Did he, now. That was a terribly frantic effort to backtrack. Ethlyn regarded him for a moment as she decided how she wanted to respond. She could press him on it and share her own story--not the whole of it, but the fact of the aftermath. But that would mean talking about it... and she didn't want to take away from his disorientation and newness with her sad tale.

Still, she didn't want him to feel as though he would be alone in such an experience. "It sounds like you were narrowly saved--a miracle," she said with a smile, resuming her walk back towards Aldrip. "But there are people here--not everyone, but a few--who did pass away before their arrival. You wouldn't have been the only one."

She tried to ignore her heart beating faster as she said that, and at the horribly anodyne phrase passed away, as though her end had been anything so peaceful.