On the fifth day after the curse activated, Selena realized she was out of time.
She existed now as barely more than impression, a suggestion of presence that required active effort to perceive. Her form flickered constantly between barely visible and completely absent, and she could feel through the eternal flame that the next phase of consumption was beginning—the curse was starting to erase not just her physical existence but her essence, her position in reality's pattern, the fact that she had ever been.
Dante stood beside her at the edge of what had once been wasteland but was now thriving grassland, the result of their five days of working together, burning together, transforming ash into life. He was solid, real, present—everything she was becoming less of. And through their bond, she felt his awareness that this was the end, that hours remained at most, that soon there would be nothing left to fade.
