Everything was peaceful and black, and then suddenly the nightmares came.
Not the kind that fades when you blink into the lamplight. These clung to me like wet silk, suffocating and real.
At first, it was just shadows, figures shifting at the edges of my vision, faces half-formed in a field. Then, I began to recognize them. The dead. I'd seen these faces before.
Their eyes were open, glassy with judgment, mouths slack as if they begged for mercy. But when I stepped closer in the dreams. I was in Zhi's body.
I felt her muscles coil, her breath steady and cold. And as she looked around, the entire world glowed with the amazing energy that I craved.
Around us, the battlefield erupted. Screams tore through the air, but Zhi didn't flinch. We loved their fear. We wanted it. It made the en
