I expected light. A surge of magic. Maybe another voice carried on ghost wind.
Instead, the seal cracked with a sound like old bone breaking.
The moment my palm touched the surface, the runes flared—hot and gold—then dissolved like ash caught in flame.
Then nothing.
No scream.
No power surge.
Just the faintest shiver beneath my feet.
Cassian knelt beside me, eyes sharp. “You just opened something older than the bond system.”
“And it didn’t kill me,” I muttered.
He didn’t smile. “Yet.”
I stood, brushing stone dust from my palms, the air thick with the scent of scorched moss and memory. The corridor below yawned open, but we didn’t go down. Not yet. Not without knowing what we were walking into.
Cassian straightened. “We’ll come back. Once you’re stronger.”
“I’m strong enough.”
