Bab 194: Surfing Among Stars, Part 1

Despite the pain tearing through my back, my mind remained lucid enough that I knew I was still alive. More importantly, I could tell that I was dying…again. 

'No…can't…must…hold on.'

I couldn't speak. My throat was dry. My breath was gone. There was no air around me to give voice to my thoughts. 

'Can't…'

Death had me in its embrace…but for some reason, I didn't die. 

Instead, my eyes flew open, and I found myself floating in darkness. Not the abyss that often greeted me after each death, but one filled with twinkling stars stretching out across one horizon to the next. Not stars that wheeled overhead either, but ones that were as static as a Vincent van Gogh painting, but twinkling far brighter than I was used to. It felt wet and cold to my skin too as if I were floating on the surface of that sea of stars. 

Again, I tried to speak only to choke on words that seemed irrelevant in this unknown space.