Page 106 of The Cruel Dawn
“I don’t have an answer but…” I place my bruised hands on my hips and limp over to the bluffs that overlook the valley and the Sea of Devour. “But I know someone who may.”
PART III
LOST IN PARADISE
Celestial, your power bright,
You are the star in darkest night.
With gratitude, our voices raise
In song and praise, we sing your ways.
From ancient roots to futures blessed,
In your embrace, we find our rest.
To you, we offer all our days,
Our endless love, our timeless praise.
Celestial, your power bright,
You guide our ways, your eyes our sight.
Our songs of praise are only weeds
That pale compared to your great deeds.
We thank you for the pledge of life.
We praise you for your guard ’gainst strife.
We dance with joy for your great gift.
You bless us by your grace so swift.
Your voice commands the storms to still.
The mountains bend to your fierce will.
In every heart, your light remains
Through fire, floods, through endless rains.
–A Song of Praise written by Grace Hallum
27
This landscape looks utterly unfamiliar to me.
I don’t recognize these dead blue firs scratching up from the parched earth to the early morning sky, nor the clumps of chaparral and sage clustered in this clearing. The sandy trail I walked last time to Malik Sindire’s settlement? The dirt wasn’t this orange. Even the path itself feels more brittle and crooked than it did days ago. The air is thick with dust, andsomething smells like it’s burning. And even the horizon feels different. The hills look like they’ve shifted away from us, leaving gaps in their place.
None of this looks familiar, and not only due to the holes in my memory. No, Vallendor is falling apart every time I blink.
My chest feels tighter with every breath; time is twisting my insides as it’s twisting the realm. Everything that I thought I knew about this province, and even about my own body, has changed since three dawns ago.
It is also possible that I’m just losing my mind.
