Location:Zhū'kethara, Demon Realm
Date/Time:Later that day. Late Emberwane, 9939 AZI
Realm:Demon Realm
Lyria's quarters were in the west wing, at the end of a long corridor where the floor was cool stone, and the windows overlooked the terraced gardens Vaelith and the other healers had been rebuilding since the exodus. It was late-afternoon by the time she got there. The light was the colour of old honey, and the air smelled faintly of crushed thyme from the herb terraces below.
She didn't want to go inside. Going inside meant being alone with the vision. She stopped at her door with her hand on the latch and tried to breathe and found that her breath had gone shallow again without her noticing, the way it kept doing this afternoon, the way a body with too much to carry kept forgetting the bottom of the breath.
She pressed her forehead against the wood.
She stayed there for a while.
Then she opened the door.
