Chapter 21: Souvenir From The Two Suns World
The second sign that everything was about to go horribly wrong was the temperature drop. The torch flames flickered and dimmed as frost started creeping across the cave walls, transforming the rough stone into sheets of gleaming ice.
"Fascinating!" Azure chimed in. "The spiritual resonance is completely different from standard ice-attribute techniques. It appears to be drawing power directly from—"
The cavern ceiling exploded.
Not metaphorically – literally exploded downward in a shower of frozen stone and crimson-tinted ice. Screams filled the air as massive chunks of debris crashed into the refugee camp below. I caught glimpses of people being buried alive, of bodies crushed beneath the falling rock.
The Skybound descended through the hole it had created, floating serenely on currents of freezing air. Its robes rippled with patterns of frost, and its eyes gleamed with that same crimson light that drove normal people mad.
"Found you.”
Panic erupted instantly. People scattered in every direction, desperate to escape. But the Skybound's ice was spreading rapidly, coating the ground and walls, making every surface treacherously slick. I watched in horror as refugees slipped and fell, only to be frozen solid where they lay.
"Everyone to the eastern tunnels!" Maya shouted, trying to organize some kind of evacuation. "Henrik, we need to buy them time!"
The big man was already moving, positioning himself between the Skybound and the fleeing villagers. His axe looked painfully inadequate against beings who could shatter stone with a gesture.