Vaeris laughed bitterly.
Kairos jolted beside me, a wet gasp tearing from his throat. The rune flooded the chamber with light.
It’s going to kill him.
I hurled my weight into the thread, twisting hard. My vision swam. Other runes started to unravel, connections snapping like overstretched rope.
Too much. I’m breaking too much.
The threads were sharp and cold, like crystals. Somegossamer-thin, others braided thick as my wrist, all of them knotted so tight I could barely wedge my fingers between them.
Heat lashed up my arms, the magic biting through the gloves. This rune wasstrong, woven into the bones of the palace. I felt it threading around every person, across the floors, above the walls.
Kairos was dying. I didn’t care about this place. Or its runes or anyone else. Only him.
I gritted my teeth and pressed harder, searching desperately for what held the binding together. There, a weak point. I pinched it, and?—
Crack.
I’d pulled too hard. The shockwave tore through adjacent runes. They snapped, one by one.
Then the stone under my palms split, slashing through the glowing lines. Energy blasted outward, and the floor cracked. An ancient groan echoed through the depths, and then freezing water hissed through.
I’d just freed the ocean.
And it was coming to drown us.
36
BLOODBATH
Water pooled around my feet.
Another fracture split the chamber with a vicious snap, and the sound rattled through my bones. Cracks spider-webbed across the wall—over our heads.
“Out!” Soren’s voice cut through the chaos. “Everyone out, now!”
Vaeris bolted for the stairs. Taressa scrambled after him, boots splashing through rising water.
Soren slammed both palms against the fracturing wall. Blue light exploded from his hands, magic flooding the cracks, but they kept spreading. Water gushed through gaps, the ocean forcing its way through the structure.
“Hold the current!” Soren barked over his shoulder. “Channel everything into the ceiling!”
Two Thalir guards rushed back, hands glowing blue as they poured magic into the fractures. The torrent slowed but didn’t stop. Water flooded the floor, already ankle-deep and rising fast.
“My king, we have to evacuate.”
“Not yet.” Sweat poured down his face. “If this chamber collapses, the pressure will flood everything below.”
A support beam buckled.
Soren snarled, his magic flaring brighter. Blue threads stitched desperately through failing stone. “Brace that archway!”
I clapped a hand over my mouth.
What have I done?
Kairos tried to push himself up, but his arms buckled and he collapsed. He gritted his teeth, clawing at the floor. His fingers scraped stone, searching for purchase. He made it to his knees, swaying.
