High up the inner side of the dome, two Stalwarts ran out onto a balcony set apart from other walkways on the seventh level. They paused, unsure where to go next.

  Harafin sprinted out of the hallway onto the balcony and, without slowing, leaped over the railing into the vast empty space beyond.

  Propelled by a burst of energy, Harafin sailed in a high arc far out into the center of the space beneath the Great Dome. People passing on the levels below pointed in wondering awe at the spectacle and shouted in concern at the expected long fall to the hard floor below.

  One Sentinel, who stood on the main floor, gaped for a second in astonishment before the import of what he witnessed drove home. The truth chilled him to the bone with a sudden icy dread. He shouted, his voice magnified by actinic power.

  "Everyone, run!"

  As Harafin reached the pinnacle of his arc, directly under the center of the dome, he threw his hands out wide. Blue lightning exploded from his fingertips in crackling bolts that struck all around the inside of the dome.

  The lightning didn't punch through the walls, but deflected perpendicular. Some raced up the heavy ribs that supported the dome while others ran horizontal, parallel to the distant floor. Where the bolts intersected, they split, and then split again. Within a double heartbeat, a grid-like pattern of incandescent power criss-crossed the entire upper side of the dome.

  Ear-splitting thunderclaps shook the entire structure and sent people fleeing for exits with hands clutching their ears. Screams of fear were swallowed up by the rolling peals of thunder that reverberated for half a minute through the dome.

  The sound buffeted Harafin like dozens of fists as he hung at the very apex of his flight for a long heartbeat. Just before beginning the terrifying plunge toward the hard floor of the mosaic map, he shouted a word of power.

  It shook the entire massive structure. From every intersecting junction of lightning-like magic, new bolts of power arced back out to the center of the dome. Nine hundred and ninety-three bolts of power all met simultaneously to form a sphere of magic surrounding and supporting Harafin.

  A final thunderclap, magnified a hundred times, reverberated through the dome. It rent the air and knocked from their feet people who had not yet fled. Those unfortunates ran in headlong panic from the sudden, terrifying spectacle.

  Standing within the brilliantly glowing sphere of energy suspended beneath the center of the dome, Harafin intoned the next sequence of the spell. It would call upon the ancient magic embedded in the very fabric of the palace and activate the defensive spells that had long remained dormant.

  The entire dome rang as if struck by an impossibly huge silver hammer. The air shimmered with rainbow light, as if the entire inner space under the dome bent and twisted inside a gigantic prism.

  Vast amounts of magic stirred and came to life.

  # # #

  The Catalyst paused. Ignoring the witch-woman who somehow defied him still, he focused on the structure beneath his feet. Powerful magic stirred deep in the bowels of the palace. Magic intended to thwart him.

  His authority could not be challenged. He would rule all the dominion visible from this great height. He focused the power that so desperately sought for release and drove it against the new threat. All challengers would be ground to dust.

  Somehow a foreign power absorbed his attack and bled the power away before it could fulfill its mission of destruction. He redoubled his efforts, and in a moment of insane clarity, it dawned upon him what he must do.

  He must destroy everything. Only then would his power remain unchallenged.

  # # #

  Beads of sweat dripped down Harafin's forehead as he worked, only to burn away from the heat of the pulsing energy that surrounded him. He focused completely on the task of fully activating the palace's defenses, but couldn't shake a growing shadow of fear.

  He only needed another minute. If he could complete the sequence and fully activate the old magic, he could call upon the powers of the Sentinel High Council, and the enclaves scattered across the empire. The magic was awesomely powerful, strong enough even to bottle up the chaos of Kevlin out of control. They had always assumed there would be adequate time to activate the defenses.

  He only needed a few more minutes. Even as the thought formed, the power under his hands swelled in a staggering wave and a torrent of magic drove against the partially activated defenses. Harafin grunted with the effort, pushed to the extreme edge of his capacity by the wild, untamed magic.

  With the sphere of lightning protecting and enhancing his abilities, he wrested control over this first assault. Even with his enhanced abilities he could not contain it, so he re-directed it and released it back through the palace to dissipate outside.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  # # #

  On the palace grounds, amazement spread as people paused to take note of a strange glow beginning to emanate from many of the palace buildings. In the sunken gardens and lawns across the palace complex, people started in surprise at the unexpected shocks they received walking on the grass.

  People retreated in fear from the statues of the gods ringing the central courtyard. Their eyes glowed with blue fire.

  # # #

  Harafin blew out a labored breath and faced the hard truth. He lacked the time necessary to complete the entire sequence. He couldn't finish the intricate process while simultaneously withstanding these attacks from Kevlin.

  The boy should not be capable of such concentrated assaults, now while suffering a Tai Pari. Yet somehow he did. What he lacked in sophistication he more than made up for in simple magnitude. His attacks already threatened to overwhelm the defenses.

  Harafin could not hesitate. With a focused effort of concentration, Harafin threw a mental command out to the air and drove it throughout the entire inner city.

