The second charge went off before the dust from the first had reached the floor.
Stone jumped beneath Martin's boots. A crack raced across the amplifier chamber, met the sealed return bulkhead, and forked toward the wall beside Katherine. She drove both hands upward. Golden light thickened beneath the damaged beam while Kinnami braced its opposite end with her shoulder. The beam dropped another finger-width before their barriers stopped it again.
The locking arm remained jammed in its floor guide. The receiver bank shuddered on its rails but did not resume its crawl toward the purge throat.
Martin kept his injured left wrist against his chest and Rainwarden Sword in his right hand. He could summon Breakwater Aegis one-handed, but its broken forearm fastening would leave the shield twisting against the swollen joint. For now, he used the sword to knock a falling stone away from Elisebeth.
