"Stop—" she gasped between clenched teeth "—breaking the rules."
Her words were a mistake.
The sound bounced off the walls.
Even that small shout echoed strangely, stretching into a series of warped repetitions.
stop… break… break… rules…
The crystal veins along the ceiling pulsed.
More creatures poured out of the walls, drawn to the vibrations.
"Fine," she hissed. "New rule. No more talking."
She focused on breathing through her nose, keeping her teeth clenched when she moved.
She shifted her stance, trying to keep to the quieter patches of floor even as she fought.
Steel flashed.
Bodies thudded.
Each time one of the stalkers hit a wrong patch of stone, the echo surged and the gravity twisted. Sometimes it threw them into each other. Sometimes it tried to throw her into them.
Once, a chunk of ceiling gave way entirely.
A thick slab of stone and crystal tore free overhead.
Rhaen saw it start to fall.
Her body was half a second behind.
She tried to roll.
