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" Time, wondrous time,
Gave me the blues
Then purple-pink skies "
―THE FIRST THING I notice is that I'm plummeting to my death from at least fifty feet above the ground.
Not the most welcoming feeling.
The wind whips against my skin and hair as I struggle to recall who I am, my dark wings torn from my back and my talons receding like distant memories, the world a blur as my stomach churns from the fall.
A good question to ask would be what thoughts are going through your mind when you're about to die.
Yi. Saints, is she alive?
As if in response, I feel a swirl of sand catch me, my fall slowly immensely. My stomach lurches as my plummet turns into a pleasant drift downwards, as though I'm a leaf in the fall. My mind spins and my head throbs as I reach the ground, the sand around me falling anticlimactically and effectively making my eyes sting.
I let out a stream of curses until my gaze lands on Yi leaning over my body.
"Oh," I say, turning my profanities into something between a grin and a grimace. My entire body aches and my shoulder blades are incredibly sore, but other than that, I feel relatively fine for someone who turned into a flying shadow monster. "Hi."
Her golden eyes glimmer with tears. "You idiot," she whispers, lips curling into a smile.
"I've heard worse," I respond, groaning slightly as I prop myself up on my elbows. "So, I assume things went well. Unless this is the afterlife. I must say, I expected to see a few unicorns, maybe a rainbow or two."
My voice is husky and my throat chafes uncomfortably when I speak, but I can't bother to care.
"You absolute idiot," Yi says again with a grin, helping me into a sitting position. "It's over, Nikolai."
I go silent. "It's over?"
She nods. "He's gone."
I stare at Yi for a long moment. Her eyebrows are raised, waiting for my reaction, her honey eyes alight, bronze skin turned golden with what I assume is the use of her ability. Her dark curls are messier than usual, which is to say a lot, considering the circumstances. My gaze trails down to her wrists, the light of them so blinding it leaves a temporary dark spot in my vision. I tentatively reach out and take one of her hands, looking at the golden feather turned into a makeshift bracelet.
"Hm," I hum quietly, giving her wrist a gentle tap. "I like this."
