The Dust of Eternity

When Xuan Chen opened his eyes amid deafening thunder, he saw the sky upside down.

Bronze-colored clouds were torn into shreds by some immense force, and each fragment oozed molten golden blood. Only later did he learn that it was marrow splattered when Pangu’s spine broke. He curled up in a damp, freezing crevice, his body covered in moss-like scales. The tribe’s shaman said they were “the scabs of the Chosen,” but all Xuan Chen felt was an itch, as if living things were burrowing beneath his scales.

“Xuan Chen! Lift the cauldron!”