran whispered, slithering off the wall towards Sam, his dark hair hanging over his eyes, "You're still feeling the affects of the Gloriella. Those restraints are for much later when it wears off. I don't want to interrupt our time together once I get started. We're going to have a wonderful night."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSam had seen a single victim of Rourke Farran. The girl couldn't have been older than 15. She was one of the lost girls who struggled to make a living on the streets with her body. Farran had taken his time with her. She wasn't recognizable as human, her skin peeled back from her face, her body ravaged with every method imaginable./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSam's mind blanked with terror. He was conscious of Farran continuing to talk, his vile voice clearly enthralled with the talk of torture and ruin he was about to instill, but Sam didn't hear a single word. He closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind and calm down. He couldn't stop thinking of the ruined span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanbody, the shattered limbs, and the scorched flesh. He tried to think of Celaena. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious. It could be hours until she even thought to search for him./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHe decided he didn't want her to search for him. He didn't want her to risk ending up in his position. She wouldn't arrive in time to save him from this fate, and he didn't want her last memory of him to be of his body broken to something unrecognizable./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanA shock of pain. Sam felt a finger break. The searing pain of Farran slowly twisting the joint until the shattered bone ripped free from his skin. He stifled the scream in his throat, his eyes flashing open as pain radiated up his arm./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"From one of Arobyn's lackeys, I expected a more from you," Farran chuckled, his dark eyes gleaming, "you really made it too easy. Pathetic."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAt that last word, Farran snapped another of Sam's fingers./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"To think you were lured so easily," Farran twisted until his bones were shredding his flesh, "you ran yourself straight into my trap. I can't imagine being so stupid over some girl."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFarran methodically snapped the rest of the fingers on his left hand, with blood seeping down the exposed bones. Drip. Drip. Drip./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"She had better be a hell of a fuck," his torturer sneered, "though I imagine I can find out for myself soon enough."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRage replaced fear. His body jerked as his mind fought against the smoke, strength returning to his limbs. It took everything in him to raise his head just the slightest, staring Farran in the eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Don't you fucking touch her."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFarran stood still for a few seconds, staring at Sam in disbelief. And then he started to laugh, "I'm afraid I must, the bargain was for the both of you, not for just one."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHe strode over to the other side of the table, reaching down to grab Sam's right hand. Sam's thoughts were racing so fast, he hardly felt the snap of his thumb. A bargain for the both of them? Who would enter a deal with Rouke fucking Farran for Sam and Celaena's head?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanArobyn. Sam thought the bastard would have been above bargaining with Farran. He thought he loved Celaena, in his strange way. But Arobyn was a narcissistic psychopath. Sam had taken his belongings, had stolen Celaena right from beneath his talons./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm glad to see the Gloriella has begun to wear off," Farran interrupted his thoughts, twisting his thumb so viciously it was nearly torn from his hand, "I much prefer it when they scream."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSam told himself he wasn't going to scream. Wasn't going to give the bastard the satisfaction. He managed to stay silent through the shattering of the rest of his fingers. Of the crushing of his hands and wrists. He whimpered a little when a mallet smashed through his knees and feet. He was groaning when Farran drew his knife across his skin, when he twisted the blade through to the bone./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe first time he screamed, was when Farran replaced that knife with red hot metal./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHis scream rattled through the room with the smell of sizzling flesh. The pain was so blinding Sam forgot to breath. Forgot how to think. Every nerve was screeching with agony, his back arching off the table involuntarily. The sound of Farran cackling brought him back to earth, along with the removal of the searing hot metal./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"There we go boy, that's what I wanted to hear!" Farran clapped a hand onto his shattered legs, loosing another scream from Sam./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"As much fun as you are, I cannot wait to get that blonde bitch on my table," he sneered, "I can have more than one kind of fun with her, if you get what I'm saying."