I sit by Breeze’s side for weeks. She’s breathing. Her heart’s beating. Her body’s warm. Yet she doesn’t wake up…

“Her brain needs time to get back to the usual working capacity.” Percival explained it to me once. Even if it all makes sense in my head – I want her to wake up already. I want her to open her eyes and look at me. Most of all, I want to hear her say…

“Crile…” Huh? A feint whisper reaches me. I look up. Breeze is looking at me.

“Breeze!” I jump up so fast the damn chair falls over with a thud. I stumble to my knees next to her.

“How are you feeling?” I ask her in a whisper.

“Weak.” She looks at me. I smile.

“That’s easy to fix.” I place my hand on her forehead. “No fever. Good.”

“How?” Breeze manages to utter a word at a time.

“How are the others?” I ask again. She nods ever so slightly.

“They are alright. We’re at the cabin. Would you like some water?” I ask, she nods. I get her the glass. She looks at it confused.

“What?”

“What is this thing? Percival called it a straw. Said this way you won’t cough when sipping the water.” I turn her head gently on its side and put the tip of the tiny, metal tube between her lips.

“Slowly. A sip at a time.” I watch her take a few sips and put the glass away.

“How?” Breeze whispers again.

“How long were you out?” I ask her. She nods.

“Six months.” I tell her. Her eyes widen.

“No…” She lets out a breath. This time I nod.

“Sorry it took us so long to bring you back…” I smile at her. She reaches for me. I take her hand with both of mine and kiss it gently.

“Crile…” Her voice is barely a whisper.

“I love you, Breeze.” I kiss it again. “Don’t do this to me again.” I keep kissing her hand. “Please.”

“Sorry…” Breeze gives me a weak smile.

“Percival said you can only have liquids for now. More water?”

“Please…” She says. I hold the glass for her again as she takes a few sips at a time in turns. After a few moments her sips get bigger. I pull the glass away from her.

“Don’t rush.” I tell her, putting the glass down again and see Breeze reaching for me.

“Try not to move so much, you need to rest and get your strength back, it might be a while, but…” I see her shake her head lightly.

“I don’t want to rest…” Her voice sounding a bit better; “I don’t want to sleep anymore…” I crouch down to her; “I’m afraid I won’t wake up…”

“Well finally we can agree on something again…” I tell her quietly, stroking her hair. I feel her grip my shirt.

“Right then, one moment.” I step to the side and take a few extra pillows and slide them under her, propping Breeze up just a little.

“Comfy?” I ask her, picking up the chair and sitting down.

“Mhm…” She murmurs looking around. “Where am I?”

“We have you set up in the cellar to keep the ice from melting. A mage from the Army would come around every so often to make sure all was ok. I wanted to move you upstairs, as soon as we got you fixed up but Percival didn’t want to put a lot of strain on your body, so we’ve been keeping you down here. Laira made sure to install an “air pipe”, as she called it, to make sure you get fresh air from the outside. Zaltem and Aodynna helped.” I explain.

“I cause nothing but trouble…” She says and sips the water again. “This straw thing is quite useful.”

“Leave it up to the kid to come up with something like that…” I try to chuckle…

“Tell me what happened after…”

“After we froze you?”

She nods. I inhale. “Well, we managed to escape with few casualties… All thanks to Emerald…” I wait, watching Breeze. Don’t want her going into another shock… She doesn’t say or do anything. I continue.

“Percival and some others took the dragons and the more heavily wounded troops, and went back ahead of us. Laira stayed behind with me. It took us about three weeks to return to the city. I went to report to the king. He really didn’t care about anything much besides that we failed…” I look her over again. She hands me the empty glass. I take it, fill it up and give it back to her. She sips the water quietly. I carry on, keeping my voice low.

“I told the king you died.”

She nods. “Good. That’s how it should be… What else?”

“Vestigo took Hisana and bolted. I didn’t stop him. Apparently, the girl kept the place clean while we were away. She even made sure to leave a list of things she used and ate…”

“Oh? What a well-behaved child…” Breeze smiles.

“Right, so, besides that, everyone else got named Champions of the Concord, that was one heck of an inflated display of….”

“Tahon’s ego?” She asks giggling. I laugh under my breath too.

“One way to put it…” I look her over again. Not sure if it’s the dim lighting in here or what but Breeze looks ghostly pale… Even for a Noxian…

“I can only image what that must have felt like… Standing there in an overly flashy, fancy royal get up…”

“Pain is the word you’re looking for…” I tell her. She smiles.

