In that dreadful moment, as Lily closed her eyes, she braced herself for the fiery impact she believed was inevitable.
But as seconds turned into moments, and nothing happened, confusion gnawed at her.
Why had her demise not come swiftly?
Her eyes snapped open, and the sight that greeted her was a nightmare worse than death itself.
"NOOOOOO!!!!!"
Her scream tore through the air, a desperate cry that echoed with heart-wrenching despair.
It was Daniel.
He had surged forward with a mysterious strength she couldn't comprehend, shielding her from the deadly attack.
But the price he paid was excruciatingly clear.
His body was in a dire state, grievously wounded, and perhaps even close to the brink of death.
"DANIEL! NO!!!"
Lily screamed with every fibre of her being, her voice raw with anguish.
Tears streamed down her face as she fought to drag her trembling body closer to him.
Daniel's sacrifice had left him in a gruesome state.
His skin was burnt, and a large portion of his body was gone, a devastating result of the fiery attack he had intercepted.
It was nothing short of a miracle that his heart still beat, but even then, it was apparent that he had only moments left.
The pain etched on his face was excruciating to witness, and Lily's heart shattered as she realized the extent of the sacrifice he had made to save her.
Eventually, Daniel's body fell to the ground lifelessly and her heart sank as she dragged her body to him.
"DANIEL!"
She called out to him once she had found herself by his and she gently placed his head on her lap.
"PLEASE NO!"
She called out to Daniel, the love of her life and it hurts watching himself clinging to life in the most agonizing way imaginable.
The sight of his broken and battered body filled her with an overwhelming sense of despair.
Time seemed to stand still as she witnessed the extent of the pain he was enduring.
Unable to comprehend the events unfolding before her, Lily's mind raced with questions.
How did they end up in this horrific situation?
Why was Daniel sacrificing himself for her, willingly placing his own life in danger?
She couldn't bear the thought of losing him, especially not like this.
As Lily's hand made contact with Daniel's scorched skin, she could feel the heat emanating from his wounds.
"Ah...No...Please no..."
Even though his blood was all over her body, she didn't care at all.
Her tears were mixed with his blood and what was depressive about this moment was how she tried to place his organs back to where they all belonged.
"It should be here right...?"
Lily's expression was now broken. Her eyes seem to have lost the essence of life.
She even gathered the nearby bones or even burnt pieces of meat and organs, hoping that he could be healed.
"Why is it not working...?"
She wanted to help Daniel, to do something, anything to alleviate his suffering, but every time she tried placing back the organs, it failed.
"No...please...no"
She begged and even if she tried denying it, Lily's heart ached, knowing that every passing second made it less likely for Daniel to survive.
The agony of the impending loss settled heavily upon her chest, causing her breath to hitch in her throat.
The world around her felt dull and muted as if all colours had been drained from her existence.
Her soul yearned for a miracle, for a way to trade places with him, to absorb his pain and suffer in his stead.
She pleaded with whatever higher power may exist, bargaining for even just a few more minutes of his precious presence.
But as the moments slipped away, it became painfully clear that there would be no miracle this time.
"Daniel...wake up"
She tried shaking his body, hoping that he would wake up, but he wasn't responding.
"Why aren't you waking up?" She questioned as though this was just another like the usual.
"Are you playing pranks on me?" She chuckled and it seemed that she was slowly losing her mind.
"Come on, if you sleep any longer, Ms.Anderson is going to be mad at you," She said.
Lily clung to Daniel's broken body, her cries now reduced to hoarse whispers.
She remained by his side until the last flicker of life extinguished within him, a shard of her soul dying along with him.
"Sigh, you're hopeless aren't you?"
"Fine, then you can sleep a little bit longer till you wake up alright?"
At that moment, Lily's world shattered, leaving behind only the cruel emptiness of loss.
As she lay there, clutching the remnants of the one she loved, Lily couldn't help but feel that she too had died that day.
The tears continued to flow, mingling with the ashes of what was once their promising future.
Lily closed her eyes, wishing fervently that she could join Daniel beyond the veil of existence.
"That's what a weak human deserves,"
The cruel taunts of the monsters filled the air, their laughter a symphony of malice.
As Lily lay there, her world crumbling around her, something deep within her began to stir.
At first, it was just a whisper, a fragile thread of defiance in the face of overwhelming despair.
But then, fueled by grief, anger, and a love that knew no bounds, her voice grew stronger.
"How...dare...you," she uttered, her words trembling with pain and fury.
But she couldn't stop there.
The injustice of it all, the callousness of these creatures who had taken everything from her, fueled her rage.
"HOW DARE YOU DISTURB HIS SLEEP!"
Lily's emotions, once a turbulent sea of sorrow, now surged within her like a tempest.
The fear that had held her captive vanished in an instant, replaced by a newfound power.
The monsters who had revelled in her suffering now felt the weight of her fury, and for the first time, they were the ones who trembled.
In that moment, Lily's anguish transformed into a force to be reckoned with, and the world would never be the same again.