Then a ripping, tugging sensation ruptured her soul. Though she’d never experienced it before, she instantly what it was. She’d exhausted her source, used up all her water-threads. Pain returned, worse than ever, but she kept wielding. Her overtaxed soul screamed in protest, but she did not relent. A grating shriek echoed behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a necrocrelai approaching to aid his master. Her stomach plummeted as she recognized the blue-black fur and bulky muscles. It was Ryvsî, one of the Severed Six. Zumarra, please help me. I must save Keriya Soulstar. Gods did not exist to grant prayers, Seba knew. They existed only to maintain and uphold the magical balance. Yet she imagined a voice in her head, as powerful as a tsunami and as gentle as snowflakes: My m

