It takes some serious magic to stop a building from collapsing. Well, not stop, but keep it standing for long enough that everybody can get out. Iβd love to say that I did a lot of heavy-liftingβand I didβbut Nightingale bore the brunt of it. Lucky for us and our brains weβd had the support of a great number of Weyland staves but even so I thought that I was rapidly approaching the end of what I could do safely before risking a stroke. The doctors Walid and Vaughn were already hovering in the periphery, probably considering dragging us away for our own good, when we could finally let the spells go.Β
We did it with a lot of care thoughβthe Follyβs reputation is bad enough already when it comes to property damage. If weβre gonna let a building collapse then itβs gotta be gentle so that thereβs no shockwave taking out the windows of surrounding buildings.
The moment I stopped the formae Iβd been keeping up, I felt myself swaying, though it felt more from the exhaustion of the day than any brain damage. Or so I told myself. One look at Abdul told me that Iβd be for the MRI anyway.Β
I opened my eyes again, though I couldnβt remember when Iβd closed them, and looked at Nightingale. Iβve never seen him approach his limits before; when I asked him how long he could keep up his pocket version of the sun just after I became his apprentice, heβd laughed. He still stood a bit ahead of me as heβd been before; a staff in each handβDanni had been handing us new ones. He looked like he was in a trance and I had an inkling that Iβd been the same just a moment before. Finally he was done too and a light cloud of dust trailed from the building as everything settled. The lastβ¦ however long it had actually beenβI had no ideaβhad been marked by the familiar rhythm of his signare, like a clockwork steadily ticking away, dependable. Now it was quiet.
βThomas?β Abdul said gently and walked up to him. βCan you hear me?β
Nightingale turned around slowly, his eyes closed. βSirββ I started to say but then Nightingale opened his eyes. I couldnβt help wondering how this could beβphysically it made no senseβbefore the worry slammed into me full force. Iβve read a lot of books about magic and practitioners and also what can go wrong with magic. And Iβve had lectures on the latter by Nightingale, Postmartin and Abdul, repeatedly. And by David Mellenbyβs notes. None of the reputable ones had mentioned this.
When Nightingale opened his eyes, they were glowing silver. Like tiny werelights were in them, though that would have annihilated his retinas if it were true. But he wasnβt doing magic anymore, I could feel it. And despite not making any sense, it was definitely happening.
βWhatββ Nightingale said and swayed so alarmingly that I forgot my own fatigue to rush forward. Not a moment too soon: Abdul had grabbed him by the shoulders but Nightingale was already falling over.
The drawing of Nightingale's eyes was greatly inspired by how @spacecapart draws him (very helpful for somebody hates drawing human faces ^^)! Thank you @cypresstrees for betaing! This idea keeps haunting me aka what if your eyes start to glow when you do a lot of powerful magic?