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chapter six freefall
For a few, excruciating, heartstopping moments, Sabrina is falling, falling, falling, and she fears that she's fallen into a neverending pit. Then she collides with something—or rather, someone—and they're tumbling faster and faster, grappling for control as the center door draws ever nearer. And then, suddenly, she's broken free from their grip and catches the edge of the doorway as the zealot that she grappled with falls through and greets the desert sand below. Sabrina takes a deep breath, staring down at the sand that lays hundreds of feet below her dangling feet.
She lets out a grunt as she attempts to pull herself back into the room. Stephen can't help her now. He's lost in his own dance of death with the remaining zealot. He reaches desperately for the dial beside the door and Sabrina desperately manages to swing one leg over the threshold before he can touch it. She does not want to know what would happen if she were only halfway through the doorway when the scenery changes. The remaining zealot grabs Stephen by the shoulder and tugs him back. He ducks under the zealot's sweeping kick and throws himself at the dial. Sabrina swings her other leg over the threshold split seconds before Stephen turns the dial, trapping the first zealot in the desert otherworld and replacing the location with a rainforest.
The remaining zealot pounces from behind Stephen and forces him into a headlock. Stephen lets out a loud grunt as he turns to face the rainforest door and uses his opponents' weight against them, hurling them into the rainforest. Sabrina lunges for the dial and turns it. The rainforest is replaced by canyons and ravines. Placing her hands on her knees, she lets out a sharp breath. But she knows that she cannot rest. Not now. Kaecilius is still there and this is no time to die.
He charges at Stephen first with his translucent spears, giving Sabrina enough time to duck out of the way and tear down the hallway. She passes a bookshelf and tips it over for good measure as Stephen darts past her. The bookshelf falls to the floor with a crash and a cloud of dust. It does nothing to stop Kaecilius as he rounds the corner. Sabrina finds herself back in the room of relics and almost doubles over again. Sabrina finds herself falling back behind Stephen as he blocks Kaecilius' blows with sparkling golden strings that he's conjured between his fingers.
Realizing that they've been backed into a corner, Stephen's gaze lands on the glowing vase beside him and he brandishes it at Kaecilius with a triumphant, "HA!"
Kaecilius pauses, staring at Stephen. Tilting his head, he lowers his weapons. "You don't know how to use that, do you?"
"Uh..." Stephen mutters, glancing down at the vase before he lunges and throws it at Kaecilius.