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCelaena. Sam tried to ignore the rest of the filth that was pouring from Farran's mouth. The only time his mind was clear of the fear and pain was when he thought of Celaena. When he felt the cut of the knife through the skin of his abdomen, he tried to focus on the golden colour of her hair that shone in the sunlight. He remembered how pretty it looked when she wore it down around her shoulders, the way if flowed with the wind, carrying the scent of the jasmine soap that she loved so much. When the burning of the metal came, he focused on how soft hair felt in his hands and on his face while he kissed her. He remembered the hours he spent running his fingers through it, stroking it off her face and across their pillows./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFarran had moved on, satisfied with the ruination that was his torso. He set himself to removing the skin from Sam's legs. The agony rocked through his body; Sam threw his head back as the groan escaped through his lips. He squeezed his eyes shut and screamed as Farran peeled the skin away from his flesh like he was peeling an orange. Blood was pooling under his body, congealing in his hair and ears./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He struggled to bring his thoughts back to Celaena./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He remembered the first time he truly saw her eyes. They were sparring years ago, and he was struck dumb by the beauty of them. She of course had used it as an opportunity to lay him flat on his arse. The brilliance of the turquoise contrasted beautifully with the shine of the golden rings around her pupils. He was forever distracted by them. He couldn't imagine his luck when he was sent with Celaena to Pirate's Bay, when he spent weeks in her electric presence, those spectacular eyes piercing him at all hours of the day. He remembered the panic that had choked him when he saw those eyes flashing with such pure terror locked in that flooding sewer. He remembered thinking that would be the last time he saw those eyes when she begged him to take her body back to Terrasen. He remembered how relieved he was, when she finally opened them once more, vomiting half the sewer onto the cobblestone. He hadn't minded the mess that covered him as he carried her prone body back to the keep, he'd enjoyed the gentle heat of her body and the comforting feeling of her breath on his neck./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"Agony. Farran was burning him once more, this time pouring boiling oil over his skinned legs. The scream that was loosed from his throat ripped his vocal cords, the sound rough and animalistic./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Music to my ears," Farran crowed, leaning down to Sam's face as he struggled to reign in the sound, squeezing his lips together in desperation as his breathing raced, keeping pace with his pounding heart./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Now don't be doing that, son," Farran growled, scraping the tip of his knife across Sam's lips and cheeks, "you let that scream loose."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSam tilted his head back, his eyes focusing on the window behind him that revealed the night sky and twinkling stars. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon, the sky stained with blues and purple, pinks and yellows, the beauty startling him away from the pain arching across his body. Celaena had always loved the night sky. He couldn't count the number of times he found her on the roof of the warehouse, staring up at the glittering stars. He imagined her, peering up at the same stars, this time on the back of the Asterion horse she had sold to buy his freedom. He saw her stretching her arms up to the sky, her hair streaming behind her as she sped towards that sunrise./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAs Farran slid his knife into Sam's mouth, slicing the flesh up towards his ears, Sam imagined her home. He imagined her at the peaks of the mountains of Terrasen. Knowing her she'd climb them until the air was thin and freezing, just so she could brag that she'd done so. He imagined her tilting that gorgeous face to the sky and gazing at the stars as Farran made an identical slash on the other side of his face. Blood seeped down his face and throat as he pictured his girl free and happy. He pictured her living the life she deserved, travelling wherever she wished and finding every corner of the sky that she loved so desperately./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He was struck with a stark sadness that he wouldn't be there with her. He yearned for the feeling of her at his side, of her soft curves and sweet lips. He wished desperately that she wouldn't try to find him. That she'd take their bags and escape into the world they had only dreamed of./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He wondered if she was staring up at the same stars as he was. If she was on that roof, the wind softly ruffling her hair as she dreamed of their future./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He stared at those stars until Farran ripped the eyes from his head. And then he imagined them. He imagined her. He wondered if she knew. If she knew that he gazed upon her face with the same longing and intensity that she gazed at the stars. He wondered if she knew how desperately he loved her. He wondered if she knew that the very thought of her was all he needed to push past the agony that was being inflicted upon his poor body. When he thought of her, all fear and pain was driven away./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He'd go into Death's waiting embrace without fear./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"Because he was Sam Cortland. And he was not afraid./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="left"emspan style="mso-tab-count: 1;"Events occurring during the Assassin and the Empire./span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left" His lungs felt as if they were on fire. Sam wheezed a breath, sending pain screaming through his chest. His head was pounding as he fought to wake up, memory crashing through his mind. He remembered the smoke first, probably due to the musky scent that clung to his very skin. He remembered it thick and swirling, filling his nose and mouth, robbing him of control of his muscles. Next came the masks. He remembered how strange he found them, with their curled cloth mouthpiece./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThen he remembered Farran./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm afraid I must apologize; I cannot spend as much time with you as I'd have liked. I'm afraid we're on borrowed time."