"Right," Zane finally broke the silence. "Let's try something else. I've got a magical artifact that might help."
He reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked like an ancient coin. "It's a reality anchor. Usually used to stabilize dimensional rifts, but if I overload it with enough power, it might disrupt the ward long enough for us to break through."
"Will it work?" Hope was rekindling.
"Fifty-fifty chance," he shrugged. "But it's better odds than we had before."
"Do it," I nodded. "What do you need from us?"
"Channel your energy into me," he instructed. "I'll direct it into the artifact."
We gathered again, this time with Zane at the center. Milo and I placed our hands on his shoulders, while Horrace wrapped tentacles around all three of us, creating a circuit.
"This is going to hurt," Zane warned. "A lot. But don't break contact, no matter what."
I nodded, bracing myself. Milo did the same, his expression determined despite the fear in his eyes.
Zane began chanting in a language I didn't recognize, ancient and fluid. The coin in his hand began to glow, first silver, then blue, then a blinding white. I felt the pull as my energy flowed into him, the blue markings on my skin burning as they responded to his call.
The pain was immediate and intense, like being flayed from the inside out. I gasped but maintained contact, my fingers digging into Zane's shoulder. Beside me, Milo was doing the same, his face contorted in a grimace of pain.
The ward began to react, pulsing more rapidly as it sensed our attempt to breach it. The walls shuddered, dust and small rocks raining down from the ceiling. The air grew thick with the magical discharge, making it hard to breathe.
"Almost there," Zane gritted through clenched teeth, his entire body rigid with strain. The coin was now so bright I couldn't look directly at it.
With a final word of power, Zane thrust the coin against the barrier. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then the coin shattered, releasing a wave of energy that tore through the ward like paper.
"Now!" Zane shouted. "Run!"
We stumbled through the breach, Horrace leading the way with his superior night vision. Behind us, the ward collapsed in on itself, the chamber imploding with a deafening roar. We raced through the tunnel, rocks falling around us as the entire complex began to destabilize.
"Faster!" Zane urged, grabbing my hand to help me keep pace despite my aching knee.
We burst out of the tunnel just as it collapsed behind us, a cloud of dust and debris billowing out in our wake. We didn't stop running until we reached the boiler room, where we finally paused, gasping for breath.
"Everyone okay?" Zane looked us over, his concern evident despite his own exhaustion.
I nodded, too winded to speak. Milo gave a thumbs-up, though he was bent double, hands on his knees, his little skeletons all shaking at the experience. Horrace made a tired but affirmative musical note.
"That was too close," I finally managed. "How did you know the artifact would work?"
"I didn't," Zane admitted. "But I figured dying while trying was better than waiting to be crushed."
"Solid logic," Milo straightened, pushing his curls out of his eyes. "Though I vote for 'not dying at all' as the preferred outcome."
"Seconded," I agreed fervently.
We made our way back through the factory, moving more cautiously now, alert for any sign of the cultists who had set the trap. But the building remained empty, our footsteps the only sound echoing through the abandoned halls.
When we finally emerged into the late afternoon sunlight, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. We were alive. Battered, exhausted, and covered in dust, but alive.
This was becoming a pattern, wasn't it?
"So," I broke the silence as we walked toward Zane's parked car, "I guess you owe me a magically-inverted coffee."
Zane raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure that?"
"You're the one who suggested we go into the creepy death factory," I reminded him. "I'd call that chickening out when we had to blast our way free."
