Taurian detected Dena near him, but he couldn't reach her. Darkness surrounded him. His body was weightless and shifting from Renjerian to human faster than possible. He wanted to be with Dena. He couldn't make out her words exactly, but their meaning was clear. She was crying over him.

He yearned to comfort her and tell her everything was okay. Except, it wasn't. He couldn't even work out where he was. Had he teleported to another planet?

He shook his head. No, the ...