As they followed Elon out of the fortress, Carissa asked, “So what happened?”
Elon turned a corner. “We went to the unmarked wing. I had a hunch that was where they were keeping the Nephesh.” He glanced at Carissa’s quizzical expression. “The Reapers either use Soul Pieces to empower themselves or to project their power over a particular area. When they combine Soul Pieces with blood, it creates a larger stone, a Nephesh.”
Carissa nodded. “Which pushes the border forward.”
“From what I understand.”
If the Reapers were harvesting people for Soul Pieces and blood, that explained why the servants had been disappearing. “So we’ve pushed the border back?”
An unearthly scream echoed from down the hallway, and Elon picked up his pace. “A bit.”
Carissa let herself feel the glow of triumph. They just had to do this a few more times, and the border would practically be nonexistent.
She glanced down at Algernon, his skin becoming pale and waxy. Or perhaps it wouldn’t be quite that easy. After all, without Algernon, it’s unlikely she would have made it out.
They descended down the steps to the passage, and after a few minutes of walking, Elon announced, “We’re here. Carissa, would you mind helping Kybelle move the stone?”
Carissa moved forward, assuming Kybelle was Algernon’s sister. They shoved against the stone, their grunts loud in the passage. It rolled away, revealing a daylight so sparkling and bright, tears stung Carissa’s eyes.