Light reformed before my eyes, slow and gentle like dawn breaking after the longest night.
When my vision cleared, I found myself standing in the middle of a vast meadow that stretched endlessly in every direction. The air shimmered faintly, filled with golden dust motes that drifted like lazy stars. The grass beneath my boots was soft as silk, each blade humming with quiet life.
Flowers of every shape and color carpeted the landscape crimson blossoms that breathed warmth like embers, pale violets that glittered with dew even in the sunlight, silver roses whose petals whispered like windchimes when the breeze passed. It was beauty so pure it almost hurt to look at.
Above me, the sky was impossibly wide, painted in hues of dawn and dusk at once, streaks of gold melting into lilac and deep blue. It didn't feel real. It felt like I'd stepped into the dream of a god.
Then I saw them.
