The iron door split down the center with a sickening shriek, metal peeling open like the cracked shell of some ancient beast awakening. Heat burst from the gap—an unnatural, hostile wave that forced the nearest guards to shield their faces. Raven felt it instantly, the unmistakable burn of corrupted magic, as though a shadowed hand reached for her through the widening fracture.
"Stand back!" she commanded, stepping forward as Calyx moved in sync beside her.
The door finally gave way.
With a deafening clang, the steel slab crashed onto the stone floor, sending dust curling upward. Through the haze, a silhouette emerged—wrongly shaped, too tall, its movements a jarring mixture of human and not.
Raven stiffened.
The prisoner she remembered had been frail, trembling, barely conscious. But now… now he looked rebuilt from the inside out.
