Of course he is.
Councilor Merith begins the formal address. “We convene under League arbitration to discuss contested trade corridors and?—”
“Raids,” a Vakutan delegate snaps.
The word strikes like flint.
Tension hums louder.
Kael does not react.
I catch a faint vibration beneath my boots.
Subtle.
Almost imperceptible.
The overhead lighting flickers once.
“Did you feel that?” Tovin whispers.
“Yes.”
A second vibration ripples upward through the floor.
And then?—
The explosion hits.
Pressure crushes the air from my lungs.
White light detonates overhead.
The floor vanishes beneath me.
I am airborne.
Then impact.
Pain erupts along my shoulder as I slam down. My ears fill with a high-pitched whine that devours sound. Heat rolls across my back like an open furnace.
Smoke floods the chamber.
I push onto shaking hands.
The far wall is gone.
Beyond it, black space churns against a flickering containment field. Debris spins slowly through fractured air. A crystalline strut above groans and tears free.
“Elara!” Tovin shouts.
I scramble sideways as the strut crashes down, shattering the floor where I had stood moments before.
Glass rains. Sparks cascade from ruptured conduits. Someone screams. Someone else is sobbing.
“Seal the breach!” Merith’s voice cuts through chaos.
Emergency blast doors descend with metallic shrieks.
