A chorus of shrieks echoed down the stairwell. Something slammed against the metal gate. Then again. The ground quaked. Dust rained down from the vaulted ceiling in trembling waves.
In his arms, Auryn stirred. Her eyes were distant. Glazed. Barely there.
“Stay awake. We’re almost there.”
Her brow creased. Her eyes fluttered open just as another tremor shook the chamber.
A pulse of energy vibrated through the floor. A surge of runes flared somewhere overhead. Then came a voice like thunder, full of fury and fire, raised in a cry he knew as intimately as his own heartbeat.
Zarrek.
Auryn’s eyes snapped open.
“That’s Zarrek,” she whispered, voice catching. “He’s fighting. Still fighting.” Her head shook wildly. “No, I can’t—we can’t—this isn’t right—”
“Auryn—” He caught her as she started to slip from his arms. “Stay still.”
She pushed against hischest, weak but desperate. “Where is he? We have to go back!”
“We can’t, Auryn,” he said—firm, but breaking.
She fought him, tears streaking her silver-dusted cheeks. “No—no, I can help—I can seal the rift—let me go—I have to go!”
He held her still, drawing her closer, arms caging her trembling frame. “You can hardly stand, let alone fight.”
“You’re not even asking me,” she hissed, fury flaring through the fog. “Again! Again! You’re just doing what you want—”
He lowered his forehead to hers, shielding her from the rumbling above with his body, breath shaking.
“I’m doing what I must,” he said, catching her wrists. His voice dropped to a growl, heavy with the old, terrible intimacy of the chamber around them. “The Oathgate is built for vows, Auryn. You swore once your path was with me. Swear it again—before the world takes you from me.”
She choked on a breath, body quaking.
Another explosion rattled the fortress. The far gate groaned, warped metal bending under pressure.
“I am choosing!” she cried, trying to wrench herself free. “I choose him! And Thessia! I choose all of you!”
Kailorien caught her before she could stumble back toward the sound of dying. He gathered her in, holding her tight as the chamber shook again.
“Then hate me for it later,” he whispered harshly. “But I won’t lose you now.”
He turned to the Veinroads’ entrance. The stone seal stood cracked open. Runes flickered, waiting—hungry for his step.
Auryn tried to run again. Her legs buckled. He lifted her easily, gathering her into his arms as she wept, barelyresisting now.
With one burst of motion, he carried her through the archway and into the spiral of light beyond. The Veinroads swallowed them.
Auryn’s sobs echoed in the dark. The severed golden braid shook in her fist as she wept. His nape itched. Vargrún burned hot, sensing every fracture in her heart.
Behind them, the portal sealed with a final, echoing boom—cutting off the thunder of battle.
For one suspended heartbeat, one sound lingered.
The muffled roar of Reskala voices, chanting as they died.
Resh! Resh! Resh!
And then nothing at all.
