I barely felt the Stronghold shaking under my feet, not when the veil itself shrieked its agony. My magic tore at the edges and I was diving through, Max and the drach with me, Sass at my side. I gaped in horror, holding still with one hand clutching my chest as if I could keep the Universe safe even as, in a ripple of blips in the distance, entire planes snapped like rubber bands and vanished into the darkness.

How long it went on, how many we ...