Chapter 26 · No More Re-Summoning

The platform was closing.

Mark could feel it in his teeth. A vibration that started low and climbed until his molars ached. The runes under his feet were dimming one by one, concentric circles going dark from the outside in. He had maybe thirty seconds before the whole thing sealed shut.

Behind him, Veran was shouting something. Ella's name, maybe. Or his. The bells were still ringing—four, pause, three—and under that, footsteps. A lot of them.