Aramith opened his eyes to a world he neither understood nor found familiar.
There was no sky, and there was no real land. The world he knew had disappeared, and in its place was an endless expanse of formless destruction.
The ground stretched in jagged, broken pieces. Fire burst out from underneath, crashing like waves, rumbling beneath, and leaping up to swallow.
It looked broken, hopeless, devoid of life, and frightening.
It should have been terrifying. It was not.
He wasn't afraid, but rather drawn in and wanting to stay.
The flames that licked around him didn't feel hot. He wasn't cold either, and he didn't sense danger.
It was all too familiar, and he couldn't understand why he felt so connected to it.
"So you've finally arrived, child of shadow...."
The voice drifted soothingly into his mind. familiar, yet unfamiliar.
He turned toward the voice and saw a girl unlike anything he'd ever seen.
