The pressure of the water was crushing, and the darkness was nearly complete. And it was cold. Terribly cold.

  As panic seized Lucian, he swam upward, clawing at the freezing, dark water. Stroke after stroke, he swam upward, his muscles burning. Even as cold sapped his heat and strength, his lungs were afire with the need for air.

  He was going to die here.

  Through his blurry vision, Lucian saw something floating above. As the shape of the object materialized before him, he realized it was a rope.

  Let me help you.

  It was his mother’s voice.

  Grab the rope, Lucian. I can save you.

  But an unseen force stayed his hand. He wanted nothing more than to grab it, but all he could do was stare at it in paralysis.

  Reach for the rope!

  The line slipped away into the darkness. Lucian’s muscles exploded into action as he swam toward it. But it was withdrawing faster than he could swim.

  Reach, Lucian!

  Lucian couldn’t hold his breath any longer. He sucked in frigid saltwater into his lungs. In and out, in and out, in and out. It entered and left cold, stinging, and harsh.

  But also . . . life-giving. Oxygen infused into his blood. He was surrounded by an orangish aura. Somehow, the water in his lungs was being transformed into pure, gaseous oxygen. The blackness of his vision receded until only coldness remained.

  Lucian didn’t question it. He was breathing, and he would live. He didn’t need the rope and the salvation it offered.

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  The scene shifted, and he was somewhere else . . .

  Darkness pressed in around him. It wasn’t from the water this time, but it was heavy all the same, space constricting around him like a coffin.

  Wherever this place was, Lucian didn’t have a body. He was just consciousness floating in a void. Was this death? Maybe. And maybe it was even worse than death . . .

  All he knew was that he wasn’t alone. He couldn’t have said how he knew that, but someone was with him. Just as he knew he wasn’t alone, he knew escape was impossible.

  Even if Lucian knew this was a dream, the realization wasn’t enough.

  A harsh voice seemed to echo from the darkness . . .

  Find the Aspects. Bring them to me . . .

  What did that even mean? This Voice felt somehow . . . familiar. For some reason, it reminded him of his father, long dead. Lucian almost wanted to ask if it was him, but terror stopped him.

  What do you mean by Aspects? This is crazy. I just want out of here.

  Find the Aspects. Bring them to me . . .

  The Voice was closer. All Lucian wanted to do was run. But how could he run in a place where he didn’t even have a body?

  Promise me . . .

  If this were only a dream, why not tell this Voice what it wanted to hear so he could leave? But deep down, Lucian knew something about it was real, even if he didn’t understand what that was.

  I don’t know what I’m promising.

  Promise me. Find the Aspects . . .

  A nameless horror began to mount. A horror Lucian could scarcely bear. He intrinsically knew he would never wake up until he made his promise. Being stuck in this horrible place forever would be unacceptable.

  There was no other way out.

  I . . . will bring these Aspects to you. Whatever they are. Whoever you are.

  The Voice seemed to relent. The pressure around him eased.

  Good. Your word is sealed. Go, Lucian. And never forget.

  Lucian screamed inwardly as light swirled around him, forming images. Faces materialized in the maelstrom, apparitions birthed from the void. His mother, her face tired and bearing new lines. His father, barely remembered, standing at the boarding gate for his shuttle, Lucian’s last memory of him before he was gone forever. His ex-girlfriend Luisa, her tears black as ink, her expression mournful. There were new faces, too: new faces that were somehow familiar. A tall and regal young woman with soft brown eyes. An old crone of a woman, wearing a dark gray cloak. Two disheveled men, huddling about a fire in a dank cave. A blonde woman in a snowstorm. A regal queen, her back facing him . . .

  What did it all mean? Why was he seeing these things, and why did they appear all too real, as if from some life barely remembered?

  The stream of images ended, and Lucian was shocked into wakefulness.