“Anyways, the whole Ceremony was mostly because this time the casualties were the lowest ever recorded and Tahon used it to boost the morale – or so he claims – saying this is more than enough to let the public know that the Rebirth is not impossible to beat…” It feels weird calling the king by his name…

“Oh, and on top of receiving our Champion tittle, the others also got roped into working at the palace – as instructors or advisors, or even both. Like Percival, Marcus and Laira.”

“No way, even Culebra?” Breeze looks at me briefly.

“I imagine the gold has something to do with that…” We laugh quietly… “I retired.” She looks at me surprised. “Took some effort but they let me go. I used the Rebirth as my main excuse, saying that I’d be pushing my luck if I go in for the third time…”

“Nice one…” Breeze whispers.

“Yeah well, here’s the best part – the rest of them are staying here, at the cabin with us…”

She laughs a bit louder that time. “It’s tough being popular, huh?”

I smile. “Suffocating – was the word Culebra used…” She giggles again.

“I can see that happening…” She whispers. “What did they do to me?”

“You mean how did they bring you back?” I see her nod. “Well, teamwork. Laira, Percival and Rixa.”

“Rixa?” She glances at me completely lost.

“Yes, Laira needed a test subject, the Warrior bravely volunteered.” The confusion isn’t letting up on Breeze’s face. “Right, well, we weren’t sure what exactly was done to you, so, the guys decided to operate on the assumption that all of your internal organs were pierced by thousand air needles, just as Burla said, causing you to bleed internally… Laira came up with the idea to conjure an outer shell for each organ, out of vines, hoping that would stop the bleeding, letting us melt the ice… Later on, we simply had to force healing potions into you, to make sure the organs repair themselves… It was a gamble and we took it…”

“She must’ve practiced that for weeks before she could maneuver vines without a visual…”

“Hence – Rixa…” I tell her looking down at my feet…

“Did you thank the man?” She asks me and I feel her looking at me… I shake my head.

“Figured I’d let you do it…” I gaze at her. “Hi.” I wink at her smiling like an idiot… She giggles.

“Hi.” Breeze answers. Her expression changes.

“What is it?”

“People.” Her gaze is looking up.

“I don’t hear anything and you haven’t even shifted.” I try to listen. Nothing.

“I feel it…” She takes the blanket off of her and tries to get down the table. I get up and help her.

“Easy now.” I hold her steady letting her sit on the edge for a bit.

“I don’t think I can walk…” Breeze whispers looking down at her tangling feet.

“Right, come here.” I pick her up and carry her up the stairs into the kitchen.

“Wait.” She whispers and I put her down to her feet. Voices are coming from the living room. We listen.

“Why do you think that the curse has a power source? Can’t it be some sort of a thing? Something that is not alive?” Marcus. Breeze moves slowly through the kitchen, with me supporting her.

“Because it keeps changing…” Percival.

“Like it’s alive… Or part of it?...” Laira. Breeze is only able to drag her feet as we make our way to the living room.

“Can you prove any of this?” That’s definitely Culebra. We’re almost at the door.

“I would need to do more research…” Percival again.

“Well then, it’s a good thing we have another fifty years to figure this out…” Breeze makes herself known, as she leans in the doorway with me helping her stand upright. Percival is the first one to look at us. His face goes blank. Jack turns around next and stares at us.

“Breeze!” Laira’s the first one to react. She comes over and crashes to her knees, next to slouching Breeze, checking her pulse and temperature.

“Ever the dramatic entrance?” Marcus says jokingly.

“So, the dead one lives again.” Jack announces. Rixa continues to sit on the stairs with his jaw on the floor.

“You never die, do you?” Culebra takes a jab at Breeze.

“Disappointed?” Breeze glances at the Mancer as Laira and I sit her down gently on the couch next to Percival. Laira takes her place next to Breeze, leaving me standing behind the couch with only my hand on Breeze’s shoulder.

“Somewhat.” The Mancer is clearly displeased with something.

“Oh, our little dual? Would you like to do it now?” Breeze gets up and her body shakes as she tries to straighten herself out. I easily sit her back down.

“Don’t insult me. What pleasure would my victory bring me crushing a weakling?”

Breeze chuckles nervously. “Very well, it shall be postponed until further notice.” She smiles at the woman.

