Aery forced herself to her feet, agony filling her body twice as badly as whatever magic the soldiers had pounded over her, in addition to her built-up hurts from the past three days. She staggered. Seeing Celaena fall she gasped, stumbled over beside her, and seized her hand. The pain was blistering, building up to a nearly unbearable level. But Aery forced herself to stay on her feet, gripping Celaena's hand as tightly as she could. "Together, Celaena. We stay... together. Always." And yet there was no vigor in it, and the pain was too great, and she fell down and into darkness.