Lightning split the sky as Kaelin, Theron, and their companions fled the collapsing Hollow of Ancients. The very earth shuddered beneath their boots, hurling chunks of stone and crystal into the air like shrapnel. Each heartbeat was a drum of urgency, but Kaelin felt something else pounding in her chest—something new and fragile.
“Don’t look back!” Theron roared, seizing Kaelin’s wrist as a pillar cracked and fell where she had been standing moments before.
“I’m right behind you,” Kaelin panted, her free hand instinctively shielding her abdomen. She felt the faintest spark within—a flicker of life that had not been there before the Hollow’s revelation. The knowledge steeled her resolve.
Ahead, Lira carved a path through tumbling debris with her twin daggers, shouting over her shoulder,
