Kane struck me through the network.
White pain tore through every open channel. The people and beasts that had managed to answer screamed at once. I tried to close the bond, but Styx held it open.
"Again," she said.
We repeated the question.
"Do you want to get up?"
More answers came.
Some wanted to run. Some wanted to protect their masters. Some never wanted to see humans again. Some beasts did not understand the words and answered with images: an open door, the scent of the forest, the hand of someone they knew.
No two answers were the same.
The Crown tried to turn them into commands and choked on the contradictions.
Kane walked over and stepped on my hand.
"You think a jumble of desires can defeat a system?"
"No," I said. "But even if they lose, those desires will still be their own."
The basilisk raised its head to strike.
A void slash came from the opposite roof, but it did not hit Kane. Leon cut through the support beneath us.
The platform tilted.
Kane stepped back towards the core. Styx and I fell over the edge.
The Void Dragon caught us in mid-air, but a white line struck its spine. The beast lost altitude. We smashed through a glass walkway and crashed onto the top floor of the academy tower.
Leon fell beside us. His right arm had not moved since he broke the family seal.
"Not a bad plan," he said, breathing hard. "Almost as if there'd been one."
I tried to answer, but I could not remember a word.
Not Leon's name. Something simpler.
I stared at my palm and could not remember what the line across the skin was called.
A few seconds later, the word returned.
Scar.
Styx lay on my collar. She was silent too.
We had taken in too many other people's memories. Each new question opened the door wider. If we continued, the Crown would lose its stability.
And Styx and I would lose the boundary between ourselves and the city.
Kane's voice sounded from below.
"First circuit violator detected. Academy designated for cleansing."
The white beasts turned towards the tower.
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