Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 734
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Jordan hurried down a dim passage near the mountain
top; his hand tightly gripped Tamsin’s, and she stumbled as she
tried to keep up. The others were blundering along behind
him, but he no longer had the patience to wait for them.
Something terrible was happening above.
First, Mediation had fallen silent. Its constituents were
busy--whether busy panicking or marshalling their forces, he
did not know. The desals were only part of Mediation, Jordan
knew; there were other, more powerful entities located deep
within the planet’s crust: the geophysical Winds. He had
caught vague telltales of their presence once or twice, like a
deep rumbling far below his feet. Now that rumbling too was
silent.
Something had happened above the mountain--some
catastrophe involving the Heaven hooks. Jordan’s own senses
weren’t strong enough to penetrate that far, and Mediation was
not showing him anything. He could sense the immense
machines of the Titans’ Gates slowing, however. They seemed
to be shutting down.
Mediation, he called now. Answer me! What’s
happening?
Silence. The back of his neck was prickling. Had the
geophysical Winds been defeated by Thalience? Or had the
Galactics attacked Ventus, as Axel warned they would?
It was only dozen meters now to the exit nearest the
monastery. He would know in seconds.