"We need to get that sword out of him." Alaric rushed forward.
The faces of the dead scurried away when he broke through their wispy ring.
He was about to grasp the sword's hilt when Arielle grabbed his arm.
"Stop!" The words tore from her throat. "Don't touch it!"
Alaric’s face paled. “Why? What’s wrong?
"The sword. It’sfeedingon him. There’s a spell on it to drain his life force. That’s why he’s fragmenting. If you pull it out, you'll kill him instantly."
Panic flooded my system, and I clutched a hand to my heart. “What are we going to do? We have to get that sword out of him.”
Silence stretched between us, broken only by the relentless crash of Soulwraiths against Arielle's failing barrier and the distant clash of steel as Bastian and Garrick fought the swarm beyond. Cracks spread wider across the protective dome with each impact, and precious seconds bled away like sand through an hourglass.
Alaric's jaw worked soundlessly as he stared at the cursed blade, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. Then Arielle's gaze found mine. The piercing stare she gave me wascareful and measured and calculating, the look of someone about to deliver news that would tear apart whatever hope I'd managed to cling to and destroy any illusion that this rescue would be simple.
I knew, even before she opened her mouth, that whatever she was going to say would be something I'd fight against.
“You.” Her voice shook.
“What, me?” I pointed at myself.
"If you can slow time… even for a few seconds… you could suspend the sword's magic and stall its power." The words tumbled from her lips.
And I was right. I was going to fight against the idea. “I can’t do that. Me, slow time? Are you serious?”
It was bad enough that I didn’t remember having those powers. But on top of that, it wasn’t as if I’d done hundreds of spells when I discovered them. In my journal I’d recorded the Seer’s council of being able to control time.
But whatever I’d unlocked during my last reset had stayed there.
"Elariya.” Arielle rushed toward me, her hands finding my shoulders, grounding me. “Youcan do this. I would try, but I don’t have that power. Slowing time is our best chance right now.”
“But I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Listen to me. You can already naturally speed time up without even thinking about it. I just need you to slow time long enough for us to remove the sword safely. That will stall the magic on it. Please."
Gods, her words felt like a desperate prayer thrown into the void, a last resort born from watching everything else crumble around us.
Iwas the last resort.
I glanced frantically at Wolfe. “If it doesn’t work, I could kill him.”
“If it doesn’t work, he’s dead anyway.” Her voice was resolute. “Between the realm’s power and the sword, he doesn’t have much longer left.”
My hands shook as I stared down at his too-still form, terror and desperation warring inside my soul. But Wolfe's face was growing paler by the second, and the black veins were spreading further across his skin.
I closed my eyes, dragged in a trembling breath, and reached deep inside myself for a spark of faith.
I wasn’t brave enough to do this, but by the Gods, I was never the kind of person to not try.
Losing Wolfe wasn't an option I thought I could survive if I knew I could have tried to save him. I supposed sometimes, courage wasn't about being fearless.
Sometimes, it was just about being more afraid of the alternative.
“Can you guide me?” I breathed.
Arielle nodded. "Hold your hands over the sword and call to your magic using the Fray. Time magic is about flow. You're not forcing anything; you're just...askingit to move differently. Like slowing a river. Remember your elements?”
