The moment the rift tore wider, the first wave of creatures did not hesitate, as if whatever lay beyond had been pressing against that boundary long before it finally gave way, and within a heartbeat the darkness inside churned and shifted, then erupted outward as shapes began forcing themselves through monsters, one after another, their forms distorted yet lethal, their presence carrying that unmistakable feral hunger that came with beings born purely to kill and consume, and the instant they touched ground, the air itself seemed to grow heavier with hostility.
Kael reacted immediately.
