Not Again

Abhorsen's House sat at the top of the Falls, in the dead center of the River Ratterlin. To all those who knew of its existence, the House was a sanctuary from the Dead and the Free Magic Creatures that frequent the Old Kingdom. The raging river protected it from the sides, the sun and Charter magic guarded the air; but from below was vulnerable. The old well on the edge of the island that was haunted by Astarael, protected the House and the Abhorsens, having put her Charter Magic in that line. But her bindings and protections of the House were wearing thin. She was a Free Magic Creature that was put into order, and one the most powerful. But something from within her own wards was fighting her. It weakened the spells, this Free Magic Adept that was well on its way to becoming a Shiner. Not one of the original Nine, but a Shiner and still very powerful. Astarael struggled in her well, this was not Yreal, the cat familiar of the Abhorsens but something else entirely.

Yreal was curled up in his cat form in the sun several hundred feet above Astarael, on a warm rock. He was no longer bound, but having nothing better to do, he still served the Abhorsens. The Charter sendings bustled about their business, keeping the house in order. The mid-afternoon calm was disturbed by a rumbling and cracking. With a yowl, Yreal jumped in the air as the foundation of the House started to crumble into the Ratterlin. There was a brilliant golden light and Yreal started running away from the destruction. Astarael's well broke, the scent of rosemary and amaranth wafting up out of the cracks in the copper, along with the stench of Free Magic. The Charter left the house, and the sending's fizzled out as the protections dropped. The House crumbled on its foundations, the dust hiding all smells, the crashing masking all other sounds. In the calm, Yreal peaked over the rock he hid behind. The stench of Free Magic filled the air, metallic and biting; a laugh like an earthquake reverberated through the air. Yreal fled to Belisaere to deliver the bad news.