Chapter 97

• Pushing through the thick, bluish-gray smoke, I thought of only one thing — getting out alive. Unlike my lungs, which healed in seconds, Iris’s and Alex’s lungs would not. Fresh air was a necessity.
• At last, the fire licked my tail one final time and passed. That first breath of clean air felt like manna from heaven — so sweet, so life‑giving.
• My body felt heavy. At a glance it seemed clumsy and too massed. But only at first. Underneath, I was strong and flexible, capable of covering great distances without showing any fatigue.