Seraphina's host poured through the thinning veil like a living tide of light and steel. Wings beat in perfect ranks. Spears of pure radiance cut the air. The pocket dimension's edge tore open wider than any of them had planned, and for one terrifying heartbeat the full weight of the Celestial Court threatened to spill straight into the mortal sky.
Then the world went dark.
A vast, silent cloud of shadow rose from nowhere and swallowed them whole. It was not smoke. It was not night. It was something deeper, softer, and infinitely more tired. The light of their weapons dimmed. The wind of their passage vanished. Panic rippled through the ranks faster than any command could stop it.
"What is this?" Seraphina's voice cut through the ranks, sharp with sudden wariness. She flared her wings, trying to burn the darkness away, but the shadow only thickened, wrapping around every nephilim like heavy velvet. "Hold formation! Who dares interfere?"
