“Here.”
Khaivor turns sharply toward me. “Roseth?—”
“We cannot stop the resonance by fighting it directly anymore.” I grab tongs from the cart with shaking hands. “The stolen bell is too unstable now.”
Another pulse tears through the air, sharp enough to rattle my teeth.
Khaivor stiffens instantly. His head tilts slightly, listening beyond ordinary hearing. Then his face drains of color.
“It is getting worse.”
I move my focus toward the temple.
The resonance no longer sounds controlled. Even I can hear the instability in the tone. The tones clash unevenly against each other like metal grinding itself apart.
“What is happening?” Vi asks breathlessly.
Khaivor answers without taking his eyes off the temple. “The bell is collapsing beneath its own amplification.”
Brohm frowns. “In words that normal people can understand,”
“It is becoming too powerful to control,” I say quietly.
A terrible realization drops.
“It will kill everyone.”
Silence flashes across the square despite the chaos surrounding us.
Human, Dark elfs, It no longer matters.
The resonance wants destruction now.
And Father Orrick finally understands what he has unleashed.
The temple doors stand open above the square.
Father Orrick grips the stolen bell with white-knuckled hands and a scared countenance while violent resonance surges around him in spiraling waves. Cracks split through the stone floor beneath his feet.
“This was not the purpose,” he whispers hoarsely.
Another pulse explodes outward and everything shatters.
Below him, Bellmere screams.
His horrified gaze drops toward the fleeing crowds as realization crashes fully into him at last.
The bell no longer obeys intention.
Only resonance and destruction.
“Rose!”
Vi grabs my shoulder as another shockwave rattles the square. “Tell us what to do.”
I force myself to breathe… to think.
The answer already exists. It has existed since the moment Khaivor struck that first bell years ago and found peace inside its sound.
