The ocean whispered a warning.
But it came too late.
Aerin felt it as a shift—not in the battle, not in the currents—but in intention.
Something subtle.
Something precise.
Something wrong.
The Veil Dominion moved.
Not as an army.
Not as a strike force.
But as a shadow slipping between moments.
One second—
They were part of the battle.
The next—
They were gone.
"Aerin—" Caelum's voice sharpened instantly.
Too late.
The water around her collapsed inward.
Not violently.
Not loudly.
But completely.
The world went silent.
No currents.
No sound.
No connection.
The bond—
Severed.
Aerin's breath caught in her chest as the ocean vanished around her, replaced by something else entirely.
A space that wasn't space.
A void that wasn't empty.
A prison made not of force…
But of absence.
"Careful," a voice murmured softly.
Close.
Too close.
Aerin turned.
The Veil Dominion leader stood before her.
Unharmed.
Unbothered.
And smiling.
