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... s is everything else." — First rule of borderland medicine

***

The first thing Rhys noticed wasn’t the pain.

It was the taste.

Powdered stone coated his tongue like flour gone rancid. It ground between his teeth with every shallow breath. He tried to spit and couldn’t. His mouth was too dry. His throat was too clogged with debris.

The air itself felt solid. Thick enough to chew. It carried the metallic tang of blood and the acrid smell of extinguished magi ...

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