Mingxi muttered, “This looks unstable.”
“It is,” Caelan said pleasantly. “Thank you for noticing.”
The tidal braid snapped forward—an invisible wave colliding with the valley’s boundary. The air screamed, a sound like metal tearing rang through the clearing. The ward flared white, then black, and then white again, resisting the intrusion with feral strength.
Poppy covered her ears, and Mingxi shielded her with both arms.
Lirrane grinned. “Oh, I like this one.”
“It’s supposed to be ancient and sacred,” Caelan reminded her sharply. “That doesn’t mean I can’t like it.”
The ward shrieked again, high and thin, and then it cracked. Just a hairline fracture, a shimmering seam of bruised moonlight splitting open.
A cold rush of force hit Poppy straight in the chest. She gasped, stumbling.
Mingxi caught her instantly. “Poppy!”
“It’s pulling,” she whispered. “Not the moonwell… the shard. It’s… reaching for me.”
As if in answer, something unseen yanked at her qi—a sharp, groping pull, cold and hungry. Mingxi’s foxfire exploded around them in a burst of blue-white flame.
“No!” he screamed.
His fire slammed into the invisible force, tearing it away from Poppy like claws rending cloth. The air trembled. The ward cracked further.
Caelan’s eyes widened. “It’s reacting to her—tear it open now!”
Lirrane let out a wild, delighted laugh and hurled her full tidal force into the fracture.
The ward shattered.
Chapter 104
Dust and moonlight blew outward in a violent gust, revealing a narrow opening into the valley beyond—dark, cold, and pulsing with the moonwell’s faint heartbeat.
Poppy took a shaky step forward… only for Mingxi to catch her elbow.
“Stay behind me,” he said roughly.
She shook her head. “It’s calling.”
“I know,” he whispered, voice pained. “But I’m not losing you to a shard of Void.”
Lirrane rolled her shoulders. “Everyone through. Quickly. Before it seals again.”
They slipped into the valley one by one—Caelan first, then Lirrane, then Yunlian, and finally Mingxi with Poppy close against him. The instant all five crossed the threshold, the ward slammed shut behind them with a sound like stone folding in on itself.
The air inside the valley was wrong. Heavy. Cold. Metallic. The ground trembled underfoot as if something massive turned beneath it.
Poppy steadied herself. “It’s worse than I remember.”
“Because the shard is awake,” Caelan murmured.
“And hungry,” Lirrane added.
Mingxi bristled. “It will starve before it touches her.”
Poppy placed her hand over Mingxi’s. “We’re almost there.”
