I drove the final rod into the Soul Sea.
For a moment, nothing happened. The eleven rods stood silently around Verilux, each separated by an enormous distance, their positions forming a perfect circle around the Hydra. Then the runes carved into every rod ignited simultaneously.
Silver light erupted from beneath the surface, connecting one rod to the next until an enormous eleven-sided formation appeared across the Soul Sea. The lines between them were not merely streams of Soul Force; they were boundaries that separated the space within the formation from everything outside it.
The Soul Sea suddenly became silent.
The waves outside the formation continued moving, but within the boundary surrounding Verilux, the water froze in place. Even the Soul Force that had previously flowed endlessly toward the Hydra was cut off. I could no longer sense the connection between Verilux and the surrounding sea.
The isolation was complete.
