"The black particles floated in the air, and then an opaque light covered everything. Not fog, not shadow. Not twilight. A light that devoured the edges and crept across surfaces, erasing details, like dust accumulating on a relic. All was still, as deep within the mountain, the black stone expanded and contracted, holding its breath, suspending the living and the earthbound. The rock and the birds, the unruly beast, the tides—all were held captive. The mountain called for the lightning and waited for centuries, or perhaps minutes; we don't know. Then, it thought it heard a heartbeat in the hollow, saw another light, a flash beyond the forest. Like a mirage or a double, the world rose again. It was the same, and it was another"