Chapter 612: Into the Keep
A shockwave rocked the cathedral as we made our way to the entrance. The walls shuddered, fractures appearing in the mortar between the masonry. Dust rained from the rafters, and long, jagged cracks spiderwebbed through the stained glass windows. I yelped as a chandelier crashed to the ground, strafing my wards with fragments of shattered crystal.
Another blast shook the building, and Borealis trilled, urging me onward. He lifted from my shoulder and hovered over my head, allowing me to adapt to the occasional tremors in the earth without his weight throwing me off balance.
My lungs heaved by the time I made it to the entrance. Ice coated the broken remnants of the doors, sealing them to the ground. My feet carried me onto the slick stone before I realized and all sense of control vanished. My feet skidded across the chunks of wood and steel, tripping over every step.
By some miracle, I made it over the rubble and stumbled into the inner courtyards. I laid a hand on my chest, panting as I struggled to slow my racing heart. I started to turn, glaring at Borealis, when a third shockwave smashed into my wards. This time, I caught a glimpse of it and recognized Lord Evlon’s mana signature. Had he cast another eighth-circle spell?
The Cathedral shuddered on its foundations. Tiles broke from the roof, sliding down the incline and plummeting to the streets. The bulged inward, split apart by ravenous, growing fissures.
Borealis dove town, taking my sleeve in his talons and tugging me away with an urgent screech. I staggered after him, keeping my eyes on the cathedral as it lilted to the side. A second later, the northern wall of the entrance segment collapsed inward, bringing the roof down with it. Thick dust clouds billowed out, obscuring the cathedral as more walls followed suit. I covered my mouth with my sleeve, coughing as the thick particles filled the air, sucking the moisture from my throat.
"Encircling Winds," I gasped.
The spell resolved in an instant, whipping up a breeze that circled me like a miniature cyclone. It was just stiff enough to tug at my hair or divert an arrow from its path. The dust cleared right up, but my throat still felt prickly, and my eyes stung. I berated myself for not casting it immediately.
The dust began to settle, revealing that only the vaulted ceiling above the shard had survived the shockwave. Rainbow sparkles of light filtered through the swirling clouds, leaking from the shard’s effervescent mana.