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.She stepped forward, drawn by the power of the nexus, and into the room.The Grandmaster placed a hand on her arm.“Be careful,” he advised, softly.“Stronger magicians than you have been overwhelmed by the nexus.”Emily nodded.The nexus chamber was immense, a giant cave filled with glowing pillars that reached up towards the building far overhead.They looked almost organic, she realized, as if they’d grown out of the nexus and merged into Whitehall.The sense of power surrounding them was utterly overwhelming, calling her onwards at the same time as it repelled her.It made her wonder, suddenly, just how practiced the magicians who had tamed the nexus had actually been.They had to have been truly brilliant.“It takes years,” the Grandmaster said, when she asked.“A single flash of power can destroy all of their work in a heartbeat.They need to monitor the nexus, focus its power and then channel it into the wards.Done properly.it can be very rewarding.”And if it isn’t done properly, the results can be disastrous, Emily thought, remembering how Sergeant Harkin had talked about the dangers of tapping nexus points.He’d told her about an experiment that had caused an explosion, one that had devastated the country for miles around.Given the sheer level of power she could feel in the chamber, it was surprising that it hadn’t cracked the planet in half.She had the strangest sense that the nexus was actually alive and looking right back at her.She staggered against the Grandmaster, who held her upright.“I had the same reaction when I first came here,” he said.“Was it so extreme when you killed Shadye?”“I don’t think so,” Emily said.“But I was desperate.”The Grandmaster smiled, then nodded to one of the pillars.“I think you had a great deal of help from the spells that govern the nexus,” he said.“Thankfully, the Warden wasn’t destroyed at the time.But now.”He scowled.“I need you to try touching the power directly,” he added.“And be careful.”Emily looked at him.“What—exactly—do you want me to do?”“Scan the school,” the Grandmaster said.“If the spellwork is still in place, you should be able to rebuild the wards and take control.”It didn’t sound like a very good idea, Emily realized, but there wasn’t much choice.She stepped forward, eying the pillar, and gently touched the crystal with her bare hand.Strange lights ran over the structure, but nothing else happened until she tried to pull her hand away and realized that it was stuck.Moments later, there was a sudden surge of power and she was suddenly very aware of the entire school.Whitehall was, on some level, a living entity, one that existed on a very different plane to humanity.The sudden awareness almost sent her staggering backwards, but she couldn’t break the contact.The wards were in ruins, she realized, as she tried desperately to focus.It hadn’t been so hard last time, had it? She couldn’t recall—the experience had faded from her memory quickly—but she was sure that it had been easier to control and direct the power flowing from the nexus and into the school.This time, it either refused to heed her or was powerful enough to burn her mind.There was a wave of red-hot pain.And she found herself in the Grandmaster’s arms, staring up at the crystal ceiling high overhead.Her head hurt, but the pain seemed almost illusory, as if she were imagining having a headache rather than actually having one.She reached up and touched the side of her head, feeling almost fragile.The memories of touching the nexus had already faded away.“You were pushed out,” the Grandmaster said, softly.“It didn’t allow you to make contact properly.”Emily nodded.“I can try again,” she said, although in truth she would have preferred to put some distance between herself and the nexus.“But I don’t think it likes me any longer.”That was an understatement.The nexus seemed rather unfriendly now.perhaps it remembered how Shadye had manipulated her to attack it.Or, perhaps, how Shadye had almost taken it for his own.The thought of a necromancer wielding the almost unlimited power of a nexus was terrifying.Shadye might well have become a god—or a devil.“Probably not a good idea,” the Grandmaster said.His tone was firm enough that she knew there was no point in arguing.“Too many such contacts might destroy your mind—or suck you into the nexus.No one who has been sucked inside has ever been seen again.”Emily half-remembered the waves of endless power and shivered.It was possible that the people who had been sucked inside didn’t want to return.If they could, of course.but the nexus was so powerful that it could do almost anything.Surely it could rebuild their bodies if they wanted out.Or maybe they had long since been destroyed beyond hope of recovery.The Grandmaster helped her to her feet.“Thank you for trying,” he said, seriously.“And I’m sorry you had to go through that experience.There was no other choice.”“No,” Emily agreed.“Is there anyone else who might be able to touch the nexus?”“Not in Whitehall,” the Grandmaster said.He shook his head, dismissing the thought.“And substituting a different homunculus didn’t work either.The level of spellwork that went into the Warden was quite considerable, far more than any lesser entity.I still don’t understand how the Mimic managed to destroy it so quickly.”Emily frowned, considering the problem
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