The Tenth Throne of Fire

by Adimega10

"Do you think it's easy ruling during time of crisis? Chaos is rising, deities all over the pantheon are questioning my authority and I have to alter my plans to compromise with a literal child. I love you, Mother, but your constructive criticism is the last thing I want to deal with." Welcome to the 10th anniversary rewrite: "The Throne Of Fire - And We Shall Await The Sunrise".

14. Sadie's Plea

17.03.2015

Sadie Kane

I left the magic scroll with Carter, who wouldn't even talk to me, then went up to the infirmary.

I froze at the door. What would I see? Was I ready? My heart felt as heavy as a bowling ball. I wondered if I would have acted the same this morning if Jaz had been next to me. Her reassuring calmness, always stretching out, wrapping around me, when the world got too heavy. Now a different type of calm waited for me.

I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to Jaz. Something was telling me that I might never see her again. This heaviness, like I had seen this play out before.

Jaz was laying on a bed, asleep. An enchanted washcloth kept her forehead cool. Healing hieroglyphs floated around her bed, but she still looked so frail.

I sat next to her and held her hand. Without her usual smile, Jaz seemed like a different person. Her lips were slightly parted. I followed her breath, traced with my eyes the little path it formed from her lips to the ceiling. It was easy to imagine a ghost following that same route, rising up…

Another picture built itself on top of reality, a scene perfected from years of polishing and reimagining.

I always thought my mum had died in a hospital, people rushing around, trying to save her, as my dad cried in the corner. She would've laid on a bed similar to this one, lots of machines I don't understand beeping around her. That's how it went in the movies and my parents were the type of couple you could see in a romantic montage.

Dad's hand on mum's. Him whispering a final goodbye, crying over her body. The shape of a ghost wrapping itself around him before floating up. A heartbreaking scene, yet one that gives you closure. It felt right. More right than crumbling to dust for the world.

My mum had sacrificed herself to buy us time. She had chosen the world over being with her husband, watching her kids grow. Now Jaz had risked her life to protect us. She'd tapped into the energy of her patron goddess, Sekhmet, and the effort had almost destroyed her.

What had I sacrificed lately?

"I'm sorry, Jaz." I whispered. "Everyone always says I'm like my mum, but…" Even though she couldn't hear me, I did my best to keep my voice from breaking. "For you I will be like my dad. I'll take this pain, use it to save the world. I will do my best so you don't lay here in vain."

I knew I was being childish. I knew she couldn't hear me. But dad never apologized for talking to the rain.

I wished my family never had to play the heroes. I wished I was telling a different story. One where love didn't mean pain, where the happy ending came before the afterlife.

"Jaz," I squeezed her hand. "Just promise me you won't be like my mum. Promise me when I come back, you'll be fine."