Page 59 of Fading Sun

I don’t blame him. I can’t spell it, either.

This time, when Blaze picks up the first crystal, he uses the quill to write on it with his blood. His hand is steady as he inscribes each letter, and as he continues, the crystal begins to glow.

Finally, he finishes and lifts the quill from the crystal’s surface.

Its glow lights his face, accentuating his sharp features, then dims back down.

“It worked?” I ask, even though from the way it glowed, I have a feeling it did.

“I think so,” he says. “I’ll do the rest of them, then we can test it out.”

Once he’s finished, we get back into position, and the weight of responsibility presses down on me harder. This is our last try without having to trust that Blaze’s spell will allow us to use the crystals twice. If I get it right, we won’t have to worry about if the spell worked or not. We can just open the portal and get out of here.

“Ready?” Damien asks me.

I nod, trying to channel his calmness. “Ready,” I reply, my voice steadier than I feel.

Studying my crystal—which feels less fragile in my hand—I gather my magic and direct a beam of light through it, into Damien’s. It flows seamlessly from mine to his, and then to Morgan’s.

Holding my concentration harder than ever, I nudge it toward Blaze’s crystal next.

It connects.

But the farther the light gets from me—the more crystals that are refracting it—the harder it gets to control.

I focus so intensely to direct the light toward the big crystal on the door that it feels like my brain’s about to explode… and fall short by a few inches.

My heart sinks, and I brace myself for someone—likely the Abbot—to say something snide. To declare again that I’m unworthy.

But the voice that breaks the silence isn’t his. It’s Damien’s, calm and encouraging.

“You’re almost there,” he says. “Just a slight tweak, and you should have it.”

“The crystals will shatter,” the Abbot says. “You’re finished.”

“They won’t shatter,” Blaze says, confident and steady, not bothering to give the Abbot the time of day by looking at him.

“They won’t,” I agree. “And we don’t need to try standing on different discs. I almost had it last time. I can do it from this angle.”

None of them fight me on it.

They trust me.

Their confidence boosts my resolve, and I refocus, shaking off the Abbot’s doubt.

Once I feel centered enough, I shoot my magic through my crystal again.

It doesn’t shatter.

Excitement rushes through me. But I can’t mess this up. So, with a precision I haven’t had so far, I stay focused as the light cuts through the air, hitting Damien’s crystal, then Morgan’s, and then Blaze’s, just like I managed before.

Now, the door.

My light hits its giant crystal dead center.

Shocked, I watch as the glow from the impact spreads outward from the center of the crystal, a brilliant light that glows brighter and brighter until I’m forced to turn away and close my eyes. It’s like that for a painfully long, few seconds, and I hold out a hand, as if I can stop the light from brightening any more.

Did I make the crystal explode instead of opening it?

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