“So then, mind clueing us in?” Breeze looks at the Cleanser. He finally snaps out of it. Jumps of the couch and bows, yelling.

“So good to see you awake, Commander!”

“Easy kid, it’s too early.” I tell the boy.

“I’m sorry to have worried you…” Breeze keeps her eyes on the boy. He stands there, trying his best to hold back the tears… Laira on the other hand isn't concerned about it and weeps quietly holding her sister’s hand. Percival remains standing, giving me the opportunity to sit down next to my woman.

“Wow.” Rixa finally regains his speech.

“Rixa, I’d like to thank you for being a huge part of my healing.” Breeze speaks to the fighter. I can tell it’s hard for her. Her breathing is uneven… She tries to keep it steady but once in a few breaths she inhales deeply through the mouth, with her lips slightly parted.

“My pleasure, Commander.” The Warrior nods.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Percival suggests carefully.

“I have been resting, how long now?” Breeze asks the boy, with the hint clearly there.

“Like six months.”

“Thank you, Jack.” Breeze answers the Ram, with her gaze locked on the Cleanser.

“The last thing I want to be right now is asleep…” She says quietly.

“Great! Since everyone is up now anyways, how about I make us all some breakfast?” Laira suddenly perks herself up and disappears into the kitchen.

“I’ll help.” Marcus follows her.

“Only fluids for Commander!” Percy runs off too.

“Now then,” Breeze looks the rest three over; “what did he mean by the Castle being alive?”

“You need to ask the boy. I’m not following any of this…” Rixa shakes his head. I grin. You don’t say…

“It seems the kid has been doing some research on this thing and he has a theory, apparently he decided that the Castle has a power source.” Jack explains.

“A power source?” I ask.

“The Cleanser says the Castle has to have a source of mana because the Rebirth keeps repeating itself and the inside of the Castle keeps changing.” Culebra adds sitting down on the couch across the table from us.

“You really need the kid to explain it.” The Ram agrees with Rixa’s earlier statement.

“I see…” Breeze thinks about something. “And that hand?”

“This?” Jack extends his left arm. “A souvenir.”

“Was it Laira’s idea?” Breeze asks the Warrior again.

“Sure was.” Jack keeps his answers nice and short. “Needed a bit of time getting used to it…”

“But?” Breeze is quick to catch on.

“It’s a bit weak. I can't use it with my full strength. I already had the Druid fix it up for me a few times. Other than that - it works fine.”

“Why use it then?” Breeze hammers in another question for the Ram.

“Because the stub is even worse.” I don’t think I ever saw Jack speak so much before. Breeze giggles.

“Maybe in time we can get you something better…”

“Oh! I have an idea, I’m not sure if it would work though and it’s a bit of a complicated matter, I haven’t been able to run any tests yet, unfortunately… So, for the time being, try to bear it.” Laira sets a few plates with sandwiches on the table. Jack nods. Marcus comes in with a tray of cups and sets it down too. Percival’s the last to emerge, carrying Breeze’s breakfast. Rixa comes back from the kitchen, carrying a chair. Percival sits next to us, as Laira and Marcus take their places next to Culebra on the couch, with Rixa on the kitchen chair, next to Jack.

“Help yourselves!” Laira tells us and we dig in.

“Hope it doesn’t taste too bad…” The boy observes Breeze as she drinks her breakfast carefully.

“Is this broth?” I ask the boy taking a quick glance into the mug.

“Yes, with a few pieces of mashed vegetables. The consistency is thin enough to drink it.”

“It’s bland…” Breeze whispers, sipping her soup.

“My apologies, Commander, you can’t have any strong flavors till we know everything is ok…” The boy explains and quickly puts down his sandwich.

“Don’t worry about me, you look terrible, go ahead.” Breeze nods to the food.

“Thank you…” The boy whispers.

“I feel like a baby…” I hear a voice echo. I see Breeze struggling with her soup.

“Good, then you won’t fight it when I’ll be tucking you into bed later.” I watch her give me a quick stare, I smile playfully. We eat quietly like that for a bit longer. Laira makes a few more trips to the kitchen to bring out some more sandwiches and other snacks. I watch Breeze valiantly fighting the urge to stuff her face. Percival comes back with a bowl of another mish-mashed food for Breeze.

“What is it this time?” I ask the boy.

