Page 190 of The Last Remaining Light

Muscles strained beneath torn sleeves while the bridge trembled beneath them as another wave of resonance began.

“HOLD ON!” yelled Korvel.

For several agonizing moments, the only sounds were Lora's panicked cries and the distant rush of the currents far below.

Together the two men had managed to haul her back onto the bridge.

The instant her boots found solid stone again, Lora collapsed onto her hands and knees, sobbing. Alyra dropped her sword with a clatter and fell beside her, pulling her into a fierce embrace while muttering words too fast and quiet for Elowynn to hear.

Korvel thumped onto his back along the narrow bridge and released a long breath. “You should watch where you're walking."

The words sounded gruff, but relief was heard beneath them.

Lora laughed once. The sound emerged somewhere between a sob and a hysterical giggle. "I'll keep that in mind."

A smile touched Korvel's face, but vanished just as quickly.

Caelyn reached a hand toward Korvel, offering to help him stand.

Korvel hesitated, his gaze lingering on the black veins beneath Caelyn’s skin. The uncertainty lasted only a breath before he took Caelyn’s hand and allowed himself to be pulled upright.

The two men exchanged a firm nod, a silent acknowledgment of a job well done.

Eventually, Vaelor urged them onward.

The reminder was unnecessary. No one wanted to linger above the abyss any longer than they had to. One by one they resumed crossing the bridge, though everyone kept considerably farther from the edge than before. Alyra had refused to let go of Lora’s hand.

The starway grew larger with every step.

As they approached, Elowynn realized it dwarfed every starway she had seen before. The archway rose nearly three stories high. Its surface was covered in worn resonance glyphs and convergence sigils that glowed beneath centuries of dust. Massive channels fed directly into its base from the surrounding currents, carrying light through the stone like blood flowing through veins.

"It is connected to the currents," Elowynn breathed.

Vaelor nodded as he studied it. "I believe this one was built before the observatories."

Everything they had learned suggested the observatories were ancient, but stars! This one was so much older.

Another pulse rolled through the cavern and the currents brightened.

The starway reacted.

Silver and gold light raced across the carvings covering its surface and the sigils awakened one after another until the entire structure shimmered with bright radiance.

Vaelor stepped closer, his attention moving rapidly across the illuminated markings. He reached toward a cluster of sigils along the inner arch, pressing his palm against one before tracing a second with two fingers. The symbols shifted and warped beneath his touch, their light rearranging into a pattern Elowynn recognized only after it had stopped.

Her breath caught. "Those are coordinates."

"An older form of them," Vaelor said. "But yes."

"You know how to direct it?"

"I know how to tell it where we wish to go." His eyes flicked toward the currents blazing beneath them. "Whether it listens to my directions, well. That is another matter."

Caelyn stopped walking, his black gaze fixed on the gateway. The expression on his face carried the distant look of someone confronting a memory he didn't remember having.

"Have you seen this before?" she asked.

Hesitating, Caelyn shook his head. "Not this one."