I lower my forehead to the top of her head for a bare moment, unable to stop myself. My glow answers, flaring bright enough to turn the whole narrow stretch of tunnel into an artificial dawn.
On the far side of the new gap, Haroth’s presence brushes mine.
“By the dust,” he sends, stunned. “Sarven. You glow like Ain.”
I blink and pull my awareness back to my own skin.
He is right.
Light pours from my arms where they cage Mih-kay-lah. From my chest pressed along her back. From my thighs bracketing her hips. Every floating mote of dust becomes a spark.
But it is not the wild, uncontrollable blaze when the bond strikes.
I test my control, tugging at the light as if pulling on a rope. The heat could crack the wall at our backs, so I force the light down, terror for her safety warring with the instinct to shine.
It answers. It sinks from blinding bright to a softer warmth.
Control.
Not the claiming glow, then.
I shine for her. But I do not erupt.
What more do you want?I snarl inwardly at my own stubborn hide. She is here. She is under my hands. She smells like fear and strength and something that feels like peace. Am I not enough? Is my soul too dark for the dust to bless?
Nothing answers but the echo of my own thoughts.
Mih-kay-lah shifts in my arms, pulling my focus back where it belongs.
I lift my head and look.
Where there was once a continuous ledge, there is now a gap as wide as a body length. The fallen stone has taken a section of the path with it, ripping fractures up into the ceiling and down into the unseen floor.
On the far side, two shapes loom through the settling dust: Haroth in front, Zan behind.
I look down into the darkness below us.
Kelvan is nowhere in sight.
My dra-kir spikes again.
“Kelvan?” I push into the mindspace, scanning.
“Alive,” Kelvan answers from somewhere below. His thought is strained, but clear. “Stone took my leg. I am stuck, not gone.”
“Do not move,” Zan snaps. “The ledge on our side is cracked. If you shift your weight, more may fall.”
Haroth’s mind brushes mine again. “Sarven. The path between us is broken. You and the Daughter are alone on that side.”
Alone.
The word settles strangely in my chest.
My arms tighten, just a little, around Mih-kay-lah.
“We are stable,” I send back, forcing my thoughts to be calm and flat. “We will not jump like fools. See to Kelvan first. Then we speak of paths.”
There is a pause. I can sense them considering how to proceed.
