“No doubt.”
“Are you talking about him or me?” Zayn asked.
I made a motion of zipping my lips shut.
“Fine, woman. But just know, we’ll settle this later.” He winked. “And I’ll get Win to help me.”
I loved it. All of it.
And soon it would be real, not just fantasy.
Vaxan caught my eye and smiled, his thoughts clearly mirroring mine.
And then we were all startling as the gateway Ambrose had marked revealed itself, midnight-blue light forming a shimmering rectangle coming into view, as the necromantic power slipped away.
Sylas had them death-tethered.
I drew closer with Zayn right beside me, and I peered down to see it cut a magical path all the way through, where I could see those black spires and jagged stone constructions that Ruxnoth had forced onto the Dracoryn Realm. Hundreds of feet down, but discernible nonetheless with my dragon vision. Without the magical portal, it would just be volcanic rock and lava all the way down, but this opened the way to another realm entirely, an oddity forged of magic and matter in almost equal measure.
“Go,” Vaxan called to Ambrose. “Hit the Fuel Core. I’ll follow. It will take me some time to embed all the way down and into thebedrock of the construct, where the resonance will then radiate out.”
Ambrose gave a nod, then thrust his palms forward, black tendrils streaming down into the gateway.
It went on and on with him pouring more and more magic through, until he was grunting. “It’s… taking him.”
“Tiny god is… falling?” Ketheron uttered, voice shaking.
“Yes,” Ambrose confirmed, looking out at us all briefly.
“How bad is it for him?” Lazriel called over.
“Is it hurting him too much?” Zayn added.
Ambrose caught Remnant’s eye.
That said it all. The grave, knowing look passing between them.
“It will be over very quickly,” Remnant’s voice boomed, both somehow commanding and gently reassuring all at once. “Focus on the end result. I’m sure Winter is doing just that.”
I squeezed Zayn’s hand as my gut twisted something fierce.
Then we watched as Vaxan hovered his palms over the other end of the gateway, then let out a hiss, just before translucent ripples shot inside, weaving carefully around Ambrose’s black tendrils, rushing down in what looked a lot like sonic pulses, tons and tons of them driving inside. The floor shook, the walls, the gateway even.
But through it, he remained steady, anchoring himself with his thighs, as he then thrust his hands into the gateway itself, a surge of the vibrational resonance becoming a reverberating thunderous destructive force.
I listened with my sensitive hearing and picked up on cracks deep in the foundations of the place below.
A pained sound came from Ambrose. Ketheron’s gold magic was glowing along his shoulders now, his True Celestial power bolstering him.
“Winter is down,” I heard him tell Ketheron. “But Ruxnoth is trying to thread together his own power residue and siphon Winter to restore the eaten Fuel Core. I can’t let up until Winter rises.”
Ketheron cursed.
“I have to flood the entire construct in the meantime. I am sorry, treasure. I know I promised I would be careful with my life for you, for us—”
“It’s not your fault. And you are still being careful. You’re allowing me to infuse you with my power to assist. Know that I will see to you, you won’t fall. I am here, my gorgeous. I am here.”
Another rumble startled us all.
