"Flo! Come here!" Riona's voice called to him, cutting through the haze like a distant melody. She extended her hand toward him, her smile as bright and warm as sunlight.
Florian blinked, dazed. He had to tilt his head back to see her. Why was she so big? Why did everything feel so… wrong?
Her hand was steady, waiting, and though a small voice in the back of his mind whispered for him to stay still, his body moved on its own. He took her hand.
The world shifted as she led him deeper into the garden. The trees loomed impossibly tall, their branches tangled with the sky. Bushes and flowers stretched toward him, vibrant and alive, brushing against him like they wanted him to remember.
Everything felt enormous, overwhelming, too much. The air smelled sweet, like something stolen from a dream.
It was that rare time—once every ten years—when life fought back against the cold, when the Kingdom of Eira warmed up just enough for the earth to breathe.