Page 127 of The Last Remaining Light

A second impact hit, this one closer.

Alyra cursed and drew a resonance short sword that had been hidden beneath her cloak. The weapon ignited with silver-blue light that streaked along its narrow, crystalline edge.

Caelyn straightened from the wall despite the agony tearing through him, grateful to see one of these blades. Hopefully the Astrari knew how to wield it.

“Elowynn,” he said roughly.

She looked toward him, tears streaming down her face.

Dead stars! Fine. He would get her to safety, and then he would go.

“We leave. Now.” He stepped forward but didn't reach his hand for her.

As much as he wanted her touch, as much as he needed to feel her against him…

He wouldn’t risk her. Shielding her from the explosion of glass had been reckless enough, knowing what was about to emerge from him.

A third impact shattered the lower corridor doors outside the chamber suite, terrified screams following in its wake.

Starless. Inside the tower.

Lora grabbed several resonance crystals from Elowynn’s desk, shoving them in pockets before clutching the rest to her chest. Alyra was already moving toward the hallway entrance.

The women were terrified, but they moved anyway.

He was glad Elowynn had found friends like them. Resolute and loyal.

The tower shuddered again and listed slightly to one side. They had wasted too much time.

The observatory corridors beyond had descended fully into chaos.

Scholars fled through plumes of thick smoke and halls filled with light from the flames. Distant sections of the tower continued collapsing beneath the unstable resonance surges. Frost and fire spread together through portions of the upper halls in impossible contradiction.

Blackwake had broken the city open; it was bleeding everywhere.

And somewhere beneath all of it—the aethercurrents wailed in agony, piercing and deafening.

The force of it nearly drove Caelyn to his knees. Beside him, Elowynn cried out and clutched her ears, folding in on herself as she tried to block out the sound.

Whatever was beneath the city had awakened more now. He could feel its attention moving through the currents like pressure beneath ice, looking for a weakness.

It was searching and hungry, starved for energy after nearly sixteen turnings of dormancy.

When the screaming in the currents finally eased, Caelyn turned to see Elowynn already staring at him, wide-eyed and terrified.

He couldn't hide the full fear in his own eyes.

His fear for her.

“You’re going to be alright,” he vowed to her, his black eyes locked to her sapphire ones.

He lifted a trembling hand, stopping just short of her cheek.

He dared not touch her.

“I will die before I let anything happen to you.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven