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When Cyrus woke he was more or less human again. His head was resting in Kyna's lap and her tears were dripping down into his face. |
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"Is it my imagination?" he mumbled. "Or is there light coming from somewhere?" |
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"It's not your imagination. It's fox fire. Look, up there on the wooden beams." |
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Cyrus glanced up and saw globs of softly glowing material that seemed to be growing on all the wooden support beams. "What the devil's fox fire?" |
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"A phosphorescent glow produced by certain fungi found on rotting wood." |
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Cyrus raised one eyebrow. "Oh? And when did you turn into Mr. Wizard?" |
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"You try living out of hotel rooms for months at a time with nothing better than the Discovery Channel to watch." |
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"My guess is, it's the Anasazi version of street lighting. Pretty crafty, those old Native Americans." |
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Cyrus chuckled, then moaned. "Don't make me laugh." He glanced at her knee. "What happened?" |
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"I zigged when I should have zagged." |
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Squinting, he glanced at his right side like a kid afraid to look at a skinned knee. His shoulder was a mass of scabs and blood, but the woundalthough stiff and still very painfulhad already closed. The knobby end of a new humerus was growing like a cornstalk from the mangled shoulder socket, and as he watched, new tendons and muscles were regenerating around it. New veins and arteries slithered around in the meaty flesh like pale worms and new layers of fresh pink skin were inching down from his neck. It was like watching a time-lapse film of a human arm being eaten away by acidin reverse. |
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"All the amazing things I've seen you do," Kyna said in a hushed tone of voice, "and it's only nowseeing this with my own eyesthat I really believe what you are." |
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