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSam struggled to open his eyes, the effects of the foul smoke still paralyzing his body. Farran was leaned against the opposite wall, a wide grin plastered across his face. Sam was laying on a hard, wooden table, his arms and legs strapped down with thick leather shackles./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I know, I know," Farran whispered, slithering off the wall towards Sam, his dark hair hanging over his eyes, "You're still feeling the affects of the Gloriella. Those restraints are for much later when it wears off. I don't want to interrupt our time together once I get started. We're going to have a wonderful night."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSam had seen a single victim of Rourke Farran. The girl couldn't have been older than 15. She was one of the lost girls who struggled to make a living on the streets with her body. Farran had taken his time with her. She wasn't recognizable as human, her skin peeled back from her face, her body ravaged with every method imaginable./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSam's mind blanked with terror. He was conscious of Farran continuing to talk, his vile voice clearly enthralled with the talk of torture and ruin he was about to instill, but Sam didn't hear a single word. He closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind and calm down. He couldn't stop thinking of the ruined span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanbody, the shattered limbs, and the scorched flesh. He tried to think of Celaena. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious. It could be hours until she even thought to search for him./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHe decided he didn't want her to search for him. He didn't want her to risk ending up in his position. She wouldn't arrive in time to save him from this fate, and he didn't want her last memory of him to be of his body broken to something unrecognizable./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanA shock of pain. Sam felt a finger break. The searing pain of Farran slowly twisting the joint until the shattered bone ripped free from his skin. He stifled the scream in his throat, his eyes flashing open as pain radiated up his arm./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"From one of Arobyn's lackeys, I expected a more from you," Farran chuckled, his dark eyes gleaming, "you really made it too easy. Pathetic."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAt that last word, Farran snapped another of Sam's fingers./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"To think you were lured so easily," Farran twisted until his bones were shredding his flesh, "you ran yourself straight into my trap. I can't imagine being so stupid over some girl."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFarran methodically snapped the rest of the fingers on his left hand, with blood seeping down the exposed bones. Drip. Drip. Drip./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"She had better be a hell of a fuck," his torturer sneered, "though I imagine I can find out for myself soon enough."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRage replaced fear. His body jerked as his mind fought against the smoke, strength returning to his limbs. It took everything in him to raise his head just the slightest, staring Farran in the eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Don't you fucking touch her."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFarran stood still for a few seconds, staring at Sam in disbelief. And then he started to laugh, "I'm afraid I must, the bargain was for the both of you, not for just one."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHe strode over to the other side of the table, reaching down to grab Sam's right hand. Sam's thoughts were racing so fast, he hardly felt the snap of his thumb. A bargain for the both of them? Who would enter a deal with Rouke fucking Farran for Sam and Celaena's head?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanArobyn. Sam thought the bastard would have been above bargaining with Farran. He thought he loved Celaena, in his strange way. But Arobyn was a narcissistic psychopath. Sam had taken his belongings, had stolen Celaena right from beneath his talons./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm glad to see the Gloriella has begun to wear off," Farran interrupted his thoughts, twisting his thumb so viciously it was nearly torn from his hand, "I much prefer it when they scream."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSam told himself he wasn't going to scream. Wasn't going to give the bastard the satisfaction. He managed to stay silent through the shattering of the rest of his fingers. Of the crushing of his hands and wrists. He whimpered a little when a mallet smashed through his knees and feet. He was groaning when Farran drew his knife across his skin, when he twisted the blade through to the bone./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe first time he screamed, was when Farran replaced that knife with red hot metal./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHis scream rattled through the room with the smell of sizzling flesh. The pain was so blinding Sam forgot to breath. Forgot how to think. Every nerve was screeching with agony, his back arching off the table involuntarily. The sound of Farran cackling brought him back to earth, along with the removal of the searing hot metal./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"There we go boy, that's what I wanted to hear!" Farran clapped a hand onto his shattered legs, loosing another scream from Sam./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"As much fun as you are, I cannot wait to get that blonde bitch on my table," he sneered, "I can have more than one kind of fun with her, if you get what I'm saying."