The flower inside my chest pulsed again. The green light spread outward, brushing against every raw nerve already torn apart by the tempering. It felt like something was expanding inside of me, pushing at the walls of my ribs as if wanting more room, as if wanting to break free. The frost answered it, rising like a frozen tide that wrapped around my spine and climbed my throat with a painful slowness.
[Progress: 51%]
I gasped, but no breath came. The cold-fire dug deeper, threading itself through the hollow spaces of my bones. I don't know if I can hold on... My fingers curled, nails scraping against invisible restraints. I wanted to fall, just collapse and let the darkness take me, but the tempering held me upright like a puppet strung by green flames.
