Back to the war room. Back to planning. Four hours until solstice. Four convergence points remaining.
And now we knew each one would be different. Each one would require everything we had. But we’d proven it was possible.
That would have to be enough.
31
Cyrus
THREE HOURS UNTIL SOLSTICE, AND Keane was already adjusting his specifications for the fifth time. On my shoulder, Ember watched, following the activity.
Wickem’s auditorium barely resembled the ceremonial space where President Sprig had once welcomed students. The circular stage at the center—where heirs had traditionally offered their magic to the wellspring—now held command stations, tablets, and dimensional displays floating in mid-air like translucent windows showing five convergence points simultaneously. Communication spells hummed at every position, glowing orbs that connected us to teams across five continents.
Parker had converted the entire space into mission control. Portal mages stood ready at marked positions around the stage. International representatives monitored from the ascending rows of seats. Shroud Guard held the perimeter along the back walls, their tattoos glowing faintly on their necks.
It worked because of location. The auditorium sat directly above Wickem’s wellspring chamber. One floor below the stage, Marigold could channel through the ancient pool while we coordinated from here, close enough to protect but separate enough to let her work.
Above us, the circular glass dome let in the predawn light. Below us, the wellspring waited.
I stood stage right, watching Keane work at the main command station. His fingers moved across the tablet, pulling up corruption signatures and adjusting lattice specifications. The dimensional display in front of him showed all five convergence points in holographic detail: Vienna, Prague, Mumbai, Cairo, and Alpine’s active monitoring.
Vienna’s corruption signature matches Alpine’s closely, Keane said into the communication spell hovering beside his station—a sphere of pale blue light that would carry his voice to Vienna. Same penetration depth, similar propagation pattern. Standard lattice should work with minor adjustments to dimensional stress points.
The Vienna team’s response crackled back through the spell: Vienna team confirms. Ready to execute.
Prague is different. Keane pulled up another overlay on the display. The hologram shifted, showing Prague’s convergence point with corruption threads running deeper, more tangled than Vienna’s. Longer exposure. Deeper saturation. The corruption has fundamentally altered how magic flows through the convergence point. Your lattice will need reinforced boundaries as well as a modified drain rate.
Prague team confirmed through their communication spell, nervous but prepared.
Mumbai and Cairo are wildcard variables. His fingers moved across the tablet, swiping through data. Limited data. We won’t know what modifications are needed until you’re on site and Elio’s overlays reveal the actual architecture.
The assembled portal mages absorbed this, professional and competent, but I could see the fear underneath.
This wasn’t following instructions anymore. This was adapting in real-time to unknowns while the world watched.
Parker approached from her position near the ascending seats. Teams are ready for deployment. Marigold’s in the wellspring chamber below, establishing connections to all four convergence points. She confirms she can channel cycle authority simultaneously if the corruptions are similar enough.
And if they’re not? I asked.
Then we prioritize. Parker’s expression was grim. Focus resources on the convergence points most likely to succeed. Accept that we might not be able to complete all four.
Accept failure as a possibility. Accept limitation as reality.
I hated it. Every tactical instinct I had screamed to overwhelm, to dominate, to win through superior force.
But force wasn’t the answer here. Precision was. Adaptation was. Restraint was.
Elio, Keane said.
Elio stood stage left, positioned where he could see all five holographic overlays simultaneously. Echo perched on his shoulder, her scales shifting to determined silver. Your truth overlays need to reveal not just what we’re building but what we’re building against. Each corruption signature is going to try and deceive us differently. Alpine taught us that.
I can maintain separate overlays for each site, Elio confirmed. Truth-lock on all four simultaneously. My magic will project through their local truth mages. They’ll see what I see, reality without deception.
For how long?
As long as it takes. His light blue eyes held exhaustion and certainty in equal measure. I’m not the limitation here. The lattice architecture is.
He was right. The design worked but only if we could adapt it fast enough.
