The portal opened inside the royal palace of the witches with a scarlet and green ripple, spreading small particles of mana across the polished black floor. Kael stepped through first, still holding Sylphie's hand, and immediately felt the difference between Yggdrasil's Central Realm and the domain of the witches. Here, the air was heavier, loaded with runes, defensive spells, and centuries of magical authority accumulated in the walls, stained glass, and tall columns supporting the entrance hall.
Sylphie appeared beside him an instant later, her white hair falling over her shoulders and her green eyes observing everything with discreet curiosity. She had already seen grand places in Yggdrasil, worlds sustained by roots and forests that thought, but this palace had a different kind of grandeur. It was not natural. It was political, ancient, dangerous, and carefully built to remind any visitor that witches capable of turning diplomatic formality into a death sentence lived here.
