Page 147 of The Fifth Heir

“Frost has not begun.”

The blue channel activated.

Leander’s power traveled from the control pillar without his hand touching it.

Cold entered the central rune.

My breath turned white.

Leander fought the positional ward. Ice cracked around his boots, but the light held him.

“I’m not releasing that.”

The Frost channel brightened.

All four torcs flashed.

The inner containment ring closed around the platform.

The healer tried to reach me. A clear barrier rose between us.

“Talia,” Torren said.

“I’m all right.”

The medical slate chimed.

The healer looked down. “Her temperature is dropping.”

Fire activated again.

Heat struck me from the opposite side.

Storm followed. Shadow gathered beneath all of it.

Four elemental lines fed the center simultaneously.

“Stop the channels,” the headmaster ordered.

The runemasters pressed their controls.

Nothing changed.

The repaired return line turned black.

I looked down.

The dark color spread through the metal, cutting off the route meant to carry excess power away from the central platform.

“Malcolm.”

He followed my gaze.

The inner ring flared.

Every element surged toward me at once.

Chapter 20