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Another pulse of resonance struck.
Caelyn’s entire body convulsed, and the air around him dropped several degrees.
The astrylite in Elowynn's hand flickered violently, as though it wanted to surrender to the darkness. She poured more resonance into it, her own veins glowing beneath her skin as the crystal steadied and its pale light held.
“El.” His voice sounded wrong now, like pain stretched him too thin.
Elowynn moved toward him, but Caelyn scrambled back.
“Do not!”
“I am not leaving you!” she cried. “I will not do so again!”
A humorless laugh cracked harshly through the darkness at those words.
What timing.
“Beautiful…s-stubborn woman,” he growled before pressing his head to the stone wall.
Panic poured through Elowynn. She wanted to run to Caelyn but hadn’t the faintest idea on what to do to help.
More screams tore through the air somewhere outside the tower, and she whipped her head around, staring out the large windows.
She watched as a flare of light detonated across to the other tower, realizing after a moment that it was a roaring fire.
The city was unraveling.
Elowynn could feel it beneath her feet. In her veins. In her very soul.
The aethercurrents had become chaotic. They were unstable and agitated, like something deep beneath Veylspire had awakened to heed the call of the Blackwake overhead.
And with that thought, something clicked into place.
The last several turnings suddenly made sense.
The resonance disturbances all across the continent.
The Vigil representatives who had arrived earlier that moon.
Vaelor watching her research too closely.
Korvel's warnings about powerful people paying attention to her.
Records of previous Blackwake events buried inside restricted archives.
None of it was coincidence.
The city had known something was coming. Or at least suspected it.
A hard knock slammed against her chamber doors.
“Elowynn!?” Lora yelled. The handle rattled as she threw her weight against the door, but Caelyn had locked it earlier.
Forced away from her revelation, Elowynn whirled toward Caelyn, only to find he wasn’t there.
“O-one moment!” she yelled as panic threatened to seize her. But then she saw movement to her right and was startled to see Caelyn moving toward the darkness beside the far wall faster than she could have imagined.
“Elowynn! Open the door right now!” Lora shrieked, more urgent now. “The entire western district lost resonance containment! There are Vigil Orders moving through the towers. OPEN! THE DAMN! DOOR!”
