The scene folded inward like a whirlpool, reality draining fast as Nexus’s power collapsed.
“Sarah, where are you?” Kael called out, caught in his own dream—or nightmare—as the inner chamber disintegrated and ancient columns crumbled, giving way to fundamental forces no longer held in check.
The tower itself shook, sending vibrations from its foundation up to the watch.
Slabs of stone larger than a man dropped from the curved walls, crashing with thunderous impacts that sent clouds of dust billowing through the air.
Kael stumbled through the falling debris, hands outstretched, searching for Sarah who might already be gone.
A wail, primal and anguished, sliced through the dust and darkness. Not Sarah. Kael drifted on.
But Oona turned toward the sound.
Ryn was bent over Ward. The guard lay trapped beneath a massive stone column as thick as an ancient oak, his lower body crushed, blood pooling beneath him on the cracked floor.
She cradled his head in her arms, whispering words meant only for him.
In a flash, through the dust and debris, Oona was there beside them. Ryn watched her approach, face hardening into a mask of loathing, arms tightening protectively around Ward.
“We don’t need your help, murderer,” Ryn spat. “Martha took the fall for, for… you. She was a saint.”
“Hush, Ryn,” a new raspy voice interrupted. “It was me.”
Riven emerged from the swirling dust, his peddler’s disguise torn and hanging from his frame, revealing the metallic body beneath. He approached with jerky movements, systems straining against a hidden gravity pulling everything apart.
Ward coughed, blood bubbling from his lips as he struggled to focus on the android. “What?” he managed, the single word laden with pain.
“I killed Edric,” Riven stated matter-of-factly. He moved to the column pinning Ward, positioning himself to lift it. “Watched him die. He knew, too much. Us androids, the key, the Candlemakers… everything.”
Ward choked up more blood as Ryn stared at Riven, stunned.
Slam. Another slab broke free from the ceiling, showering them with stone fragments.
“Surprised?” Riven asked, his limbs straining as he managed to lift the column a fraction, the motion sending sparks cascading from his joints. “I couldn’t have him getting the Covenant first.”
“Leave,” Ward gasped to Ryn over the tower’s death throes. “Now.” His face was gray, life visibly ebbing from him with each labored breath.
Ryn shook her head fiercely, strands of hair plastered to her face with sweat and tears. “Never, Ward. You and me, we’ll take on the world… together.” She tried to prop up his head, her hands gentle despite their calloused strength.
“Besides,” she added, the thoughts tumbling out with grief. “Who else will break up the fights at the Broken Needle… after starting a few of yer own?”
His eyes found hers, recognizing. Then another massive section of wall collapsed, sending a shower of man-sized stones crashing down.
This time, one struck Riven with devastating force, knocking the android aside like a toy man.
His limbs twisted at impossible angles, one eye popping free from its socket, arm wrenched completely backward.
The column he had been holding dropped back into place, dust spewing up.
Ward’s body jerked once, then went still.
“No,” Ryn whispered. Then louder, “NO!”
Ryn clung to him, even as the tower collapsed around them. She bent down, kissed his cold lips slowly and deliberately, then staggered to her feet, slipping into the haze.
Oona shifted toward Kael nearby, still wandering in his half-dream state, calling for Sarah.
“I’m not going to leave you, Sarah,” he was saying, determination etched into every line of his face. “Not this time.”
A hand caught him from behind. “You’ve saved her already,” Oona cut through his confusion.
“You did it, Kael. You stayed.” Her fingers tightened on his arm. “But now, you must go.”
Kael shook his head, reality and vision blurring in his mind.
When—
Sudden as a flash, Nexus's form emerged from the swirling dust and debris, fainter than before. Now a ghost-like shimmer, it lunged at Kael with the last of its strength.
Without hesitating, Oona stepped into Nexus’s path. Their lights collided, illuminating each other, merging. Trapped. An unbearable convergence.
“Go,” Oona muttered, her voice electronic—more data than sound.
And then, in a final shockwave, Oona and Nexus disappeared in a blinding flash that sent shards of prismatic light scattering outward like fractured rainbows, caught in the dust. A massive section of ceiling collapsed onto the spot where they had been, crushing everything beneath its weight.
Kael stood frozen for only a heartbeat before he made for the exit, stumbling through the collapsing chamber.
He was… almost… there, reaching the door when—he spotted Riven.
The android was pinned to the floor, one foot trapped beneath a fallen slab, eye missing, arm dangling, sparks flying.
Kael glanced at the exit. Then back at Riven. He muttered under his breath, “Shit.”
He went back, dropping to his knees beside the trapped android. He positioned himself to lift the stone from Riven’s foot, muscles straining, teeth gritting.
It barely moved.
Riven looked at him with his one eye, the lens seeming to whir as it focused. “Crownsman,” he said, wonder glinting in that eye. “You came to help me—me, Riven.”
“Shut it,” Kael grunted, struggling once more with the stone. This time he managed to shift it just enough, freeing the android’s crushed foot, before dropping to the ground, chest heaving as he found his breath.
Around them, the tower was entering its final death throes, the entire structure groaning as it prepared to collapse inward.
“I’m not evil, Kael,” Riven said, propping himself up with his one functioning arm. “I’m a Candlemaker, always been.”
With jerky but precise movements, he reached into his tattered cloak and produced one last ware: a tome bound in ancient leather, its edges worn smooth.
“The Candlemakers’ Bible,” he said, extending it toward Kael. “Take it.”
Kael’s gaze shifted from the book to Riven. He got to his feet, ready to bolt, then snatched the tome just as the center of the tower collapsed in on itself with a deafening roar.
As he ran, exit in sight, the force sent him flying, book clutched to his chest—as a great cloud of dust erupted from the structure's heart.
Kael shot through the doorway like a stone from a sling, tumbling across snow and ice, gasping as the cold air filled his lungs.
Behind him, the crumbling turret folded in upon itself in a cloud of stone and dust.
Kael lay on his back in the snow, arms wrapped around the Candlemakers’ Bible, staring up at a suddenly clear sky.