The shaking stopped.
The light faded.
The blue pillar that had shot into the sky collapsed, and the quarry was dark again, lit only by the faint glow of the dying runes.
The stop was Unnatural. One moment the mountain groaned and shuddered. The next, absolute stillness.
The silence pressed against their ears. Even the dust hung motionless in the air, suspended as though the world had forgotten how to fall.
Aperi held his breath. His chest ached from the strain, but she could not bring herself to exhale. The workers around them remained frozen, their faces pale, their eyes fixed on the crater below. Ariani hand gripped his brother's arm so tight his knuckles had gone white. Neither twin moved.
Then the footsteps came.
Slow, deliberate. Each one measured, unhurried. The sound echoed off the remaining walls, sharp and clear in the unnatural quiet. Leather boots against stone. A soft click, a pause, another click. The rhythm of someone who had all the time in the world.
