*Vanessa*

I’m in utter disbelief even as my eyes take her in.

She looks like the marble carving come to life. Her skin is warm and her hair is silver and floor-length, brushing against her ankles. Her eyes are silver too, without pupils, darkly lined and accented sidelong with markings I can’t recognize. She reminds me of Elder Luka in her youthful agelessness, features graceful and perfect. But she transcends even the Elder’s ethereal ...