Chapter 9 · When the Cannons Turn

The second cannon fired before Xia Lan could breathe.

The chamber shook around them. Dust streamed from the vaulted ceiling in silver curtains, glittering in the red light of the Ashfall Core. Somewhere beyond the stone walls, the old weapon groaned awake, one buried mechanism after another unlocking beneath the continent.

A pressure wave punched through the floor.

Xia Lan stumbled. Nolan caught her by the elbow, his injured side slamming against a pillar. His face tightened, but he did not let go.

“Was that another border cannon?” he asked.

“No.” She stared at the core.

The black sphere hung above its iron cradle, no longer dark. Thin veins of molten gold crawled across its surface, converging toward the pale reflection of her face. Her silver eyes stared back at her from the polished metal—wide, terrified, and not entirely her own.

“That came from inside the mountain,” she whispered. “The first shot was the activation pulse. This one was a calibration round.”

Nolan’s gaze sharpened. “Calibration for what?”

The core answered him.

A ring of symbols ignited beneath Xia Lan’s feet. The markings crawled up her boots, wrapped around her ankles, and stopped just below her knees.