The Endlands – Outer Rim
The portal cracked open like the surface of a dying star—jagged, unstable, hissing with threads of unreality.
Aurora stood at the threshold, cloak drawn tight, her hand raised to stabilize the breach. The space beyond the gate wasn't dark. It was colorless. A smear of absence stretching outward into a place where logic didn't hold.
Behind her, the team assembled.
Kaiden had ditched his usual gear for something heavier—spirit-thread armor laced with anchor sigils Aria had carved herself. His sword glowed faintly with blue heat, reacting to the shift in plane.
Alice was silent, checking the last of her boundary grenades. Her eyes, normally sharp with sarcasm, were hard now. Focused.
Joshua, steady as ever, carried no blade now—just his fists wrapped in layered runes that flickered with protective light. He gave Aurora a nod. No words needed.
