In order to save the world from eternal night, Red must find a way to unlock the dormant power of the Sun Goddess running through her veins without killing herself and everyone she loves.
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The residual heat of the burning workshop singed the fine hair on his forearm as he shielded his eyes from the glare. Sebastian heard the old crone scream, an eerie sound for the fact it was borne of rage and not agony. He hurried away with the realisation that he'd made an enemy for life — an exceptionally powerful one, at that.
He fully expected the dream to continue on its current course, but instead of diminishing as he recalled, the light flared with every step, bleaching the woods of all colour and shadow. Something is wrong, he thought, right as the sound of cracking ice filled his thoughts and the vision splintered into a million pieces.
His eyes flew open to the underside of a whirlpool and he was dragged through a crack in the bedrock, swept away with a swirl of midnight dust. Lungs burning and eyes smarting, Sebastian was helpless to control his descent as he was pulled through the guts of the mountain and over the lip of an underground waterfall, hurtling through the air before he'd even had time to process the impending drop.
Black, cool and blissful, deadened all feeling as he made impact with the rocks below. It seized him again an instant later, as the jagged boulders — nay, clusters of crystal, he realised, swollen face smarting as his eyes widened at the varying shades of amethyst beneath his palms — started to glow from within with the same light that drenched his vision. At first it was the soft, muted glow of a new morning, and then it waxed into the blazing gold of a midsummer day, radiating heat that made the water hiss and his skin prickle with discomfort. Sebastian clambered to his feet just in time, the soles of his boots were already melting, letting off the foul stench of charred leather. Every bone in his body itched as it repaired the fractures and tears from the clumsy landing.
"Am I still dreaming?" he muttered, squinting at his surroundings. The light set the entire cave ablaze, and he was perturbed to realise there was no way out. The river slipped through a crack that could barely fit his groping hand, though there was a dry patch by the shore where he supposed he could die in relative comfort.
All in all, the space was about the size of Gretchen's cottage, though far prettier for its natural minimalism. It was like he'd been transported into the heart of a geode yet to be cleaved in two. He couldn't have asked for a more extravagant tomb.
A shift in the light drew his attention back to the waterfall. He frowned as something golden tumbled over the edge; and then he was running, splashing noisily through the water as he held out both arms.
Red's limp body crashed into his chest with so much force it nearly ripped through the circle of his arms, pulling some of his fingers from their sockets. The sudden weight drove Sebastian to his knees and he absorbed the shock through his joints without a whisper of complaint, already cradling her head as he waded towards the shore.
She was dripping wet, skull gilded by a slicked-back curtain of hair. For once her skin was chalky and cold to the touch, turning blue around her lips and fingertips.
