The scream died. The darkness cleared. The glow of the symbols dimmed until they were just dirt again. My stomach ached, but my balance returned as my eyes stopped spinning. A body lay slumped at the center of the star.

I took a tentative step forward, testing to see that I could. When my foot moved freely, I leaped the two steps forward and crouched down at the center.

"Mila?"

At first I thought she was dead. Her body didn't move, but then I realized the body wasn't ...