The Wolf took off like a shot, sprinting into the grey void. He wasn't running toward anything; he was just running.Motionwas his defense mechanism. If he stopped, the silence would catch him.
"Flynn, no!" I reached out with a gravity tether, trying to snag him, but my control was slippery here. The magic felt greasy, sliding out of my grip.
Flynn slammed into... something.
There was nothing there. Just empty, grey air. But he hit an invisible barrier with a sickeningthud. He bounced off, yelping, shaking his head.
He snarled and lunged again.Snap.His jaws closed on empty air, tearing at a shadow that wasn't casting a shape.
Enemies,Flynn’s mind fractured.Invisible. Everywhere. Surrounded.
He began to tear at the shadows. He spun in circles, biting the air, slashing with his claws at the nothingness. He was fighting phantoms born of his own sensory isolation.
"Refraction," Elias muttered.
I spun around. The Phoenix had shifted back, not fully human, but a humanoid shape of flickering flame. He was clutching his head, his eyes burning with a manic, terrified light.
"The light doesn't travel," Elias rasped, his voice sounding like crumbling charcoal. "There are no reflections. We are standing on a plane that doesn't exist."
"Elias, look at me," I commanded, stepping in front of him. I grabbed his burning shoulders. My metal hands absorbed the heat easily. "We are here. We are solid. Focus on me."
"You are a variable," he whispered, staring at my glowing violet veins. "You vibrate. Why do you vibrate?"
"Because I'm not fighting it," I realized.
Kaelen roared again, louder this time. He reared up on his hind legs, his wings flared wide, casting a massive shadow over the desolate plain. He was preparing to unleash a cataclysmic breath attack, a desperate attempt to light up the dark.
But if he did that, he'd burn out. He'd exhaust his divine core fighting the entropy of the Underworld.
"Kaelen, stand down!" I screamed, running toward the towering dragon.
He looked down at me. For a second, I thought he saw me.
Then he lunged.
It wasn't an attack of malice. It was the reaction of a trapped animal seeing movement. His massive head snapped down, jaws opening to engulf the threat.
I didn't dodge. I couldn't outrun a dragon.
Thane moved.
The Bear Prince, half-buried in the iron floor, roared. He ripped his paws free with a sound of tearing metal and threw his bulk between me and Kaelen.
CRUNCH.
Kaelen’s teeth clamped down on Thane’s shoulder.
The sound of dragon-tooth meeting earth-magic-infused fur was sickening. Thane grunted, sliding backward, his claws carving furrows in the iron.
Protect,Thane’s mind boomed, simple and absolute.
Kaelen recoiled, shaking his head, realizing he had bitten something akin to stone and brother. He backed away, smoke pouring from his nose, looking horrified and confused.
The dark... it tricked me,Kaelen panicked.I didn't mean... it moved...
Flynn was still snapping at the air, howling at ghosts. Elias was unraveling the math of the floor, weeping as he found no answer.
They were falling apart. The strongest beings I knew were being dismantled by the silence.