“A few mashed pears with a bit of honey and some mana tea… I’ll be sure to think of more later.”

“Tasty…” Breeze tries her meds.

“Is it ok for her to have sweet things?” I try a bit myself.

“Honey is good for her, it has healing properties, plus, the mana tea is slightly bitter, so it helps with the taste. But only small amounts!” Percy explains it.

“Thank you, Percival.” I nod to the boy.

“Now then, mind explaining your theory again for us?” Breeze asks the Cleanser.

“What? Now?” He studders.

“Didn’t you barge in here exactly for that?” Rixa glares at the kid.

“I can leave.” The boy stands up and Jack pulls him back down by the corner of the robe.

“I think we can manage brainstorming, now that everyone’s had something to eat…” Marcus says, casually taking a gulp from his drink.

“Ok, well, where do I start then?” The Cleanser sits back down.

“Try at the beginning.” Laira suggests.

“Right. The battle. During the battle I discovered that I am able to control the ooze, that came out the undead corpses, but only while casting.” Percy sounds calmer now.

“Yes, I remember you showing me something…” Breeze agrees, holding the empty bowl. I take it from her and put it down next to the other plates.

“Isn’t that how all of the magic works?” Rixa asks.

“No. Because once I manipulate the poison to change its shape form, say, liquid to solid – it retains that shape after the spell is finished, because I have manipulated it into it. The action has finished, so, there is no more need for the spell to be continued. But with this poison – the manipulation only lasts while casting. Think of it in terms of sir Marcus’s Reflector ability.”

“Meaning what?” Jack leans back in his chair.

“Sir Marcus is able to control any Force of Choice but only if someone else is casting the spell. He is not able to cast any spells by himself….”

“Well…actually…” Marcus cuts in. “I can cast some spells, but they are quite weak and don’t last any longer than seven second’s or so…” I see Breeze lean forward.

“How?” She stares at the Mage.

“I train hard…” Marcus averts his eyes.

“Impressive…” Percival stares at the kid too. “I may have picked the wrong example here then, my apologies…”

“Don’t worry about it – you didn’t know…” Marcus shrugs his shoulders. “But I think I get what you mean – that the manipulation only lasts while casting. So, in a way it is similar to what I do.”

“Yes, exactly.” The Cleanser nods.

“Oh then, my Vines, would have been a better example.” Laira picks up her glass.

“No, his Reflection works better, as an example, since technically Vines don’t retract or wilt, if they bind with a living host.” Breeze explains.

“Right…” Laira agrees.

“Moving on.” Culebra hisses.

“Right, so, I have been only experimenting with the sample I brought back, fairly recently, as the Commander was our top priority. So, for now I found only this: no known antidote works, no new combinations work either, every attempt to break its components down fails…” The boy falls silent.

“Oh! And here’s another thing – it needs a living host to have an effect! It completely slipped my mind…” The kid exclaims.

“And the significance of that is…?” The Ram gives Percival an unimpressed look.

“Poison can be used on a living creature or an item, till it gets in contact with a living being. True Poison does not lose its potency no matter the conditions it is exposed to, because the only way it can be healed is with an antidote, specifically designed for that poison. Like sir Crile’s daggers – they are coated in poison, but unlike say acid that can burn through almost anything: living or not, the poison does not harm him, or anyone else. Well, not till the poison on the blade is exposed to a living creature. Same reason why poison doesn’t work on undeads’, but acid does.”

“Yeah, I always wondered how that works, how is it that the acid does not eat through the bottle?” The CC warrior sways in his chair, on its back legs, staring at the ceiling.

“The bottles for acid are enforced with enchantments, designed just for that.” Culebra answers.

“Basic Magic there.” The Ram answers, looking to the Warr. “Quit messing around.” Jack grabs Rixa by the leg and pulls on it, making the chair crash back into its proper position.

“Percival, you were saying.” Laira tries to get us back on track.

“Right, so this poison only works on a living creature. It kinda resembles a disease in that way.” Percy’s quick to answer.

“How so?” Marcus backs up the focus of the topic. I keep close watch on Breeze. Her breathing seems to be getting better…

“A disease is only dangerous while the host of it is alive. Once the person, or creature dies, the disease dies too, because it does not have the necessary life force to sustain itself. Diseases are parasitic in nature, that’s why only living organisms have them: people, animals, plants…” Laira explains.

