Earlier, beneath Frostveil Watchtower.
Two enormous masses of stone stood within the blizzard.
The larger shell, nearly twenty metres across, still concealed Sonya. Beside it, the smaller one enclosed Akaza, Virella, and Ammor.
However, the larger shell had begun changing.
Its uneven layers pressed together. Gaps disappeared between the boulders, and the heavy pulses coming from within grew steadier.
With each beat, snow slid from its surface.
Elara watched from her seat of ice.
The Kragh's aura was no longer surging and faltering. Something inside her was settling into place.
She was attaining a Forged Heart, and she was close.
Elara's fingers tightened around her staff, but she did not waste another attack upon the shell.
She had prepared something better.
