{ "The mountain core calls and I must go." }
The Core burned beneath my skin alive in me now, pulsing through my blood like a second heartbeat. Every breath came sharp, electric, as if I could taste the mountain's power on my tongue.
Then my vision shifted, and I didn't close my eyes as the core closed them for me. The world around me twisted, the red glow of the Core replaced by shadow and ash. I felt myself pulled, yanked through a thread of space and soul, until suddenly I saw.
Freyr and Tor.
They were lying close together on the rough stone floor of a cavern hidden just beyond the jagged mouth of the BloodStone caves. Freyr's arm was slung protectively over Tor's chest, his face pale and strained, as if he'd just poured the last of his strength into shielding them. Tor's eyes were wide, breath ragged, like he was barely holding himself together.
