The path up the mountain was steep, wet, and completely covered in sharp rocks.Caster Spellbound and Archmage Lysane climbed higher and higher. They left the burning, screaming capital city behind them. Below, the dark gray ash swallowed the beautiful white streets. The giant Sage Tower groaned and cracked, wrapped tightly in a massive, spinning helix of dead magic.Caster was breathing very hard. His old lungs burned in the freezing air. His hands were cut and bleeding from grabbing the sharp mountain rocks."We are almost there," Lysane yelled over her shoulder. She was climbing a few feet ahead of him. Her heavy leather bag full of brass instruments clanked loudly against her back. She held the heavy Foundations book tightly under her arm."The ash... is getting thinner," Caster gasped. He stopped for a second and leaned against a large boulder.He was right. Down in the city, the ash was so thick you could not see your own hands. But up here, high on the mountain cliff, the gray

"If we vent the dark mana into the astral drift," Lysane continued, her words coming fast, "the endless empty space will easily absorb it. The universe is too big to care about our little dark shadow. The pressure inside the Tower will drop. The core will not explode."Caster stared at the dark blue star-map. He saw the brilliance of her idea. She was a true Master of Wards. She knew how to move energy. She knew how to build a pipe.But Caster also saw the terrible, tragic truth hiding behind the brilliant plan.Caster slowly reached out and placed his old, dirty hand over Lysane’s hand.Lysane stopped talking. She looked up at him."Lysane," Caster said softly. His gray eyes were full of deep sorrow. "This is a perfect plan to stop the explosion. But you know what this means, don't you?"Lysane swallowed hard. Her fierce, brave expression faltered for a second. She looked away, staring down at the city far below."I know," Lysane whispered."If we vent the pressure into space," Cast

The path up the mountain was steep, wet, and completely covered in sharp rocks.Caster Spellbound and Archmage Lysane climbed higher and higher. They left the burning, screaming capital city behind them. Below, the dark gray ash swallowed the beautiful white streets. The giant Sage Tower groaned and cracked, wrapped tightly in a massive, spinning helix of dead magic.Caster was breathing very hard. His old lungs burned in the freezing air. His hands were cut and bleeding from grabbing the sharp mountain rocks."We are almost there," Lysane yelled over her shoulder. She was climbing a few feet ahead of him. Her heavy leather bag full of brass instruments clanked loudly against her back. She held the heavy Foundations book tightly under her arm."The ash... is getting thinner," Caster gasped. He stopped for a second and leaned against a large boulder.He was right. Down in the city, the ash was so thick you could not see your own hands. But up here, high on the mountain cliff, the gray

"Yes," Lysane said. "The Sky Observatory is already connected to the stars. The silver lines in the floor are alignment guides. We can use the giant telescope as a needle. We cast a massive channeling spell. We grab the dark pressure building up inside the Tower’s core, and we shoot it straight up through the telescope into the empty void of space."Caster looked at the giant brass telescope. He looked at the silver lines on the floor.It was a crazy plan. It was the most dangerous, impossible piece of magic ever attempted."If we vent the dark mana into the astral drift," Lysane continued, her words coming fast, "the endless empty space will easily absorb it. The universe is too big to care about our little dark shadow. The pressure inside the Tower will drop. The core will not explode."Caster stared at the dark blue star-map.He saw the brilliance of her idea. She was a true Master of Wards. She knew how to move energy. She knew how to build a pipe.But Caster also saw the terrible

Caster Spellbound stayed on his knees on the cold, dark blue stone. He stared straight up into the endless night.High above the world, the bright white stars had moved. They had slid across the black emptiness of space. They had formed a massive, perfect circle. Inside the circle was a deep, terrible void. It was the exact shape of the Ash Warden.The universe itself was looking down at them."Lysane," Caster whispered. His voice was broken. "The sky... it is the same shape."Lysane stood frozen beside the giant brass telescope. She dropped her hands from the heavy metal wheel. She looked up at the stars. Her dark eyes were wide with total horror.The massive beam of pitch-black magic was still shooting out of the telescope. It was carrying the terrible, toxic pressure from the Tower’s Mana Core straight up into space. But it was not disappearing into empty nothingness. It was flying directly into the center of the star-shaped monster.The universe was drinking the dark magic."It is