EXCERPT: Chapter 21
Gemstone shuddered as she felt something cold entwine itself around her mind. She was not quite asleep, not quite. She couldn't open her eyes or sit up, and she knew that if she resisted, she would be forced under more quickly. She felt Crow's hand against hers, and moved closer to him. She felt his warm breath on her face, and allowed herself to fall.
Mara's got me. She's got all of us. We have to stay together.
In the beginning, there was blackness. She felt herself standing in the middle of nothing, suspended only by her own knowledge that there was nowhere to go.
A bright, burning sphere flashed across the sky. She turned, her eyes following its path. It turned toward her, rushing toward her, and she realized the light was too bright to stand. She squinted, then closed her eyes.
The sound was incredible. She opened her eyes, seeing the blackness for a moment more, before the atmosphere around her exploded with color. Ground flew up under her feet, catching her. Items rained down from the azure sky, falling into an order that she realized she had expected.
A black house fell from the sky, landing unharmed about ten yards from her. She dimly realized that although this scene had the same ruthless chaos as any nightmare, she felt fully conscious. She was aware of her real body too, if it could be called that, as it lay next to Crow on the grass, and this new body, as she stood here in the middle of a too-familiar scene for no apparent purpose other than Mara's amusement.
The cool blue sky turned purple, then red. Blood began to mist down from the cloudless sky, and the drops striking her body were cold. The grass blackened and died beneath her feet, but she paid it little attention. She'd known it would happen. Black flames began to spurt spontaneously from the house where she'd spent most of her life, but the house did not crumble as it had before. There was no roar of burning wood, of breaking timbers, of dying children. Everything was silent except the splatter of blood on the
ground.
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