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the great tentacles was making the gap even larger as it probed the opening, ripping chunks of stone away as it sought its prey.
    Kaanyr, on one knee, flinched back from the segmented feeler and raised a wand. He muttered something unintelligible and an arc of lightning burst in Aliisza’s vision. Unlike the bolts Kaanyr usually employed, the charge of electricity appeared much more chaotic and unregulated than she remembered. Balls of fizzling energy sprayed out to the sides and careened off every surface, and the main bolt shimmered and shifted oddly in a haze of smoke.
    Aliisza threw her arm up too late to ward off the blinding flash. She stumbled and nearly fell, but instead used her wings to hold herself upright. As the shimmering afterimage of the miscast bolt faded enough for her to see, Aliisza spotted two more of the tentacles joining the first, which bore a ragged black streak along part of its length.
    All three of the probing appendages flailed wildly, riled by Kaanyr’s attack. The gigantic creature seemed more determined than ever to get at its intended morsels, for it rapidly tore huge segments of the wall away and brought its beak in close to the ever-expanding opening. By that time, nearly all of one side of the domed chamber had been rent.
    Kaanyr, still down on one knee, raised the wand to fire again, but one of the tentacles located him before he could discharge the magic and quickly latched onto the cambion. He grunted and arched his neck back in pain as the tentacle squeezed him and began to pull him toward the creature’s maw.
    “Kaanyr!” Aliisza screamed, stumbling forward to aid him. She felt helpless without a weapon, but her sword was on the opposite side of the chamber, still impaling her son.
    “Stay back!” Kaanyr ordered her through clenched teeth. “Hit it with this!” He tossed the wand to her. “Say, ‘Galvanos!
    The wand skittered across the floor to the alu, who snatched it up. Even as she prepared to use the device, a second tentacle snaked its way toward Kaanyr and joined the first in constricting the cambion. Kaanyr’s cry of anguish reverberated through the chamber.
    Aliisza engaged the magic and the wand spit forth another misshapen bolt of lightning. She flinched as she uttered the magical phrase, sparing her eyes the worst of the flash. The alu’s aim was effective; the arc of energy ripped into one of the tentacles and split it nearly in half. It trembled and uncoiled from Kaanyr, then withdrew with a sudden jerk.
    Aliisza was on the verge of firing the wand again when yet another tentacle grazed her leg. It flapped in a frenzy, hunting a firmer grip. Shuddering in revulsion, she leaped into the air to evade the probing appendage, using her wings to hold herself aloft. The tentacle continued to flail violently as she moved farther out of reach.
    “Aliisza!” Kaanyr screamed.
    During her distraction, the great beast had dragged the cambion closer to its mouth. The maw snapped in anticipation.
    Kaanyr had his feet wedged against its beak, scrambling frantically to hold himself back.
    Heedless of the three new tentacles that writhed within the ruined chamber, Aliisza darted in close and aimed the wand. The burst of lightning struck true, crackling against the creature’s mouth.
    The thing let out a horrid, hissing scream and shook violently, making the whole rotunda rock and shake.
    “Again!” Kaanyr screamed, his voice cracking in panic. “Hit it again!”
    Aliisza lined up for another attack, but a shadow of movement in the corner of her vision drew her attention.
    The Micus-Myshik aberration reared up and into the alu’s view as he galloped forward. Micus held the war axe high as he charged into the fight. It looked to her as though he intended to cut down Kaanyr. She opened her mouth to scream a warning, but she knew she was too late to help.
    The war axe sliced down.
    The blade severed the tentacle holding Kaanyr.
    As the rest of the appendage whipped around