Page 52 of Secrets and Starlight

She turned around, showing me her back. “It’s easiest if we’re touching.”

Obedient, I wrapped the fingers of one hand into her fur while holding the stone with the other. Steadying, I took several calming breaths before once again, reaching for my starlight. Already, it was a smoother journey than before, my mind calmed by Ninti’s reassuring presence.

Meanwhile, Ninti’s magic reached for me, threads of power reaching from her body. I accepted, binding us together in the effort.

I gripped the stone.Light, I told it.

All at once, power rushed through me, connecting me to a source that gripped me in return.

The stone flared with light.

Thrill lit in my chest.

It’s working.

I could feel Ninti’s assistance. She oriented me, directing my power. Bound to her, what had been a pool of trapped starlight became a steady beam that poured from my hand and into the stone.

Only, it didn’t stop.

And I couldn’t let go.

More light entered the stone.

It couldn’t take anything more.

Bursting, the stone exploded.

Dust plumed in the air, filling my lungs. I began to cough, my lungs burning with the acrid combination of heat and grime. I let Ninti go, but even as I broke contact, the threads binding us refused to part.

Overwhelmed, I pressed my hands into the earth.

Still, power flowed.

And flowed.

And flowed.

It won’t stop.

My chest burned, each breath tasting of thunderstorms. My arms began to shake, and still, I drew more power. It rose from the stars, from Ninti. Everything flooded my body, reducing me to a mere conduit as I poured the power back into the earth.

Ninti sagged, her body growing limp. My heart raced at the sight, and even as I watched her eyes close, I failed to stop the endless stream of power.

The stones around me crackled with strain.

The earth buckled but did not break.

I resisted. I fought.

My vision blurred with tears.

I don’t know how to stop this.

Any semblance of control Ninti had offered was insignificant compared to the well of power forcing its way through me. I was trying to control a river with a pipe.

With a harsh snap, the earth fissured, opening before me. The crag grew. Deeper. Wider.

Zayne… He was trapped below the earth.

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