Soulbonder

Chapter 52 - A Swift Escape

Goose pimples crawled over Shale's body. Everything outside became muffled as if her ears were stuffed with wool.

Tershar's laugh petered out into a weak wheeze as the life bled from her body. Her eyes were heavy and her face was colourless.

The orb between her knees pulsed with a strange green light. Sounds of metallic groaning and creaking emanated from beneath the floor.

Shale retreated, and it was a good thing, because the glass panels, making up the spiral, fell inward, leaving a gaping chasm, swallowing the Griffinbonder. Her laughter was lost to whatever oblivion lay beneath. Shale tried to gaze into the hole to catch a glimpse of its contents, but it was much too deep to allow any light in.

The Heart of the Areathellum was living up to its name as the glass tubes embedded into the walls filled with that same strange green light and pumped it around, like blood.

Above them came several loud cracks and some of the glass crystals that made up the ceiling dislodged. Shale stumbled and fell and watched as the crystals rained into the hole. Love of Bragan, some of them were as big as waggon wheels and one was as big as the rest of the waggon. As they fell, they created sparse gaps of light above to reveal the overcast sky.

"We have to get out of here," Valera shouted, as many of the other crystals started trembling. She had to roar to be heard above all that groaning coming from beneath. "It's all going to come down."

Roserva nodded, absently.

Shale, however, rushed over to the Haeryn and guided the old man's arm around her shoulder. "Come on, your Holiness. We've got to leave."

"Of course. Yes, of course."

Together, the four of them rushed down the aisle.

Valera was first to disappear through the yawning exit, with Roserva sharp at her heels. Unfortunately, Shale was slowed by the arthritic steps of the elderly leader.

When they approached the gap, the cracks grew until the shards that made up the frame caved in. They created a wall of glass in place of the doorway.

The Haeryn drew a thin breath. "It's a good thing we-"

There was a glint.

Tapping into her powers, Shale used her gifted speed and reflexes to tackle him out of the way. Every yard that they rolled was needed because in the space where they'd just been was a carriage-sized crystal. She'd meant to cry out a warning, but in doing it at the same moment she'd pressed on her magic, her mouth had made an inhuman sound. It was both panicked and almost melodic.

What in the name of the Eleven was that?

The Haeryn gazed at her. Even in his mortal peril, his lips threatened to curl into a smile. "It's an odd thing to say about the Magizyra who come into your home and tell you the world as you know it is about to end, but you're all even stranger than I expected."

"To be fair, your Holiness, you've caught me at a peculiar time in my life."

She assisted him back to his feet. As they stared down the aisle, more crystals dislodged from the roof and fell all over the hall. Some of the shards smashed into the ground and shattered upon impact into thousands of smaller fragments, while sturdier ones planted right into the ground.

"We'll have to take another way out," she said.

"There is no other way. That's part of what makes the vaults so secure. I'm afraid we're trapped."

She gestured upwards, motioning to the new gaps of light in the ceiling.

"Must we?" He paled.

"I could leave you here if you prefer?"

"I suppose I'd better come along then."

"In that case, I'm going to advise you to hold on tight."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and muttered the prayer of protection. She felt a wave of pity for this old man who was doing his best with a situation far out of his depth. He'd nearly saved them all too, but clearly the night's events were taking their toll.

Tapping into her reserve of power, Shale felt a surge of strength and balance, helping her lift the Haeryn. She then sprouted two ethereal wings and flapped them, taking them both up into the air.

The groans beneath the floor escalated into grumbling moans and all over, the thumping of the Heart became more violent. Shale saw something making its way through the gaps in the ceiling. Torrents of smoke streamed through. She was so engrossed by the odd behaviour of the dark essence that she nearly missed the crystal coming loose right above them.

"Look out," the Haeryn yelled.

Shale had the prowess to spin, dodging it as it plummeted just inches to her right.

After that, she pressed on all her energy and zipped up as fast as she possibly could, caution be damned.

Crystals continued to rain down around them. Saying a quiet prayer to the Eleven, she closed her eyes and kept going, until finally the air she breathed was fresh and full of wind and snow.

In fact, she'd gone higher than expected. When she opened her eyes, the entire Areathellum and much of the city was now visible below. The Haeryn's prayers had grown rapid and he clung to her so tightly that her torso hurt. She hoped the poor man's heart would hold out through all of this.

Her enhanced vision meant that she could easily survey the scenes below to witness the oddities scattered throughout.

All over, the monsters of wood, stone, and metal were just bursting apart and leaving behind stacks of raw material and clouds of essence. Each cloud was then drawn toward a thick river which flowed into the Heart of the Areathellum.

Something similar happened to the men and women influenced by Murgal. Thankfully they didn't burst apart, but the essence did leak out of them and join onto the river. Once the people were free of the titan's dark influence, they dropped their weapons and glanced about.

There was a deep sense of confusion on both sides.

Throughout the city and across the plains and the beach, the war had drawn to a complete halt, creating a quiet everywhere except for the Heart.

Their confusion gave way to terror as the earth rumbled so hard that anyone near the Areathellum fell to the ground. The tremors intensified with each consecutive wave, until even those out on the plains struggled to keep their footing. There were cracks forming all over buildings, roads, and the walls of Starstone.

The Heart continued to fall apart, crystal by crystal. Then all at once, that structure which had been built by the Magizyra, which had endured through times and ages beyond imagining, crashed in on itself in a cataclysmic shattering.

The pile only remained for seconds before it was swallowed by a hole.

The hole expanded with every quake. It spread through the Areathellum like a hungry beast, consuming walls, buildings, and courtyards as all those around it fled. All the while, a river of black essence flowed into it.

Then there came a rumble, more terrible than the rest.

Shale drifted down to a tower rooftop, far away enough that she was sure the building would remain standing against those trembles. After she and the Haeryn had their feet upon solid glass, she turned her attention to the chasm.

Then it emerged.