Our Last Night

In the darkness and stillness of the night, they could feel one another while laying alone in his bed. Fingers traced unknown curves and dips of skin and flesh with curious memorization. Bittersweet silence hung between them. More than a few tears fell on the exposed chests of the other.

Metal braces from their legs laid at the foot of the bed. Both had quietly helped the other remove their supports, so now Azag was fully at rest in his large bed.

For Sayane, her body was still alight with sensual awakening. What had just occurred was so far beyond anything she could have remotely dreamt of being comfortable with, yet as she lay there against him now, she felt neither shame nor regret. All she felt was comfort and a melancholy sorrow at what was to come.

For Azag, it was much the same. A lifetime of loneliness and pain was now culminating in the welcome embrace of her and the trusting support of tens of thousands. But he might be dead in a few days. The final Great Harmony Shard awaited, and in order for Sayane to free it, she would have to be in the heart of The Silence’s capital. In order for her to be safe, Azag would lead every available member of the unified rebellion on a last assault.

It was as though the two of them could sense the other’s existential dread. Sayane finally spoke.

“Do… do you think I’ll disappear? After I free the last Shard?” she whispered.

Azag sighed as his hand cupped her waist. He had prayed that he would be alone in that fear.

“You’ve thought it, too?” he asked.

Sayane’s wet sniffs were his answer.

“Maybe this is all I was meant for. Maybe I just came here to help you free everyone. Start again. But I don’t want to go,” Sayane cried.

Flashes of her former life danced in her mind, and for the first time in weeks, she saw the metal bracing crashing down on her once again. A flinch seized her body as she let her sobs release.

“I don’t want to disappear. I don’t want to leave you all. The world is just starting to get better. I want to see it with you. There’s so much more that I wanted to see.”

Her hand was small in his.

“Maybe you still will,” Azag said as he tried to comfort her, but his own dread was building. 

Sayane tried to speak but could only shake her head.

“Thank you,” she whimpered.

Azag turned to face her, his glowing eyes still behind his mask.

“Me?” he smiled.

“You helped me grow so much,” Sayane wept as her hand squeezed his.

It felt like death was just on the other side of their door now, and if she dared to leave that room she would vanish once and for all.

“You helped me find my voice. You helped me heal. I am so grateful I met you. Dying let me finally live, and no matter what, I am so grateful to have met you all. And you, most of all. I would not have done any of this without you. ”

His finger rubbed the side of her wrist. Darkness permeated every corner of the cabin, dampening out all light, save from the rain blue that emanated from his eyes. Azag paused and inhaled, then raised Sayane’s hand to his mask clamps. She looked over in surprise, and paused in uncertainty.

“Go ahead, please,” he said softly.

“It is easier to sleep without it…”

Her fingers were guided to the releases, and after five soft clicks, his mask dropped loose from its leather bracings. Sayane slowly lifted the mask from Azag’s face.

In the near darkness, she could not make out much detail beyond the faint lines that were accented by his glowing eyes. His eyes. Only now did she understand. They were fully exposed. Lidless. He had never blinked. In all the time she was with him, his eyes had never closed. Those radiant orbs were ever present, and it was for a horrifying reason.

What she could make out was unsettling. She was not ashamed to feel shock or unease, because she also saw beauty. From what she could see, his face was what was left. Brutal stitch scars and metal brackets held chunks of mangled flesh in place. Hooked, upward curving mandibles flexed beside his fanged mouth. His brow was steep and bird-like. All of it was terrifying yet beautiful. Through it all, Azag laid still for her to observe his fully exposed body. Sayane began to cry once more without intention.

“What did they do to you?” she softly asked as her trembling hands met his jaw.

“Their scientists wanted to see what my kind looked like on the inside. So that they could create their own emotion control. For fun, they decided to test on live prey. So they flayed me while I was awake. I have been in agony every day for fourty-four years. I have not blinked for most of my life.”

Sayane’s unsteady lips and steady tears met his face as she anointed him with love. His hand trembled softly as it came to rest on her knee.

“I lived my entire life thinking nothing good would ever come to me. But…” Azag stopped to steady his voice.

“But then I found you, running down that hall. I found you, and everything changed. You were not just good, Sayane, you were the best thing to happen to me. To the world. And you handled it with such grace. you never faltered. I cherish you, with the entirety of my spirit, and I shall for all my days. If you fade without me, I will pray to every god of every religion for the rest of my days that I can find you again when it is my time. And maybe then we can have a few quiet days together, far from suffering and pain.”

Sayane tried to gather herself as she let his words soak into her being.

“If I do have to go, I know that the world will be safe in your gentle hands, Azag the Guardian. Please, take care of this realm. Just like you took care of me and nurtured me when I was at my lowest. Help them all see. There is such beauty in it.”

“I promise you. You have my vow. I will protect the world that Sayane the Songstress helped free.”

All Sayane could do was weep and feel the warmth of his tears mixing with her own. Her life had already been cut short once, and now, as she stood at the precipice of that potentially happening once more, she wanted to scream in rage, but she knew she had to continue on. Millions in bondage could not wait for her to live a full life before deciding to end their suffering.

Tomorrow would be the beginning of the end. Her final performance was almost here. But for one last night, she was with him, holding his mutilated face in her lap as she slowly laid a cooled piece of fabric over his opened eyes and hummed out a gentle lullaby. As she did, his fingers held the small of her back and poured every joyous feeling he’d ever felt into her spirit.