Aetherial Annihilation Read Online Free

quickly fading. I looked over the edge of the building, but the ground was flooded, making it impossible to see if the aether lines in the ground were also affected.
    "Are you there?" Shelton shouted on the other end of the phone.
    "There's no aether," I told him. "I can't see it even with my demon vision."
    "Holy rabbit turds in ravioli." He went silent. "It's like someone took the magic out of the world."
    "If that's the case, how can I still use my demon abilities?"
    After a long pause, he posed a theory. "I think it's because those abilities are built into your physique, and they don't use aether. They use soul essence."
    "It doesn't take a math genius to put two and two together about those meteors." I gazed out at the faint glow in the roiling ocean where the meteor had landed. "This was a deliberate attack. Whoever did it wants to destroy our ability to use magic."
    "Argh! Didn't we just win a damned war?"
    "Calm down, Harry," Bella said. "You're going to burst a blood vein."
    "It's 'burst a blood vessel', woman." He huffed. "I suppose you want me to open a portal so you can come home. Give us twenty minutes to get down to the way station."
    "That'd be great. We need to find a private spot. I'll send you a picture and call you back." I ended the call we gave Shelton the time he needed. Twenty-five minutes later, we headed toward the stairwell door.
    Harley stopped us. "Where are you two going?"
    "I'm just going to look in the stairwell to see if anyone else needs help," I said.
    "I'm coming with you."
    "I need to take care of some personal business as well." Elyssa smiled shyly.
    Harley cleared his throat. "Ah, well, make sure you aim it down the center." He chuckled.
    "That won't be a problem." Elyssa hooked her arm in mine and we went through the door. She removed chalk from her purse and drew a symbol on the wall.
    "Why do you have chalk in your purse?" I asked.
    "I started carrying it everywhere when you needed to draw circles all the time for magic." She tucked it back inside. "Good memories."
    "Back then I could hardly light a candle." I tried to remember what it was like to be bad at magic. Faced with the possibility of no aether, it seemed like heaven. I took a picture of the drawing and sent it to Shelton. A moment later, the air rippled and slowly split vertically.
    Elyssa and I looked at each other. Opening a portal was usually instantaneous.
    Shelton appeared through the hazy gateway. Static and sparks made ominous zapping noises. "I should've known!" His voice sounded muffled. "This aether problem is affecting the omniarches too."
    "How is it even operational?" I asked.
    "Because we're right over major ley lines." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "None of the pocket dimensions got hit by meteors."
    "Since the omniarch is in the Queens Gate control room, shouldn't it work?"
    He pursed his lips and put a hand on his chin. "Let me check something." The portal flickered away. Moments later, it reopened just as slowly as before and with the snap, crackle, and pop of static discharge.
    "Well?" I asked.
    "Opening a portal here works fine. I asked the arch operator here, and the Obsidian Arch network seems mostly functional too." He held up what looked like a sandwich. "Watch out."
    Elyssa and I backed away. Shelton tossed the sandwich. The moment it hit the portal, sparks flew and the sandwich burst into a fine mist that washed across our faces.
    "Eww!" Elyssa wiped off her face. "What kind of sandwich was that?"
    Shelton sighed. "Waste of a perfectly good chicken salad sandwich."
    "God, no wonder I smell like eggs now." Elyssa made a face. "Thank you so much."
    I didn't much like chicken salad, but I didn't let that stop me from making a conclusion. "We've got to hoof it to the nearest Obsidian Arch if we want to get home."
    "Yup."
    Bella appeared behind him. "Things have been so quiet around here without you two around."
    "I guess the universe decided our vacation was over," Elyssa commented dryly. "Where's