Talen
“Shinj, no! No!” I slammed my hands to my head and forced the order home, but it was too late. The dive was critical. She would not survive. Don’t… A soft warmth reached me, like the last embrace from a friend I would never see again.
“OPEN THE KNOLL NOW!” I grabbed Sirius. Fire flashed across my hand, as sharp and bright as a lightning strike, jolting me back.
Sirius’s magic flooded the library, rolling over me in waves of scorching heat. Fire licked up his coat, over his shoulders, down his arms, and lapped at the knoll’s wall, where his hands burned into the stone. He strained against the knoll, trying to force the walls open, but either he wasn’t strong enough or his connection to the knoll was too weak, giving it the freedom to disobey his commands.
“Sirius,” I warned, shaking the burn from my hand. “I don’t care how you do it, open the knoll.”
His eyes flashed. Through gritted teeth, he said, “You. Are. Not. Helping.”
The knoll lurched sideways. Shinj severed my link, cutting the connection so death wouldn’t drag me with her. I reeled back, suddenly unburdened. The ground quaked and roared, throwing me against a wall. Faerie screamed. Noise, and heat, and agony. It was too much, and I knew what it meant.
Sirius clutched his head, trying to temper the wail. His magic spluttered and collapsed around him.
The cacophony lasted just moments, but it had felt like years.
A serene quiet fell, and an absence chilled my veins. The absence of a friend.
The knoll’s door rumbled open, mocking me.
Panting, Sirius leaned against the knoll wall. He lifted sorry eyes to me, knowing he’d failed.
The Hunt was gone.
And Shinj was dead.