The door exploded before they could move.
A wave of blue force slammed into them, throwing Kaelen and Lyra across the hallway. Kaelen hit the wall hard, his vision spinning. He scrambled to his feet, pulling Lyra up just as a figure stepped out of the smoke.
It was Lord Alaric, but the man from the descriptions was gone. His right arm had been replaced by a skeletal limb of brass and glowing blue crystals. Half of his face was a mask of cold iron, fused directly into his skull.
"The Nest sends children to do a god's work?" Alaric's voice sounded like grinding stones. "You are too late. The vein has been tapped. The Ancients are breathing again."
He raised his crystal arm, and a bolt of raw Aetheria tore through the air.