| He smiled even as the blood drained from his body, even as the sky drew close and threatened to fall. "What are you doing!? You'll die! Let go of the scepter!" she cried. "Never, as long as every year of my life that I lose means one more breath with you, I will never let it go." |
It's not obvious from it, but the idea is that SHE'S dying, and that if he lets go, then she dies and he loses her. If he holds on to the scepter, she gets to live and in exchange he loses one more year of his life. When all the years that are left of his life have been spent to have just that many more breaths with her in his life, they both die. So yes, they've probably got about a minute left to live together.