"Elias!" I shouted, watching the Weaver deflect a bolt of black energy with a shield of geometric light. "Are you holding?"
"Holding!" Elias cried, though his voice was strained, high and thin. He stood at the Eastern point, one hand extended toward Aria to maintain the soul-lattice, the other weaving frantic patterns in the air to create barriers. "But the enemies are multiplying! The entropy in the room is disrupting the magical density!"
"Thane!" I called out.
I looked past the Anvil.
Thane was besieged. He was surrounded by a dozen shadowy forms, hulking brutes made of solidified darkness. He fought with a brutal, economical grace. He grabbed one creature by the neck and used it as a club to smash two others. He backhanded a fourth, sending it flying into a vat of molten bronze where it hissed and vanished.
He was holding the line. But Apollo was walking through the melee untouched.
The fallen god strolled through the carnage, the void-creatures parting around him like water. He picked up Thane’s hammer from where it had fallen.
"Heavy," Apollo mused, hefting the massive weapon with effortless strength. "Primitive. But effective."
He swung.
Thane barely got his arms up.
The impact was thunderous. The hammer shielded by void-magic slammed into Thane’s forearms. The Bear Prince skidded backward, his boots carving deep grooves into the iron floor, sparks flying. He hit a pillar, the stone cracking behind him.
Thane!Aria’s mental voice spiked, a scream of panic.
Focus!I snapped at her, though it tore me apart to do it.Stay in the metal, Aria. If you reach for him, you break.
Thane shook his head, clearing the cobwebs. He roared, a sound of pure defiance, and charged Apollo bare-handed. He tackled the god, slamming him into the wall of the forge. They grappled, a clash of corrupted light and immovable earth, shaking the very foundations of the room.
"We are running out of time!" Hephaestus warned, quenching a section of Aria’s leg with a hiss of steam. "The lattice is setting! If we don't finish the integration in the next two minutes, she stays a statue forever!"
"Two minutes!" I gritted my teeth. The fire inside me was an endless well, but my body was mortal enough to feel the strain. My skin felt like it was cracking. "Flynn! Keep them off the dais!"
"I'm trying!" Flynn yelled, kicking a crawler in the face. "But they keep spawning! It’s like kicking a nest of spiders!"
A glob of black slime landed on the Anvil, inches from Aria’s face.
It began to hiss, eating into the iron.
"NO!"
I broke the stream. Just for a microsecond.
I lashed out with my left hand, the one not directly channeling the core heat, and sent a whip of fire to burn the slime away.
Pain exploded in my chest. Splitting the flow was like tearing a muscle in my soul. I gasped, stumbling to one knee.
The heat on the Anvil dropped.
Aria’s back arched. The gold in her skin dulled to grey. Her eyes rolled back, the magma light fading.
"Stabilize!" Elias screamed, his own magic faltering as the connection wavered. "Kaelen! You are killing her!"
I slammed my hand back into position, roaring with effort, forcing the fire back up. "I know! I know!"
Aria thumped back onto the slab, the color returning, but she looked weaker. The bond was fraying. The sheer chaos of the room was overwhelming the delicate work we were trying to do.
"We need a clearing!" I yelled. "Thane! Can you ground-pound?"
"Engaged!" Thane’s voice came from across the room, strained and breathless. He was holding Apollo’s wrist, keeping the god from driving a dagger of void-glass into his eye. "Cannot... disengage!"
