The second relay rang backward.
Its bronze tongue swung toward Martin, but the impact sounded behind him. The note crossed the chamber in the wrong direction, passing through stone, bodies, and armor before returning from the open galleries below.
Every dark stain along those galleries opened at once.
"The route-song folded inward," Cassandra said. Her crimson eyes tracked silver currents no one else could see. "It is calling the monsters toward Mireva."
Mireva spread her wings beside the relay. "Then hold them here. I can correct the pattern if I reach all three tuning pins."
Martin raised the Breakwater Aegis and stepped between her and the first gallery. "You chose my protection. Stay where I can give it."
Her silver-ringed eyes met his. After one short nod, she turned her back on the monsters and climbed the relay frame.
Black bodies poured into the chamber.
