Darkness poured from the split sky like ink dropped into water.
It wasn’t empty. It moved layers folding inward, swallowing light, sound, even thought. The Verge Beyond screamed as structures unraveled, timelines peeling apart like loose threads.
“Elara!” Draven’s voice tore through the bond, raw and desperate.
She felt him being dragged backward by the backlash, felt the ground rip away beneath his feet as the reset sequence surged outward. The bond stretched, burning, thinner than it had ever been.
“I’m here,” she gasped, forcing herself upright. Her body felt wrong too light, too heavy, like she was only half anchored to reality. “Don’t let go.”
“I’m not” His voice fractured as something slammed into him. “The system is overriding everything. It’s pulling me into a null loop!”
The
