The crystal had been opened earlier than expected.
Much earlier, they said — the learned voices, the arcane experts who no longer dared speak too loudly since. According to all estimates, according to the curves, the flows, the balances carefully traced in their scrolls, such a breach shouldn't have occurred for several more cycles. There should have been signs. Tremors. Cracks in the telluric lines. A shiver in the ground, at the very least. A magical complaint, somewhere, like a warning.
But no.
The seal had given way in absolute silence.
Not a wave. Not a breath. Just that sensation, imperceptible but definitive, that a boundary had been crossed without asking for permission.
It was already too late.
Or rather… it was already open.
And that nuance made all the difference.
It meant one thing — simple in form, but terrifying in what it implied: the victorious team would not have to wait.
No preparation.
No goodbyes.
They could enter immediately.
