Song Ciwan closed her eyes, her heart pounding in terror.
At the same time, she seemed to hear the rattling of chains in the sky, a grating, clanking sound like rusted metal.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG—
The piercing sound seemed to ring only in Song Ciwan's ears, and yet it also seemed to echo throughout the entire world!
In the spring pool, the Grand Elder of the Spirit Star Race sat cross-legged on the Jade Platform and finally spoke.
But though she spoke, her voice was erratic, sometimes loud, sometimes soft, trembling and strained. "Our race... our race's... control... technique... also has an eighth... eighth level... and... and..."
But she couldn't manage to get the last, crucial words out.
Song Ciwan, however, used the sound to pinpoint the location, adding that to the fleeting glimpse she'd had earlier of the direction the chains were descending from—
