A sound like some thick, viscous liquid slithering endlessly across the floor echoed around them. Almost the instant Silvanus's hand touched the shattered floor left behind by the explosion, something coiled up around his wrist.
It was a substance resembling mercury, but far denser, as though it possessed a life and consciousness of its own.
In no time, it gathered together, binding Silvanus's arms and legs.
Silvanus realized these things were coming from the fragments of the statues.
"Silvanus!"
Vivian suddenly screamed. In what was almost a blink—no, even shorter—the ground collapsed beneath him. Silvanus vanished from sight in an instant. And Vivian, who had clearly been clinging to him the whole time, could do nothing but watch as her own body was left behind.
