The door shouldn't have existed.
Every being in the cavern knew that.
The guardian wolves felt it. The throne felt it. The abyss felt it.
Even Azhrael felt it.
For countless ages there had only been two possibilities:
Consume.
Be consumed.
The universe had been built around that certainty.
The First Queen fought it. The guardians delayed it. The abyss contained it.
But none of them had ever imagined a third option.
Yet now—
a door was forming beyond the crack in reality.
Not made of stone.
Not made of magic.
Made of possibility.
The one thing Azhrael had never encountered.
The Devourer stared at it.
Silent.
Still.
The throne beneath Draven Ridge pulsed with growing excitement.
Silver light flooded the abyss.
The guardian wolves slowly rose from their battle stances.
C
