Page 153 of The Fifth Heir

Clear light followed my hand.

The line reached the first red crack in the barrier.

I pushed Fire through it.

Flame struck the outer ring and spread around the Hall in a controlled circle. The silver channels absorbed it.

I drew a second line.

Frost followed, cooling the overheated containment without extinguishing the Fire inside its proper channel.

Storm came third. I divided the lightning across dozens of silver paths so no single section carried enough force to break.

Shadow resisted.

It spread across my clear line instead of following it.

“Sebastian.”

“I can feel the connection.”

“I need you to narrow it.”

“Where?”

“The center of the violet channel.”

Shadow contracted.

I guided it into the outer ring.

All four elements moved around the containment circle.

The barrier stopped cracking.

The positional wards released.

Torren ran toward me.

“Stay back.”

He stopped at the edge of the platform. “The inner ring is failing.”

I looked down.

The blackened metal had started breaking apart. Power still traveled from the control pillars faster than I could direct it outward.

I needed more paths.

The transparent scale on my wrist divided the light into colors. My torc did the same.

I lifted both hands.

The clear lines rose from the floor.

They formed a curved surface around me, not a solid barrier but a lens. Fire, Frost, Storm, and Shadow entered it from four directions.

Each element split.