The silence was worse than the chaos.
It pressed inward, heavy and deliberate, as though the universe itself were holding its breath after the Arbiter’s departure. The fractures had sealed, the sky smoothing into an uneasy stillness that felt temporary in the most dangerous way possible.
Elara felt it first.
A ripple passed through the lattice anchoring her and Draven together subtle, restrained, but undeniably external. This wasn’t pressure from inside the field.
It was a knock.
Her spine chilled. “Something’s touching the boundary.”
Draven straightened instantly, silver-dark power flaring faintly around him as his hand tightened around hers. “Not testing,” he said grimly. “Mapping.”
Aurelion’s expression darkened. “They’re confirming coordinates.”
The Claimant’s presence lingered
