With care, I settled the newest chunks of star-iron in the basement with the rest of the pieces of the celestial firmament we'd captured, letting the power of Tsirisma bathe it. The abyssal strength of the volcano countered the celestial power of the meteors, keeping the Material Plane from warping around the pieces of the Celestial Plane, but if it kept on like this we were going to start overwhelming the volcano.

I sighed, trying not to think too hard about it. I had to report to the Triumvirate soon on the situation, anyway, and I could let the three of them come up with bright ideas for trying to keep the echoes of the void from destroying our whole world. There weren't a lot of options, when it came right down to it; if any other material magic-users touched the firmament, the stars would show us no mercy. It was me and Jace, or no one.

Feeling weary, I trudged down the stairs, my mind churning. I didn't see the fucking mouse until it darted out from underfoot, startling me enough that I stumbled and fell, crashing onto my hip on the stone stairs and smacking my head against the wall hard enough that I bit a chunk of my cheek off.

Rage spiked under my skin.

Fuck. This.

I shoved myself up, spitting blood onto the steps for the stupid Spire's cleaning spells to deal with, and stalked back up the stairs to the summoning circle. I was done dealing with the fraying wards. There was one thing guaranteed to keep mice out of my working spaces, and I was going to summon it.