The world went black in a deafening roar of falling stone and splintering wood.
For a few terrifying seconds, I couldn't breathe. The dust was so thick it felt like sand in my throat. I was flat on my back on the freezing stone floor of the storage room, my ears ringing so loudly that the chaos of the battle outside sounded like it was happening underwater.
As the heavy dust cloud began to settle, a different, much more lethal sensation took over.
Every breath I took felt like inhaling liquid fire. My lungs seized, a violent, wracking cough tearing through my body. I opened my eyes, coughing so hard my ribs felt like they were going to snap, and realized with a jolt of pure terror why the air tasted like burning battery acid.
The air was filled with a shimmering, microscopic gray powde