“So then, how exactly is the ooze poison, again?” Rixa mocks the Cleanser.

“Because he can control it. So, some part of that ooze is poison.” I finally join the discussion.

“Correct.” Percy nods.

“You said something about a curse and a mana source?” Breeze asks sipping her mana tea.

“Yes. I realized I hit a wall with the poison and so I started thinking about what else we know about the Castle. One thing was that it is an event that repeats itself. While focusing on that I realized that it has to have a source of mana, that was the only way it made sense how it could renew itself every fifty years. Because besides nature itself – mana is the only other thing that has the ability to restore itself.” The boy clarifies his theory.

“Right, I can see how that would make sense.” Breeze has a very serious expression on her.

“Oh, you do? What a relief!” The boy exclaims.

“What about the Castle being alive?” Jack asks. Good point, I forgot about that.

“That’s because the Castle is different every Rebirth. I only managed to look through some of the records so far but none seem to have any similarities except that it becomes active right round the time as the sun is setting…”

“Right, when we were in that Black Chamber, it did not do anything for a long while, unlike the Mirror Room.” Marcus agrees.

“Yes, it is possible that once a chamber or a spell is activated, then it stays that way – regardless of the time of day. It’s a theory, but we might have been erasing our copies that time all through the night, till morning, or longer…” Percival keeps on adding to the theory.

“So then why did the door close when we entered the Black Chamber?” The Ram makes another point.

“It might have been because the door belonged to the Mirror Room, and since that spell had been already set in place – it did not stop till all of us had left the room, I think?” Laira tries to make sense of it.

“That’s why I also believe the Castle is cursed. See, once certain conditions are met, it acts up.” The Cleanser adds.

“Didn’t you say that a curse also needs an item to cling to?” Marcus pitches in.

“It could be the location of the Castle? The area itself that the curse is attached to…” Percy mumbles the last few words.

“Ok, that would explain it. But what exactly has you thinking that the Castle can be alive? Wouldn’t that mean that someone is behind all of this?” Marcus is right on point. “I can’t see how the Castle itself can possibly be alive…”

“Because, Commander was possessed during the last Rebirth.” Percival doesn’t raise his head. Laira holds her breath. I clamp my fingers tighter on Breeze’s hand. The boy continues, choosing his words very carefully.

“I think, that the Castle has to have a magic power source, a collection of mana, somewhere inside of it, because possessions like that can only happen through magic…”

“Have you only been approaching your samples as poison?” Breeze asks Percival, completely unfazed.

“Yes, why?” The kid finally looks at her a bit confused.

“Have you tried cleansing it like a curse?” She asks again.

“No…”

“What about treating it as a disease?” Breeze questions the Cleanser.

“I’m an idiot…” He shuts his eyes.

“No. You just needed a different angle. You worked on it as poison because that is what you are best at.” She smiles at the boy.

“Wait, so what, the ooze is a mix of poison and disease?” Rixa speaks up after a long while.

“And a curse. Apparently.” Marcus adds.

“So then by that logic, all three are key players: the disease kills, the curse revives and the poison? Wait, what’s the poison then for?” Rixa stares at Perival again.

“The poison is used as a mind controlling substance – in other words – it’s what makes the corpses move…” The boy explains…

“So then, someone has to be controlling the dead bodies – is that what you are saying?” Jack leans forward in his chair, supporting his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on the laced fingers. Topping it all off with a piercing glare…

“Not necessarily someone… Rather something…” The boy hesitates.

“What else could that possible be, young one?” Culebra speaks carefully… I have a nagging feeling at the bottom of my stomach… Breeze remains unreadable…

“I believe that is where the power source comes in…”

“Oh GREAT! So, the Castle IS ALIVE!” Rixa jumps off his chair.

“It’s more like the mana is alive, that is what controls the Castle and everything else…” Percival is doing his best not to break under the pressure.

“What’s the difference!” The CC implodes.

“Calm yourself.” Culebra stabs the hysterical warrior with her eyes.

