Page 150 of The Fifth Heir

“Will be less than whatever happens when that ring fails.”

Malcolm struck the black return line again.

A section of metal split.

Fire escaped through the opening.

The outer ring caught it, but the impact sent red cracks through the containment barrier.

The audience screamed.

Torren forced himself upright. “Everyone out of the Hall.”

The headmaster repeated the order through the acoustical runes.

The exits filled faster.

I looked at the four elemental channels.

They appeared brighter than the stone between them, each carrying power toward the clear rune in a separate line. Fire did not mix with Frost. Storm did not scatter Shadow.

All four remained distinct until they reached me.

The pattern matched the Fifth Wing hearth.

It matched the First Trial.

Four powers moving toward one center.

Not to disappear.

To change direction.

I lowered both hands to the clear rune.

“Talia, don’t,” Torren said.

“I know how the channels connect.”

“That doesn’t mean you can control them.”

“I did inside the Trial.”

“You directed us. You didn’t take our elements into your body.”

“I’m not going to.”

The clear rune pulsed beneath my palms.

Light entered the crystal torc and traveled down both arms. It reached my hands, then spread across the floor in thin transparent lines.

The elemental channels became clearer.

I could see where each joined the center. I could also see the sealed path each should have followed into the return ring.

The new metal repairs had reversed them.

They were not merely blocking excess power. They had turned the return channels inward.