The two of them, Uio and the snake, glanced back at the ruined cathedral heaving up out of the sea behind them, streaming seawater from every arch, and the color drained out of both their faces.
"How in the… this…"
Uio frowned as he watched the castle climb, and at the same time he turned to me. A lady in a black habit stood beside me. And even though my essence was draining out of me fast, a cold hollow opening under my ribs with every second that passed, and even though I still couldn't work out why Maggie had shown up so annoyed, I found I still seemed happy about it.
They were going to die here.
Give or take.
'She activated her strongest ability right off the bat.'
Strangely, as the cathedral came on, I felt rejuvenated. The heat rolled off it in a wall, and where it touched me the ache went out of my limbs, the fatigue burning away layer by layer. Borrowed strength. It fed on my essence to manage it, of course.
