Page 227 of Sokâr

We’re almost there.

Just one more torch.

One more touch.

A flicker brushes across my mind—my beloved's voice in the Bond, hushed and steady, with Vargrún's rumble echoing behind.

One more step, little one.

One more touch, emberling.

I pause at the final pillar and wait for the Sovereign Horn to sing. When its call shakes the air and the People cheer, I touch my hand to the disc in front of me.

And then—weightlessness.

The ground beneath me gives way.

I careen into darkness, and the Voice rises like a tidal wave in my mind—roaring, shrieking.

:: Notthis day! Not this moment! The Numen does not kneel! ::

The Weave surrounds me, and in a blink, I Veilstep, my body slipping between realms, melding with the elusive Veilweave and reforming several feet away.

Once. Twice. Then again.

Up and up until I clear the pit beneath me.

Just as I land on solid ground, a familiar haunting wail pierces the air. Not the onyx horns, but the ivory ones of the Solutus. Again, it comes, but this time its call is drowned in screams. A single gasp in the crowd multiplies into thousands, rolling like a gale through the Prismatum as shouts and cries of "Enslavers!" thunders through the plaza.

The Solutus emerge from the ground like monsters bursting from their graves. I can’t see where they’re coming from, but in moments, the plaza transforms into a battlefield. The Solutus cry out and flash their blades, colliding with the People like a seething ocean. Endless rows of white masks and weapons spear into innocents, cutting them down without mercy.

For a moment, I cannot believe what I am seeing.

These zealots who risk their lives to break into temples and steal dying men, women, and children now cut down healthy innocents as though they are nothing more than obstacles in their path. The attackers don’t even look at them.

Blank eyes in the masks focus onmeinstead.

On theSokâr.

But why?

Why are they slashing through innocents to converge on me?

I haven’t done a thing to warrant this.

I’ve never harmed them. Never insisted on punishing the rebellion in the Council. Never threatened them directly.

If anything, I only ever wanted to understand their hatred.

::Hatred does not grow roots in wisdom, Auryn’reh. Must you pay with your life to understand that? ::

I freeze, and the mistake costs me everything.

An impact to my left side. A scream right in my ear.

"Die, Enslaver!"

Three of them descend on me. By instinct—or perhaps thanks to all of Kailorien's training—I Veilstep. But not far enough. Hands grabbed at my veils, tear them apart as I’m yanked backwards. I twist around, pushing at the attackers with all the strength I can muster.