Ellie POV
The fighting didn’t sound the way I expected it to anymore.
It wasn’t louder. If anything, it felt sharper—every clash of steel too distinct, every scream cutting through the air with awful clarity. As if the world had narrowed, funneling everything down to this one place, this one moment.
Me.
The wards around the staircase were still standing, but they were trembling now. I could feel it through the magic like strain in a muscle pushed too far, too long. Cracks spiderwebbed through the golden light, flaring and dimming unevenly as they absorbed blow after blow.
Below, voices shouted—orders barked, warnings screamed. The sound of Nolan’s voice reached me once, rough with fury and command, and the relief that surged through me was so intense it nearly brought m
