Together, they knelt before the Shards. Sebastian reached for Earth and Fire, Kara took Water and Air.
Slowly, they brought them together.
At first, the glow sharpened, each Shard flaring as though recognising the others. Energy sparked between them. Kara’s heart leapt – it was working. But then, as they touched–
It all went wrong.
A violent shudder ripped through the cave. A flash of blinding light. An unpleasant surge tore through Kara’s entire body – like being plunged in ice and fire at once.
Then it pulled away from them.
Leaving only darkness.
Silence.
Searing pain shot through her hands. They both dropped the Shards. They hit the ground with a low crack. Lifeless. The glow that had pulsed around them – gone. Like it had never been there at all. Kara stumbled back, her palms burning.
“Wh–what was that?” she stuttered.
Sebastian didn’t answer. He stared at the Shards.
He grabbed Earth and pressed it to Water. Nothing.
Fire to Air. Nothing.
“No,” he muttered, shaking his head. “No, that’s not possible. We did everything right.” He forced all four of them into a pile. “Come on,” he muttered. “Come on–”
Nothing.
“Sebastian... why won’t it work?”
“I don’t know,” he said desperately. “It called to me. Itwantsto be whole. I don’t understand.”
Kara wrapped her arms around herself. She’d seen the vision in his mind, felt the Arcanth’s calling. But here it lay, refusing them. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say. The silence stretched. Finally, tentatively, she voiced the fear she knew they were both thinking.
“Sebastian... what if this was all for nothing?”
“Don’t say that,” he snapped. He dragged a hand across his face, visibly reining himself back. He stared at the Shards like they had betrayed him.
She watched him. Waiting.
But he said nothing.
Not a single word.
More minutes ticked by. Sebastian stared out of the cave. There had to be something he was missing. They had followed the vision, risked everything, bled for this, killed for this – and still the Arcanth lay broken. They needed information. Answers.
What the hells were they going to do?
Fatàn... they know the most about the Arcanth, don’t they?
He flexed his fingers, then fisted them together on his knee.
The old texts, their library archives his father had told him about. No House had studied it longer. No one else even claimed to understand. But then he shook his head, furious at himself.
What if they don’t know?
He glanced at Kara. She looked so small sitting there, her arms hugged tight around herself.
