The stillness stretched for what felt like an eternity before Lilith slowly peeled her eyes open. The searing heat that had consumed her moments ago was gone, replaced once more by the biting chill of the winter air. Her heart thundered in her chest, a frantic rhythm that matched the panic rising in her throat.
She lifted a trembling hand to her face and felt something wet. When she pulled it away, her palm was smeared with blood.
She gasped sharply, frantically wiping her face with the edge of her dress. It took a few desperate swipes before she cleared enough to breathe properly. Her breath came out shaky as she glanced ahead—and froze.
What had once been the carriage was now a shattered wreck strewn across the forest floor. Wood and metal were scattered like fallen leaves, as though something had hurled it through the trees with inhuman force.
Slowly, she turned her head—and screamed, scrambling backward on her hands and elbows.
A severed leg lay just feet from her.
