Chapter 9 The Beginning

• Year 0, Two Months Before the Freeze
• It had been raining for two months.
• Not the kind of summer rain that danced on leaves or passed in waves of tropical mist—this was a relentless downpour that soaked the bones of the city, turning streets to rivers and smiles to silence. Tayawan was used to wet seasons, to sudden thunderstorms that came and went like moody guests. But this was different. This rain clung to the world like a warning. Unspoken. Heavy.