The atmosphere of the Core-Sanctum was no longer merely hot; it had become a physical weight, a pressurized wall of incandescent gases and screaming light. Above us, the miles of planetary crust that High Priestess Solari had pierced with her Solar Lance were still settling, jagged chunks of obsidian and diamond-dense granite falling into the magma-sea like pebbles into a pond. The Golden Armada hovered in the massive rift, their hulls refracting the white fire of the core into a blinding, geometric lattice of amber light.
I stood on the black sand of the courtyard, my red-gold runes glowing so brightly they were visible through my scouting leathers. I clutched Aidan to my chest, my son's gold and black eyes reflecting the chaos above. The "Fuse" within him was vibrating, a low-frequency hum that seemed to be synchronizing with the rhythmic strikes of Ignis's hammer.
