All across the Second Ring, the protective charms were breaking. The blue magic lanterns on the street corners were dying, turning to dark gray glass. The fires in the bakeries and the blacksmith shops refused to ignite.People rushed out of their houses. They looked at their broken charms. They looked at the silent, endless gray ash falling from the perfectly blue sky."It's the sickness!" a man yelled in the middle of the street. He was a merchant who traveled to the lower Rings. He had seen this before. "It's the Ashfall! It's Ashfall Syndrome!"The words spread like a terrible disease.Ashfall Syndrome.It was a whisper at first. Then it became a shout. Then it became a panicked, terrified scream echoing across the entire capital.‘Ashfall Syndrome! The dark sickness! It eats your memories! It turns your lungs to glass!’"Run!" people screamed. "Get to the safe zones! Call the High Guards!"Total chaos exploded. The peaceful morning was destroyed.Thousands of people began to run

The giant ash helix spun outside the glass windows. It was massive. It wrapped around the entire Sage Tower like two giant, pale snakes.Caster Spellbound and Archmage Lysane stood on the stone balcony. They felt the heavy, terrible vibration in their bones. The whole city was trapped under the pitch-black dome. The artificial sun was dead. The only light came from the sick, pale glow of the spinning ash."The Warden is awake," Caster said softly. His rough voice barely cut through the loud, humming sound of the storm outside. "It is taking control of the city’s magic."Lysane stared at the dark streets far below. Millions of people were trapped down there in the dark. She thought about the children, the bakers, the guards. They were completely blind to the truth."We have to stop looking at the sky," Lysane said quickly. She turned away from the balcony. Her dark eyes were full of a fierce, desperate fire. "If we stand here, we die with them. We need the book, Caster. We need Foundat

"Yes," Caster said. He looked at his own hands. He felt the cold gray ash of his own soul-tether inside him. "The Warden is pruning its own roots.""Pruning?""A gardener cuts the branches of a tree so it grows the way he wants," Caster said. "The Warden is erasing the evidence of the crime. It is burning every book, every scroll, and every map that talks about the Blackthorn Network. It is burning the instructions for binding souls. It is making sure that no one in the Tower will ever know how to build a Pact Seal again."Lysane felt a deep, terrible chill that had nothing to do with the freezing spectral fire.The Warden was not just a mindless beast throwing a tantrum. It was a highly intelligent, patient force of nature. It was cleaning up the mess. It was deleting the instruction manual so humanity could never repeat the sin."This is not chaos," Lysane said softly. "This is a correction.""Yes," Caster said.Then, a sudden, horrible thought hit Lysane like a physical punch to th

The loud alarm bells rang through the Third Ring of the Tower.Clang. Clang. Clang.The sound was sharp and hurt the ears. The Third Ring was the home of the students. It was where the young boys and girls lived, studied, and learned how to use simple Tower magic. Usually, the halls were full of laughter and the smell of sweet ink and fresh paper.Now, the halls were full of terror.Finn was twelve years old. He wore a simple blue student robe. He stood in the middle of the Great Hall, holding his hands over his ears. Around him, hundreds of other young students were crying, pushing, and looking for a place to hide.The bright blue magical lights on the ceiling were flickering. They turned a sick, pale yellow, and then they turned angry red.Suddenly, a massive, booming voice came from the stone walls. It was the voice of Archmage Vane, speaking through the magical speakers of the Tower."Attention," Vane’s voice echoed. The voice was cold. It did not sound like a father protecting hi

The whispers spread through the line of children faster than a fire. “He is part of it.”“He is the Ash Master.”“He saved us.”Caster heard the whispers. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, but it was not from the magic. It was from the weight of their belief. These children thought he was a hero. They did not know that he was the one who had built the tether. They did not know that the monster outside was a shadow of his own making.He was the cause of their nightmare. But today, he would also be their shield."Let's move," Caster commanded.He walked at the front of the line. Lysane walked at the back, making sure no child was left behind.They marched out of the Great Hall and into the long, wide corridors of the Third Ring.The journey was a nightmare. The Tower was literally falling apart around them.BOOM.A massive piece of stone fell from the ceiling, crashing into the floor just ten feet in front of Caster. Dust flew everywhere.The children screamed and stopped walking.Cas