Page 19 of The Sundered Realms

Gods, this whole thing was insane and stupid. If she died, Jadrhun could make hundreds more of these portals.

But if she couldn’t stop even one, then what was the point?

“Close your eyes; breathe,” Lord Vhannor instructed, and she did. “Lift your writing hand; open your eyes. Set your pen down over the circle; breathe again.”

Just like the ritual steps Serenthuar taught candidates to slip into a focused trance state. Ha. What irony if they’d adapted the technique from casters.

She was prepared for this after all.

“Trace around the circle.”

His cool voice was almost hypnotic, and she let her mind sink into its strength and assurance.

Even if it wasn’t for her benefit, right now he was invested in her success because it also meant his, and if she could trust nothing else, she could trust his competence.

“Once you’ve finished, it will flare—with a void spell, that means the darkness will increase,” the Lord of Embhullor told her. “Don’t be alarmed. That means it’s working. Once that happens you can step inside. And once you’re inside, you’ll have to dispel in order to get out. Remember: hold still, don’t speak, and listen for my voice.”

His voice; her anchor.

Liris traced the circle, and the dark aura around each spell line intensified.

She took a breath, and entered.

Then lost all her breath as it whooshed out of her like she’d been kicked in the gut.

Her head felt like it would explode from the pressure, and all her limbs protested the crushing weight before Liris remembered what she’d felt on the way into the swamp: the physical sensations weren’t real.

She breathed, and there was still pressure, but now it was emotional, like she was feeling everything at the same time and she was going to explode if she couldn’t release it—

She forced herself to breathe again and struggled to think. Listen for his voice.

“Liris. Face me when you can hear me. Liris. You’re going to be fine. Liris—“

She turned toward his voice.

Another demon blasted away from her before it could fully manifest. Liris couldn’t think clearly enough to feel as frightened as that deserved.

“Good.“ His tone weas fiercer than she’d heard from him. “You’re adapting quickly. Listen again. You have to dispel the portal. If you can’t, what you’re feeling right now will eventually overwhelm you and knock you out. Normally a person could come in and rescue you, but there’s no one available here. You will wake up and if you still can’t dispel the portal before you’re overwhelmed, you will keep passing out until you waste away. This is such a powerful spell you may only have one shot. Nod if you understand.”

She did, a bare jerk of a movement to keep the pressure from increasing. Now she understood better his concern about her lack of practice—she felt like her limbs couldn’t move.

She closed her eyes; breathed. Opened them; focused.

“Nod if you remember how to begin. Liris. Nod if you remember how to begin.”

How many times had he repeated that in the same steady voice?

Once was too many. This was a test, and she had to pass.

She nodded.

“Then you’re ready. I’ll call out reminders as you go, but the pressure should start easing once you begin. Start slow, because if you mess up, you’ll have to start over. Begin.”

Liris spoke the first words of the spell in reverse, and immediately her mind felt sharper, the very act of her voice ordering the chaos of sensations inside her.

Still too much to feel all at once, but all her.

And Lord Vhannor’s voice. Liris responded to him like she was tuned to him, snapping into movement. That line of the spell was mathematical direction to orient her; that was the notation to evoke the movements of a dance; that the words that gave the spell its direction.

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