Ibaan's ruined body dropped back into the deep, uneven hole. He was already out cold, lost in darkness, yet somewhere inside him a faint flicker still stayed awake—something that had no name. He wasn't gone.
Three hostile creatures appeared at the rim of the hole and climbed down toward him. Their bent necks twisted with sharp jerks, and the wet, stringy, dead strands hanging from their heads swayed with each slow step they took.
***
Nima let out a soft "meow" and hopped onto the narrow railing at the end of the room. Selpe rose from the silver, spotless bench fixed to the white walls of the training hall. Her heart had been beating hard for a while, a steady, rising pulse that warned her something was wrong—like something she had once known was slipping even farther away, far beyond reach.
Still, she kept brushing off that uneasy feeling that had been bothering her for some time.
