You didn’t know my mother,’ said Pearl. ‘She had great power, great knowledge. She decided to use her magic to pull me out. She knew the Twelfth would immediately come after me and that she’d have only moments to stop it. It flooded into the bedroom first – where your bridge is now, Evan. She sealed shut the door with a holding spell, but she knew it would take far more than that. When we ran downstairs the whole house was shaking! I remember us bursting into the kitchen, seeing all the pots and pans crashing. Sarah was there, holding the baby, trying to protect him from all the flying debris. She looked absolutely terrified, but I remember thinking how determined she was to protect him.

from Kenji by L.J.M. Wadsworth