The dizziness passed in a flash, making no waves. Someone less sensitive might not even have noticed anything had happened.
Wadin rushed forward to catch Green as he stumbled, helped him into a chair, and patted his shoulder while calling the Priest's name. Green was nearly unconscious and couldn't know exactly what he'd heard, but it had to be bad.
The monastery monks who noticed the sudden commotion came to investigate. They thought it was some kind of sudden summer fainting spell, so they sent someone down to the cellar for ice wine and tried to pour some into the patient.
Kraft stopped them from doing something reckless that might send liquid into Green's windpipe. He insisted they wait until Green regained consciousness before letting him drink any.
It took the Priest a few minutes to recover fully. Still shaken, he pressed a hand to his ear, his response to sound remaining somewhat sluggish.
Though he was still a little unsteady when he stood, he insisted that he was fine, sent away the monks who'd come to help, and led the two of them to a room on the top floor of the monastery, where he locked the door.
"We have to get back to Dunling immediately."
From the window, lush greenery stretched peacefully to the horizon, as if nothing had changed. But he knew for certain that something unexpected had happened in the city beyond that line.
"What did you hear?" Kraft didn't rush to agree. On the contrary, he thought this was the last time Green should go back.
For some reason, the effect on Green seemed to have grown significantly stronger.
"The sound. The sound coming from over there." Green's voice was much higher than usual, though he didn't seem to notice—a sign of the impact of