The world changed the moment they crossed into the Deep Border.
Not gradually.
Not subtly.
Completely.
The sky fractured first.
It didn't darken or brighten—it split, like layers of different realities had been forced into the same space. Colors bled into each other, unfamiliar and unstable, while distant shapes moved in ways that didn't follow any natural law.
The ground followed.
Each step felt uncertain, as if it might exist one second and disappear the next. Fragments of terrain overlapped, some solid, others phasing in and out of existence like echoes of places that had once been real.
Liora stopped.
"…This is wrong."
Her voice came out quieter than she expected.
Not from fear.
But from recognition.
Cairis stepped beside her instantly.
"…Stay close."
His tone left no room for argument.
Kael walked ahead of them.
Unaffected.
Unbothered.
Like this place—
Belonged to him.
