The ground lurched beneath my feet as the roots shot upward again. They wrapped around my wrists and ankles with a strength that felt carved from the center of the world. Cold. Ancient. Unyielding. I fought them until my muscles trembled, but it did not matter. They dragged me into a rigid stance that felt unnervingly deliberate. My spine arched back, my arms pulled out beside me, fingers spread as if my body had been posed by someone else.
And then I saw her.
The other me.
She hung in the same position only a few feet away. The glowing roots held her exactly as they held me. Perfect symmetry. Her hair floated in the silver light. Her eyes gleamed with that unnatural brightness that twisted my stomach.
She smiled. Calm. Almost gentle. Like nothing about this nightmare was wrong.
The c
