A palpable silence permeated the throne room after Jack's declaration regarding Rhys.
'Control your mana,' Tharaxis's voice cut through Jack's consciousness with the precision of a blade. 'You're killing them. Their nervous systems can't process this level of electrical density. If you continue, half the chamber will experience cardiac arrest before you finish speaking.'
Jack's awareness shifted inward for a fraction of a second. The dragon was right. The ozone smell had become so intense that guards and council members were gagging.
The golden lightning beneath his hood was still flickering, still ionizing the air, still pushing every biological entity in the chamber toward the threshold of what their bodies could endure.
He consciously pulled the electrical manifestation inward, reining in the raw power that had been bleeding from his presence like an open wound.
