"Then you retreat, and we find another way." His eyes are serious.
"Luna Sophia, I know you're used to pushing through obstacles with sheer determination. But magic doesn't work that way. If you try to force this and fail, the backlash could kill you both."
"Noted," Kael says.
"Thank you, Aldric. For helping."
"Thank Seraphine for forcing my hand." The old wizard's expression turns sad.
"I'd hoped to never again directly oppose her work. But she's left me no choice."
He fades, leaving us alone with our new knowledge and the weight of what we have to do.
"We leave at dawn," Kael says after a moment of silence.
"Agreed." I look at the sketches Aldric left. Patterns that will either save us or destroy us. "Let's hope we're as quick studies as he thinks."
spent my last evening before