  The day of peril is come. Your strength is needed. This is a Critical-Urgent event.

  So powerful echoed the command that many of those possessing no actinic gift paused to listen, sure they had heard something, but unable to say exactly what it was. All they knew was that the ghostly whisper filled them with a nameless fear.

  Throughout every palace, those with actinic gifts, along with every Stalwart, cried out in alarm. Some stumbled under the force of the command. Universal fear reflected in every face, but their training took over and they sprang into action.

  All through the inner city, they raced to nodes of power embedded in every structure and linked their minds to the palace defensive grid matrix. Their strength flowed up through the matrix to the lightning sphere cradling Harafin high in the air under the Great Dome.

  The sphere blazed with light, and sparks of pure magic cascaded down toward the empty expanse below. The new influx of power stretched Harafin's abilities far beyond the limits of his natural frame.

  The lines of magic forming the sphere began to shift, flowing from the simple grid pattern into symbols of power that further magnified the strength of the Sentinel within.

  The receptacle of that vast power, Harafin became the key. Despite his age, in the invisible world of light and magic, he was an undisputed master. Wielding the power with the skill of a maestro, he wove his spells and worked his way through the increasingly complex patterns.

  # # #

  The emperor and the rest of the small group stared in stunned amazement across the wide empty space at Harafin hanging suspended in the magical sphere. They stood on the short balcony high up on the side of the Great Dome, the only witnesses to the awesome spectacle.

  Leander stepped to the edge of the balcony and plunged his hand into one of the junctions of power situated just above his head. The lightning-like globe of pure magic sparked and crackled at the contact, but didn't harm the old Stalwart.

  Leander bowed his head in concentration and poured his indomitable strength into the effort to support Harafin. The conduit of power connecting the node to Harafin's sphere flared to pure white brilliance.

  Silently each of the Stalwarts followed their leader's example. They linked together into a long chain, with each man grasping the shoulder of the man in front of him. The last man was Basak, who connected the chain to Leander. The entire group began to glow softly, and the conduit to Harafin's sphere thickened and burned brighter still.

  The chain of Stalwarts chanted, a soft litany filled with purpose, with faith, and with resolve. Within seconds, every gifted soul in the inner city united, the full force of their wills focused on one man.

  Inside of the sphere of power, Harafin struggled to remain in control. The magnitude of power flowing through his fingers threatened to shatter his will even enhanced by the strength of so many others and from the magic of the palace itself.

  He held on with iron determination, his control balanced on a knife's edge, with destruction looming at either side should his concentration slip for even a second. Were he to waver even a little, he would suffer his own Tai Pari, and all would be lost.

  He did not waver. A new wave of power assaulted the matrix from the out-of-control Kevlin. Stronger than the last, it pushed Harafin to the very brink before he managed to deflect the power out through every available outlet.

  If Kevlin kept this up, he'd drain all the latent magic from the area, leaving the actinopathic who supported Harafin powerless. Harafin could do nothing about it. So he clutched the living magic of the sphere and shouted the next word of power in the sequence.

  Silence descended over the entire dome like a heavy blanket, so deep it silenced the ambassadors' muttered cries. For three long heartbeats, absolute quiet reigned.

  Then every mural in the upper half of the dome shattered together with the sound of fifty thousand windows breaking. Every color imaginable exploded across the vast space under the dome in thousands of streaming rainbows made up of plaster shards.

  As the shattered remnants of two centuries of effort fluttered down through the dome, the boundless expanse of golden metal that made up the lower layer of the dome glowed with pure amber light. Symbols of power, previously concealed beneath the murals, flared like miniature suns and set the millions of plaster shards glittering like tiny mirrors that filled the dome with reflected light.

  # # #

  Emperor Tegnazian stared in awed disbelief at the spectacle of the fluttering remnants of the priceless murals drifting toward the distant floor. He then turned to the unbelievable sight of Harafin hanging suspended in the air far out in the nothingness beneath the Great Dome.

  This couldn't be happening. As emperor, he knew of the magical defenses embedded within the very fabric of the palace. The spells had been woven two centuries ago during the initial building of the city, and had been reinforced and strengthened during every war with the Grakonians.

  No one was ever supposed to use it. Intended as part of a last, desperate defensive measure should the empire be overrun by her enemies, the spells were not to be triggered except under imminent threat of destruction.

  Where were the attacking armies? He hadn't even declared war on anyone. He should at least get to do that. He didn't understand what was going on, but as emperor he was supposed to know. Not knowing terrified him.

  He was never supposed to be terrified. That made him angry.

  "What can I do?" he shouted, hoping for someone to give him concrete direction, but dreading what they might say.

  The burly Stalwart Basak whispered, "Stay back. Pray Harafin has the strength to defeat this threat."

  "What threat?" demanded Duke Kescog from where he stood nearby, his hand clenching, as if searching for a weapon.

  The Stalwart did not speak again, his entire effort focused on the invisible struggle they were engaged in.