ise
Sinc
chair, his hands shaking so violently he dropp
ss the mahogany. He fumbled open an airtight brass container, pull
" Sterling yelled, attempting to force the phial between Alas
. The moment the silver draught touched his lips, the liquid
g gasps, his fingernails digging deep into t
side of the chair. "A basic stabilization dr
shattered. "This is an ancient blood curse from the Third Era! Even the Chief Heal
outh within five seconds, he will suf
him backward. He hit the bookshelf with a hollow thud, sl
loudy with pain, but when his eyes met mine, there was a
aid softly, leaning down close to his ear. "Yo
icroscopic nod, h
ctly over his sternum, right where the dark veins co
closed
ine memory banks of my soul-the knowledge earned through eigh
hem three inches above the meta
. It was the harsh, rhythmic cadence of Ancient Sumerian-the tongue of
mu-an-na...
light ignited. It wasn't the harsh flare of fire, but
red into the
k. S
the air like fireflies. The ancient disk underneath revealed itself-pure, unblemished sol
r barque
ing upward through the ceiling beams of the bookstore, illuminat
let out an audible, agonizing shriek-a so
ted away under the solar radiance like
ling in his eyes. He had spent forty years appraising relics, but he had never seen magic li
channeling the last dregs of my remaining mana into Alastai
um
eartbeat resonated
ug. The Sun-Drowned Coin now lay against his chest as a dull, lifnecrotic pallor vanished from his cheeks, replaced by the natural
ing at the edges. Funneling that much raw divine energy through an eighteen-year-old
edge of the mahogany table
ees and staring at me as if I were an archangel descended from th
urse is anchored in his soul. The solar mana bought him three years of perfe
the reassuring weight of the Glowgold po
dded, turning toward the door
ow, his hands trembling with reverent panic. "Lord Sinclair will want
he shattered glass of the entrance into the coo
Star-lantern Alley, leaving behind a stunned app
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