"What happened to him?" I knelt beside him, taking his cold hand in mine.
"Magical exhaustion," Fenric checked Milo's pulse. "Severe, but not immediately life-threatening."
Rook growled, his eyes flashing amber as he scanned the room. "Where's the manticore?"
I froze, suddenly realizing Horrace wasn't with Milo. "Horrace? Horrace!" I called, panic rising in my throat.
No musical trill answered me. No tentacled form came bounding out of the shadows.
"They've taken him with my skeletons," Milo's voice was barely a whisper, his eyes fluttering open. "I couldn't stop them."
"Milo!" I squeezed his hand. "Who took Horrace? What happened?"
He struggled to focus, his usual bright energy dimmed to a flicker. "Cultists. They were waiting. They knew we'd come."He coughed weakly. "They had a containment sphere. Trapped Horrace inside. Said they needed him for the ritual."
"What ritual?" Fenric was already documenting everything on his tablet.
"The Opening," Milo's eyes drifted closed again. "They're going to use him to tear the Veil permanently. They need his inter-dimensional energy."
Cold dread settled in my stomach. "Where did they take him?"
"Don't know," Milo shook his head weakly. "But they left this." He fumbled in his pocket, pulling out a small, crystalline object that pulsed with an ominous red light.
Fenric took it carefully, his expression grave. "A beacon. They want us to follow them."
"It's a trap," Rook voice was flat.
"Obviously," Zane was supporting Milo's head. "But they have Horrace."
I stood up, determination hardening within me. "Then we spring the trap."
"Winter," Fenric's voice held a warning. "This is exactly what they want. They're using Horrace to lure you to them."
"I know," I met his gaze steadily. "But I'm not abandoning him."
The spiral mark on my side pulsed painfully, as if responding to my resolve. I pressed my hand against it, feeling it writhe beneath my palm like a living thing trying to break free.
"Something's happening," I gasped as the pain intensified.
The others watched in horror as the spiral began to glow through my shirt, its light a sickly red in contrast to the blue of my prophetic markings. The two energies clashed visibly, creating a purple haze where they overlapped.
"The Harbinger mark is activating," Fenric moved toward me, crystal scanner in hand. "It's responding to something in this chamber."
Before he could reach me, a violent surge of energy exploded from the altar at the center of the room. The frozen candle flames suddenly roared to life, stretching toward the ceiling in pillars of fire. The symbols carved into the stone began to glow with the same red light as my spiral mark.
"Get back!" Rook lunged to pull me away from the altar.
Too late. A beam of crimson energy shot from the altar directly to my side, connecting with the spiral mark like a tether. Pain tore through me, dropping me to my knees. It felt like something was being pulled from me, or perhaps pushed into me, I couldn't tell which was worse.
"Winter!" Zane abandoned Milo to rush to my side, his hands already glowing with protective magic.
The connection between the altar and my mark pulsed once, twice, then severed with a sound like tearing fabric. I collapsed forward, barely catching myself on my hands.
"Are you okay?" Rook's hands were on my shoulders, steadying me.
I nodded shakily, though I felt far from okay. The spiral mark had changed—I could feel it without looking. It had grown, spreading across my ribs like a creeping vine.
"They're using you," Milo's voice was stronger now, urgency giving him renewed energy. "The spiral is a conduit. They're channeling power through you to weaken the Veil."
