Chapter 73

I felt cold—extremely cold—my body trembled. The darkness weighed heavily on my consciousness. I felt my heart flutter, thumping rapidly beneath my chest, my mind trying to capture what little my senses could pick up. And everything came into focus. My eyes snapped open, but I quickly shut them, the light burning my eyes. Once I’d adjusted, I opened them again.

I saw green. I saw the crystal-blue sky, and I heard the sound of rushing water. I felt my hair floating around as if being pulled and swayed ever so gently by the riverbed. My body lay in the shallow folds of the bank’s rocks, making me ache. My lungs burned, and I coughed, feeling the water that was trapped within my chest cavity. I tried to stand, but my body failed me, and I fell back down, letting out a groan.

Something was wrong with my leg. I could feel the pain—it was strongest there. I pulled up my head and struggled to look