"What's happening?" Emma was on her feet, confusion and fear in her eyes.
"Stay back," Zane warned, placing himself between her and the rift. "This isn't part of the reunion we planned."
From the darkness, a construct of twisted magic emerged, a floating sigil engine, its gears and dials spinning madly as it hovered in the center of the room.
What in the actual fuck?
"They're using the emotional surge from the reunion," Fenric realized. "Weaponizing it against Winter's markings."
The sigil engine began to pulse, drawing power from the ambient magic in the room. I felt it pulling at my markings, trying to corrupt the pure prophetic energy with something darker, more controlled.
"Stop it!" I tried to channel my power against the device, but the connection to Horrace made my energy unstable, unpredictable.
"The blue collar," Milo pointed. "It's acting as a conduit."
Before any of us could react, Horrace made a decision. With a defiant trill that echoed through the room, he launched himself from my arms directly at the sigil engine.
"Horrace, no!" I reached for him, but it was too late.
His small body collided with the device, tentacles wrapping around its spinning gears. The blue light from my markings flowed through our connection into him, and then into the machine. Instead of corrupting my prophetic energy, Horrace was channeling it, absorbing the dark magic meant for me.
The sigil engine sputtered and screamed, its mechanisms grinding against each other as Horrace's intervention disrupted its function. The blue collar around his neck blazed like a star, pulsing in time with my heartbeat.
"He's protecting you," Zane's voice was tight with urgency. "But it's tearing him apart."
I could feel it through our bond, Horrace was in agony, the corrupted magic burning through him like acid. Yet he held on, determined to shield me from what the Harbingers had planned.
"We have to help him," I reached toward Horrace, desperation in my voice.
Rook's hand caught mine. "Together," his eyes met mine with fierce determination.
Understanding flowed between us. I reached for Zane's hand with my other arm, and he caught Milo's, who grasped Fenric's. The five of us formed a circle, our energies connecting through the bond we'd forged over weeks of trials and danger.
"The Four Keys," Fenric murmured. "Not objects, people."
Power surged through our joined hands, flowing into me and then out toward Horrace. The markings on my skin blazed so brightly that the room was bathed in blue light. I focused that energy, directing it to strengthen Horrace against the corrupting influence of the sigil engine.
The machine made an unearthly sound, like metal tearing, and then exploded in a shower of broken gears and twisted metal. Horrace fell to the floor, his small body limp and unnaturally still.
"Horrace!" Emma rushed forward, gathering him gently into her arms. "Please be okay, please be okay," she cradled him like she had when she was a child.
The rift pulsed once more, the crimson eyes within it narrowing with what felt like malevolent consideration. Then it closed, snapping shut with a sound like thunder, leaving Emma's office wall undamaged as if nothing had happened.
I knelt beside Emma, my heart in my throat as I reached out to touch Horrace. His body was warm, but the vibrant colors had faded to a dull gray. His twelve eyes remained closed.
"Is he...?" I couldn't finish the question.
Emma pressed her ear to his body, listening. "He's alive. But something's wrong."
Slowly, Horrace's eyes began to open, one by one. They blinked in confusion, swiveling around the room without recognition. When his gaze landed on me, there was no flicker of familiarity, no musical trill of greeting.
"He doesn't know who I am," I realized with dawning horror.
"The trial of memory," Fenric's voice was somber. "The Harbingers corrupted the trial's purpose. Instead of restoring memories, they've taken them."
Emma looked up, tears streaming down her face again, but for a very different reason. "What does that mean? What's happened to him?"
"The sigil engine was designed to corrupt prophetic energy," My voice felt hollow. "When Horrace intercepted it, he saved me, but at a terrible cost." I swallowed hard. "He's lost his memories."