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCelaena. Sam tried to ignore the rest of the filth that was pouring from Farran's mouth. The only time his mind was clear of the fear and pain was when he thought of Celaena. When he felt the cut of the knife through the skin of his abdomen, he tried to focus on the golden colour of her hair that shone in the sunlight. He remembered how pretty it looked when she wore it down around her shoulders, the way if flowed with the wind, carrying the scent of the jasmine soap that she loved so much. When the burning of the metal came, he focused on how soft hair felt in his hands and on his face while he kissed her. He remembered the hours he spent running his fingers through it, stroking it off her face and across their pillows./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFarran had moved on, satisfied with the ruination that was his torso. He set himself to removing the skin from Sam's legs. The agony rocked through his body; Sam threw his head back as the groan escaped through his lips. He squeezed his eyes shut and screamed as Farran peeled the skin away from his flesh like he was peeling an orange. Blood was pooling under his body, congealing in his hair and ears./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He struggled to bring his thoughts back to Celaena./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He remembered the first time he truly saw her eyes. They were sparring years ago, and he was struck dumb by the beauty of them. She of course had used it as an opportunity to lay him flat on his arse. The brilliance of the turquoise contrasted beautifully with the shine of the golden rings around her pupils. He was forever distracted by them. He couldn't imagine his luck when he was sent with Celaena to Pirate's Bay, when he spent weeks in her electric presence, those spectacular eyes piercing him at all hours of the day. He remembered the panic that had choked him when he saw those eyes flashing with such pure terror locked in that flooding sewer. He remembered thinking that would be the last time he saw those eyes when she begged him to take her body back to Terrasen. He remembered how relieved he was, when she finally opened them once more, vomiting half the sewer onto the cobblestone. He hadn't minded the mess that covered him as he carried her prone body back to the keep, he'd enjoyed the gentle heat of her body and the comforting feeling of her breath on his neck./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"Agony. Farran was burning him once more, this time pouring boiling oil over his skinned legs. The scream that was loosed from his throat ripped his vocal cords, the sound rough and animalistic./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Music to my ears," Farran crowed, leaning down to Sam's face as he struggled to reign in the sound, squeezing his lips together in desperation as his breathing raced, keeping pace with his pounding heart./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Now don't be doing that, son," Farran growled, scraping the tip of his knife across Sam's lips and cheeks, "you let that scream loose."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSam tilted his head back, his eyes focusing on the window behind him that revealed the night sky and twinkling stars. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon, the sky stained with blues and purple, pinks and yellows, the beauty startling him away from the pain arching across his body. Celaena had always loved the night sky. He couldn't count the number of times he found her on the roof of the warehouse, staring up at the glittering stars. He imagined her, peering up at the same stars, this time on the back of the Asterion horse she had sold to buy his freedom. He saw her stretching her arms up to the sky, her hair streaming behind her as she sped towards that sunrise./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAs Farran slid his knife into Sam's mouth, slicing the flesh up towards his ears, Sam imagined her home. He imagined her at the peaks of the mountains of Terrasen. Knowing her she'd climb them until the air was thin and freezing, just so she could brag that she'd done so. He imagined her tilting that gorgeous face to the sky and gazing at the stars as Farran made an identical slash on the other side of his face. Blood seeped down his face and throat as he pictured his girl free and happy. He pictured her living the life she deserved, travelling wherever she wished and finding every corner of the sky that she loved so desperately./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He was struck with a stark sadness that he wouldn't be there with her. He yearned for the feeling of her at his side, of her soft curves and sweet lips. He wished desperately that she wouldn't try to find him. That she'd take their bags and escape into the world they had only dreamed of./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He wondered if she was staring up at the same stars as he was. If she was on that roof, the wind softly ruffling her hair as she dreamed of their future./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He stared at those stars until Farran ripped the eyes from his head. And then he imagined them. He imagined her. He wondered if she knew. If she knew that he gazed upon her face with the same longing and intensity that she gazed at the stars. He wondered if she knew how desperately he loved her. He wondered if she knew that the very thought of her was all he needed to push past the agony that was being inflicted upon his poor body. When he thought of her, all fear and pain was driven away./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"He'd go into Death's waiting embrace without fear./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="left"Because he was Sam Cortland. And he was not afraid./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left" /p
