"Then I do it," Flynn said.
The Wolf Prince appeared beside me. He was covered in black ichor, bleeding from a dozen small cuts, but his eyes were bright and wild.
"Cover me," Flynn said.
"What are you doing?"
"Buying you a minute."
Flynn turned and sprinted. Not toward the enemies. toward the magma channel.
He leaped.
He didn't aim for the walkway. He aimed for the hanging chain of a massive crucible suspended above the channel, a container holding tons of molten copper.
He caught the chain, swinging wildly over the burning river.
"Hey!" Flynn screamed at the shadows swarming the platform.
He cut the retention cable.
The crucible tipped.
A literal wave of molten copper crashed onto the catwalks. It swept across the eastern flank of the forge floor, a tsunami of liquid fire.
The void creatures screamed. Not in pain, but in dissolution. The copper encased them, burning the shadow-matter away instantly. The wave washed over the floor, clearing the immediate perimeter of the Anvil in a hissing, steaming flood.
"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Flynn yelled, swinging back and landing on the dais, his boots smoking.
"Effective," Hephaestus grunted, not pausing in his hammer work.
The immediate pressure was gone. The swarm was incinerated or trapped in cooling metal.
But Apollo was still there.
He threw Thane off him with a blast of dark gravity. The Bear hit the ground hard, rolling to his feet, but he was slowing down.
Apollo looked at the cooling copper, then at us. He tilted his head.
"Messy," he critiqued. "But pyrotechnics won't save her."
He raised both hands. The shadows in the corners of the room grew long, stretching out like claws. They bypassed Thane. They bypassed Flynn.
They aimed for Elias.
"The Architect," Apollo whispered. "Break the mind, and the body follows."
"Elias! Guard!" I shouted.
Elias saw it coming. He raised a shield of complex geometry, dazzling turquoise fractals.
The shadows smashed into the shield. It held for a second, then shattered like glass.
Elias was thrown backward. He broke his stance. His connection to the Anvil severed.
"Elias!" I screamed.
On the slab, Aria simply... stopped.
