Sun Mote Copse I'll be resting my eyes

That was the last thing Wildfire ever heard: her child's cry of, "MOMMY!" In her state, she didn't register the fear and pain in the wail, nor the rest of the words. She no longer felt Weejay's warm, salty tears or the pressure of her tiny embrace. She was only aware of that word. Wildfire had held many important titles in her short life—Redhawk, Firebird, Bandrona, Sovereign; Master this and Master that; daughter, niece, sister, mate...—but none as important as "MOMMY!"

In that final moment, Wildfire's life didn't flash before her eyes, nor did she suddenly step into an afterlife full of the heavenly host. She drew in one last breath, holding Eljay and Weejay in her lungs, pressed against her heart, where she kept them forevermore, as there was no exhale. Wildfire's wasted body grew very still and her head nodded to rest against Weejay's. Her chestnut eyes, pupils blown and lifelessly flat, mercifully drifted closed to mark the end of her suffering and the conclusion to her story.