He spoke three words, and opened the palm of his right hand. A bronze bracelet appeared at Evrin's wrist and a matching ring at his index finger. Silver symbols decorated the edge of the bracelet, and as Evrin spoke two more sequences, the bracelet and ring flared red.

As Evrin raised his arm the templar stepped back. A circle of pure light came from Evrin's bracelet, travelling along his wrist. The circle grew tighter and smaller as it approached the ring, finally condensing to a tiny disc of energy too bright to look at.

It left the ring with incredible speed, too fast for the eye to see.

The templar looked down at the hole in his chest, an expression of surprise and disbelief on his face. His breath rattled, and he crumpled to the stone.

The fleeing pilgrims fled, and Evrin turned back to the Pinnacle, thinking about what it actually was.

A barrier.

The Evermen once met here at the summit of Stonewater to discuss the issues and plans that affected them all. Their greatest works of lore were conceived at the structure now hidden by the light, from mighty weapons to complex machines.

In days long gone, the chamber at the summit of the mountain was open to the sky. Only later was the barrier conceived, activated to repel any unwelcome visitors and keep the chamber concealed.

Evrin was here now because the barrier was about to vanish. Before today, he'd always been confident that the secrets preserved within its confines could never be discovered, especially by someone such as Primate Melovar Aspen. Evrin himself could not break through to the chamber hidden within the light.

But the barrier had a weakness: it was powered by the refinery, deep in the bowels of the mountain.

The refinery Evrin had just asked Killian to destroy.

Evrin dragged himself closer to the light. He cocked his head to the side as he listened.

The explosion was bigger than he had imagined it would be. When he felt it, Evrin's first thought was relief that Killian had come this far: he'd destroyed the extraction system, and only the refinery remained. The rumble grew in intensity, becoming a series of explosions as each part of the massive system caused the next to detonate, while the ground trembled under Evrin's feet and dust rose into the air. The noise was deafening and Evrin put his hands to his ears. If the templars didn't know about Killian's intrusion before, they would now.

The barrier still held. It wouldn't be until the destruction of the refinery that the light would fade, revealing the secret chamber within.

Evrin withdrew a destructive cube from his pocket. When the device was unleashed, the magic within would feed on other magic, increasing the cube's destructive power while devouring anything it encountered that was built with essence.