if he finds it , then we are in all danger . `` the last time that happened you bit me , and you could do it again . '' madeline swings around to face me , her face pale . i have thought about what to do knowing you could be gone . the memory of his own turning - eight thousand years old as it was - still burned fresh in his mind . slowly the image started to clear . but something even brighter was waiting for me . `` but how did it rise at all ? '' 