Raising her head, Sandis looked back and forgot herself. He stood before her in the flesh, bright and unyielding and so much more than she’d pictured. His ears brushed the ceiling. His eyes were night without stars, his fur—skin?—like polished graphite. Near-white light encircled his breast like heavenly feathers. Red and orange fire brushed his long face and neck, broken only by magnificent and deadly horns—four altogether. Two pointed up, two pointed forward. Staring up at him, she felt so small and insignificant. It took all she had to stay standing. Something ballooned inside her,
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