"I can't keep this up much longer."
Aria's voice was thin, reedy, barely audible over the howling of the rift winds. She was on her knees, her staff trembling in her grip, the blue light around her flickering like a dying candle.
"Aria, stop." Varen dropped beside her, his hands on her shoulders. "You need to rest."
"There's no time to rest." She pushed him away, tried to stand, and collapsed again. "The rift is getting stronger. We're getting closer. I can—"
"You can barely stand." I knelt beside her. "Aria, please. Just for a moment. Just—"
"I can't." She was crying now. "I can't, Lena. Because if I stop, we're all going to die. Everyone. Everything. All of—"
"Aria." I grabbed her hands. "Aria, look at me."
She looked at me. And I saw the exhaustion in her eyes. The fear. The desp
