The sky above Portside had turned the color of bruised flesh.
Ethan felt it before he saw it—a cold pressure against his consciousness, like the weight of a thousand years pressing down on the balance. The barriers were holding, but barely. Something was pushing against them from the other side, something vast and ancient and hungry.
He reached out with his awareness, touching the edges of the world. The shadows were gathering again, but this time they were different. More focused. More purposeful. They moved with a single intent, guided by a will that dwarfed anything he'd encountered before.
The Sleeping Shadow had awakened.
"I can feel it," Ethan said, his voice echoing in the Nexus chamber. "The ancient presence. The one that was waiting in the Vault. It's fully awake now."
Viktor
