IN THE DISTANCE, ALIZEH SAW stars. Tens of thousands—or perhaps hundreds of thousands—or thousands of thousands— It was impossible to tell, and she seemed incapable of conjuring an estimate large enough to account for them all. She knew only what she saw, and what she saw was a seemingly infinite expanse of densely assembled celestial bodies, all of which appeared to tremble upon approach. They had been sitting in a bleak silence for hours now, and with each flap of the dragon’s enormous, leathery wings, their small party drew steadily closer to the spectral sight, the distant lights
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