The sky was folding in on itself.

Kael felt it first through his bones — a low, dragging hum that wasn’t sound but memory unraveling. The Vale’s light bled in reverse, every reflection bending back toward the Gate that had once divided worlds. Trees leaned inward like glass caught in a vortex, their roots snapping free of time.

He staggered forward, his boots grinding into soil that no longer recognized the shape of the earth. His lungs burned from the thin air, the scent of ozone and ...