The Blank came without footsteps.
It was not a person. It was not even a copy. It was a hollow silhouette of possibility, pale as unwritten paper, pulsing faintly with nothing. Where it drifted, silence deepened.
The air hissed as letters bled away from the world. Mireya’s staff lost the rune carved into its tip, the line vanishing as if it had never been scratched. Kael’s shadow snarled and then sheared in half, one side ripped away into the void trailing behind the Blank.
Dominic felt it before he saw it. His name flickered above his head, faint watermarks quivering. DOMINIC RAINE shimmered once, then the D dissolved. He stood under OMINIC RAINE. The absence felt heavier than steel.
“Stay with me,” Lena hissed, voice ragged, urgent.
The Blank tilted toward her. The ampersand on her
