The voice vanished, and for a brief moment, I allowed myself to breathe. My chest rose and fell slowly, and the tension that had locked my body finally loosened a little. Limene was silent. She was still inside me, but I could tell how weak she was. Even when I reached out, she didn’t answer. It was like her strength had been pulled out of her completely.

We let nature take its place. We had no choice.

The sound of something heavy being dragged, like the cracking of iron against stone, made ...