He opened his hand, dropping the chick onto the ground where she promptly sprawled out, letting out a mechanical-sounding groan. “It’s one of the dwellers from the outer rings. The ones who create the servers.”
We all stared down at her waxy face, the expression there almost as blank as those of the servers on Topia. She blinked a few times before pushing herself half up. “Is she going to be able to translate these symbols?” I asked. “What’s with the book?”
Did Cyrus realise how little time we had left?
He opened the book then. “I have no idea if she can help us, but she was trying to stop me from taking the book, so I just took them both. No time to kill a dweller right now.”
Her arms starting to shake, her long robes covering the pale limbs. But there was no other reaction.
Cyrus strode closer to the wall, his eyes moving between the shimmering symbols and his book at a rate much faster than I could track.
“What made you think of this book?” Emmy asked.
Cyrus spoke quickly. “In the ancient sun-cycles, long before the kings and gods of this time, there was a culture that used images as their language. I’ve run across a few obscure texts about it, but never really explored it further.” He flipped a few pages. “When Willa mentioned the old temple, I wondered if maybe they would have something there. In their library.”
I wasn’t looking at Emmy, but I knew her eyes would be lit up right now with pure joy and excitement. “A library,” she whispered. “Of books that are from the old world? We have to go—”
She was cut off by Cyrus slamming the book shut. “Everyone stand back,” he bellowed. I found myself half-lifted by Rome as he used one hand to shift me quickly while his other reached for Emmy.
Cyrus shot him a dark look, but didn’t chew him out for godhandling his girl, because there wasn’t time. When we were all a few feet further away, the Neutral God turned back to the wall.
“One and a half clicks,” Coen said tersely.
Cyrus ignored him. “The text etched onto the wall simply speaks of binding the Great River,” he said, his voice brimming with energy. “It doesn’t give me any indication of how to free it, but … I’m almost certain that it’s not a spell. Which means that maybe it’s only sealed in a physical way—a burst of power might break that seal.” He slammed his free hand against the wall, his voice booming higher. “You have been bound for too long, Great River. It’s time to rejoin the flowing waters. Bless both lands with your life-giving power again.”
The ground shook as his power lit up the cave. His glow was almost blinding, but I forced myself to keep staring. “Great River,” he boomed once more. “Flow free.”
There was more shaking, and the symbols shimmered, almost swirling as Cyrus’s power lit them up, but there was no water.
No breaking of the seal.
Emmy turned toward me. “Willa, you might be the power needed to break the seal Staviti laid here. The power of a creator. See if you can help.”
I sprinted the few steps to the wall. My power swirled within me, waiting for the moment I let it loose. Mimicking Cyrus, I slammed both palms against the wall and let the full destructive force of my energy go free in a way I’d never done before, no control, no picturing what I wanted to happen. Just unadulterated power.
The ground we stood on was shaking so hard now that I could barely keep my balance. Cyrus ended up dropping the tome, reaching out with that hand to keep me steady. “Don’t stop,” he gritted out, his grip firm on my forearm.
I pushed more heat, and then I channelled it into a single thought.Free the Great River.
