Chapter 12: Gold Eyes in the Dark

Dying is quieter than you'd think. I remember sinking. I remember the cold stopping. I remember the red bracelet on my wrist flaring so bright I could see it — see it — through blind eyes. And I remember something enormous rising underneath me in the dark. Black scales. A body like a mountain uncoiling. Two gold eyes, patient as the end of the world. It caught me on its back and carried me up. I woke in warm water under an open sky. Steam. Sunlight. The sound of a waterfall coming down...