“The Castle has been around for centuries, even before the 200 hundred Years of Darkness, because we know that it was the Rebirth that caused the destruction of the continent in the first place. Now imagine how many people have already fallen victim to it? Imagine how much mana and magic that pile of dirt is soaked with? It’s saturated with it so much so, that it is able to conjure a hill, resembling a castle, inside and outside, with different settings inside of itself each time, all the while harboring various creatures between its walls! No person is capable of that kind of power… Only magic itself… That’s why I believe that when the Castle was not engaged in battle that one time and spread across Existara – it was because the curse needs the magic power to sustain itself – only because of the nature of the curse, whatever the condition for it may be that makes it repeat itself by manifesting into a castle – it exhausts that much power. Meaning, it went looking for a way to replenish it… Perhaps that’s why it took for the Rebirth almost two centuries to weaken, no, rather, retract itself back to the point of origin… I think the Rebirth and the Castle of Despair is a collection of magic power. Once it reaches its capacity – it implodes by manifesting in the form of a castle. We have been steadily supplying it with magic power every time we charge it and people die. I believe, from what I have read so far, that once it obtains enough magic power it crumbles away, because that too has been one other feature that remains the same each time. It probably goes into some sort of a hibernation mode, allowing itself to soak up the magic gained, in preparation for the next Rebirth…” Percival finishes his speech with a grim look on his face…

“You’re scaring me, little man…” Rixa mumbles quietly…

“How do we fight magic itself?” Jack asks a brilliant question…

“What if we break it down into parts and deal with it, one phase at a time? Cleanse the curse, cure the disease and…”

“And counteract the poison…” Percival catches on, cutting Laira off.

“Say, for the moment, there is some sort of a power source for the Castle. If we act based on that idea, can we assume that by getting to the core and cleansing it, in other words, getting rid of the curse – would put an end to the Rebirth altogether?” Breeze stares into her empty cup as she voices the main question, that nobody has been able to answer for centuries… The silence is deafening.

“IF we can get directly to the core of that power, or at least as close as possible – then yes. There is a possibility that it might stop it…” Percival is doubting the possibility strongly, it’s evident in his weak whisper… “Provided there would be enough casters’. Yes. We could cleanse the impurity.” The Cleanser looks us over, in hopes someone will back him up…

“I’ll ask again – can you prove any of this?” And Culebra sticks it to the boy with the killer question… I was afraid of this…

“Research. We need to dig up everything we can about the Castle of Despair. We need to study every record we can get our hands on. Try and find a connection. If we can get to the bottom of its origin maybe we can eradicate it completely. We need to find a pattern – if we can find evidence to support the idea of the three components being the focus of the Rebirth then we will know how to fight it…” Percival begins doing the calculations in his head.

“That’s quite a lot of work…” Jack is not wrong.

“We do have another 50 years to figure this out.” I speak up.

“Not all of us.” Culebra has a point. I see the horror in Laira’s eyes, as she tightens her grip on Marcus’s hand…

“Sadly, yes…” Breeze looks grim as well. “However. We can do whatever it takes to make sure that what we found out here today is used to stop the destruction of our world tomorrow. For all those who fought before us. We owe it to them to see this through. Any volunteers?” Breeze scans the room over.

“Yes.” The Mage is the first to stand up.

“Marcus.” Laira stands next to him.

“Of course.” Percival agrees.

“Do you even need to ask?” Rixa follows.

“No.” Jack stands up. “I saw enough. I choose life this time.”

“Very well. I respect your decision.” Breeze gets off the couch, with me supporting her. “It has been an honor to fight alongside you.” Breeze bows her head. So does Jack.

“For me as well. I do wish you the best of luck.” He bows for the rest of us and goes upstairs.

Culebra’s next to take a stand. “I fought my war already. One was more than plenty.”

Breeze bows her head again. “It has been an honor to fight alongside you.”

“Tsk.” Is all the Mancer says and leaves the room, same as the Ram. “I will continue to stay here, Druid.” Culebra’s voice reaches us from the stair case. Breeze smiles. Laira answers the Mancer instead.

“Take your time, no worries.” Laira, Marcus, Rixa, Percival, Breeze and I – are all that is left out of Team Deathbreeze...

“What is it?” I ask Breeze.

“I’m scared… I don’t want to close my eyes…”

I put my arm around her, snuggling up closer, I take her hand into mine and squeeze it gently, turning her face toward me with the other one.

“I know. But you know too – you’ll recover faster if you sleep… I’m right here…” I give her a light kiss on the forehead.

”You’ll be here when I’ll wake up?” She whispers, her voice trembling.

“Yes, promise.” I squeeze her hand again and watch her fall asleep. I watch her for a long while, till finally my strength abandons me and I pass out next to Breeze, hugging her to me…