Page 251 of The Ascended
I turned to survey my prison. The sanctum was smaller than I'd expected, circular and domed. But the walls were alive with power. Symbols flowed across them, rearranging themselves as I watched, forming words in languages I couldn't read before dissolving into new patterns.
At the chamber's heart stood a giant loom, and that gray thread lead straight to it.
And above it hung a veil.
I watched, frozen between terror and awe as it began forming shapes—visions showing reality cracking. I saw the barriers between worlds fracturing, darkness pressing against the boundaries of existence with hungry impatience.
Creatures poured through tears in reality. They moved like a plague across lands I didn't recognize, devouring everything in their wake.
The vision shifted, and I saw her.
A woman stood before the endless hordes. Young, with hair the exact color of the thread that had led me here. storm-gray waves fell around a face that was beautiful in its terrible power.
She raised one hand, and the nightmare army stopped.
Then she turned and looked directly at me with blood-red eyes.
Her eyes met mine across time, and they burned. She knew I was watching.
More scenes played on, but I couldn't focus on them.
Because, suddenly, the ground was trembling.
The sanctum was dissolving.
The walls flickered between solid and transparent. The images that had flowed so beautifully now sparked and died. Even the Loom began to waver, its threads dimming one by one.
Something was terribly wrong.
Oh gods, the consequence of entering this room was catching up with me.
Thais, are you still in there?Thatcher nearly screamed down the bond.Something's happening. The whole place is?—
Wait.
It’s happening out there too?I reached for him through our bond.
Reality hiccupped.
I stood in the antechamber where we'd begun, gasping and disoriented.
I wasn't alone. Thatcher materialized beside me, then Marx, then Vance. Gods, of course he’d fucking survived. If I wasn’t so distracted by the sudden change, I’d have killed him right then.
"What the hell just happened? I was inches from my token." Marx demanded.
I looked down at my hands. None of us had our tokens. The trial had simply... ended.
Thatcher's hand found mine.Are you okay?
I'm fine.I squeezed his fingers, needing the physical reassurance that we were both here, both alive.
The air shimmered, and the Legends began arriving. Xül appeared first, his expression cracked with confusion. Aelix followed, then Chavore, then others I didn't recognize. They all looked bewildered, exchanging glances and hushed words.
"This is unprecedented," I heard one mutter.
"Where is Vorinar?" another asked. "What happened?"
Xül's eyes found mine across the chaos, a question in them I couldn't answer. I gave the slightest shake of my head—I had no idea what had caused this.
