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, lif

necrotic 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