The shadows in the distance grew closer, and Elara could feel their hunger.
Dozens of enemies, maybe hundreds, all pulled by the power she'd just released. "We have to run," Kael said, still holding the now-healed Darian.
"Where?" Ronan asked. "They'll follow us anywhere." "Not anywhere," Elara's father said quietly.
"There's one place they can't go." "Where?" Elara asked, clutching her three kids close. "The void between realities," her father said.
"But getting there requires a sacrifice none of us are prepared to make." "What sacrifice?" Darian asked, sitting up slowly.
"Someone has to break their connection to this reality completely," her father explained.
"Cut all ties. All bonds. All love." "I'll do it," Elara said quickly. "No," all three triplets said together.
"You can't," her father said softly. "You're the rock. If you break your bonds, everyone linked to you dies."
