The second rift did not open politely.
It tore.
Reality screamed as the air split behind the Watchers, shadows spilling out like ink dropped into water thick, alive, wrong. They moved without shape at first, crawling along the edges of existence, swallowing light rather than reflecting it.
The presence above the Origin went silent.
That terrified Elara more than anything else.
Draven felt it too. The sudden absence of pressure, the way the ancient authority that had dominated the sky moments ago now held perfectly still, like a predator realizing something larger had entered its territory.
“What are those?” he asked grimly, drawing Elara closer.
The Watchers stumbled backward in open panic, their pale forms flickering wildly. “No,” one of them whispered. “They were sealed beyond the
