He arrived with a burst of frigid wind, shattering the towering mountains. I didn’t want to look at him, but I couldn’t stop myself. Dread knotted my stomach as my gaze crawled upward. All I saw was bone. Bone and eye sockets filled with swirling blood and vast nothingness. I knew in a heartbeat I was staring Death in the eyes.
True Death.
Icy wind whipped around me as every instinct demanded that I flee and put as much space between us as possible.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t do anything but stand there as if I were already dead as Death approached. Ruddy flesh crawled over his jaw. Lips formed as his mouth opened in a grotesque smile, and in the swirling, red eyes, I saw countless pale faces going lax and watched the light of life snuffed out of them.
Streaks of gold suddenly raced above, cutting through the darkness.
The half-formed being before me jerked his head to the sky. His mouth stretched wide, unleashing a deafening howl that reverberated through my bones and shook the ground below me. Every fiber of my being felt the raw power and ferocity of that enraged roar. I stood frozen, unable to tear my gaze away from Death, my heart pounding in my chest—
“I’m here,” came the frigid, brittle whisper. “You’re so scared, my sweet. I’ll take all that fear away. I’ll take it all.”
Death’s arm lifted as skin wrapped around bony fingers. The stare cut me down until I felt small and insignificant in his presence.
“No,” I croaked.
The hand halted.
I wasn’t small.
I wasn’t insignificant.
The wind whirled around me, cold and then hot.
“I’m not afraid,” I whispered.
Death’s head tilted as golden-bronze flesh spread over the broad cheekbones.
I took a breath, and it felt different, deeper. “I’m not afraid.”
Bolts of silvery gold light suddenly pierced the darkness, streaking out and scattering the shadows. Something jerked Death back. His howl was swept away in the wind as the silver-tinged gold light washed over him, swallowing him whole. Its warmth grazed my forehead like a summer’s kiss.
Only silence followed.
Then a voice.
“Hear me, Poppy.”The softly spoken command echoed through every bone.“It’s time.Wake up.”
The flash of intense golden light tinged with silver left me numb, and then…
Sensation slowly returned, bringing a prickly wave that started in my feet and moved upward, tingling and creeping up my legs. The pins-and-needles sensation turned into a blazing fire, spreading throughout my body and increasing in intensity as it reached my stomach—my empty and aching stomach. The flames surged toward my throat.
Despite the burning inside me, I was cold. I was…
What was I?
Seeds of panic sprouted as I tried to pry my lips apart to call out, but they felt as if they had been sewn together. I couldn’t open my eyes either. It was as if they had been sealed by plaster.
Thoughts fluttered through my mind like a hummingbird, most disappearing quickly before I could grasp them as some kind of material scratched my skin. I didn’t like the feeling. I wanted to tear the cloth from my body, but I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t think.
A thick fog clouded my mind, leaving room for only the pain: the sharp stabbing invading every limb. The thumping in my temples and behind my eyes. The dryness in my throat. The gnawing hunger in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t figure out what had happened to me or where I was.
Or evenwhoI was.
