"She is in there!" Mira spat, straining against his iron grip. "I am not leaving her to die in the dark!"
Ryse looked into her eyes, saw the absolute stubbornness that had kept her at Eris's side for a long time, and realized in an instant that no words would make her turn around. He let go of her shoulder, his jaw setting.
"Stay behind me," Ryse growled, unsheathing his broadsword to use as a lever if the doors collapsed. "And if I tell you to run, you run."
"Move," was all she said.
They reached the heavy archway just as a third tremor rattled the iron hinges. Inside, the air was thick with the smell of old dust and melted frost.
Soren was on his feet now.
Around Eris, he had forced his own magic into existence as a thick mantle of ice that encased her upper body, buffering her form against the raw energy of the second seal.
He looked up as Ryse and Mira burst into the room. His face was drawn, his eyes rimmed with red, but the clarity of a emperor had returned to his gaze.
