"I've always wondered what would happen if we met here," Mercer said, shadows coiling around him like living smoke. "Where the barrier between our worlds is thinnest."
The darkness emanating from him seemed to consume the golden light, creating an unnatural void in the glowing chamber. His movements were fluid yet wrong, as though his joints bent in ways human anatomy shouldn't allow.
Marius stepped forward, golden energy gathering around his hands. "You're not welcome here, old friend. Not anymore."
"Old friend?" Atlas's eyes darted between them. "You two know each other?"
"We were partners once," Marius admitted, never taking his eyes off Mercer. "Before the Void took him."
Mercer laughed, the sound distorting as it echoed through the chamber. "Took me? I embraced it willingly. Just
