Lily opened her eyes slowly.
At first, there was only sound.
The endless roar of ocean waves crashing against the shore.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The sound rose and fell like a heartbeat too vast for the world itself, the tide endlessly reshaping unseen sand in the darkness.
But when Lily blinked, she saw nothing.
No stars.
No sky.
No village.
Only blackness stretching in every direction.
Her bare feet touched something cold and smooth beneath her, like wet sand kissed by the sea.
Then a voice shattered the emptiness.
"Lily!"
The cry echoed through the darkness, filled with desperation and aching love.
Her heart lurched.
"Papa?" she called out, her voice small and trembling.
Silence answered.
Only the waves remained.
The smell hit her next.
Smoke.
Blood.
Burned wood.
Burned flesh.
The memory came rushing back so suddenly it stole the breath from her lungs.
The bonfire.
Her mother's blood.
The dragon's fire.
