Ren took one step forward and then his legs gave out. The strength left him all at once, like a cord cut clean through. He hit the stone hard, shadows unraveling beneath him as the basin began to fold inward. Cracks raced across the ground, faster than before, swallowing the markers, swallowing the scars of the battle.
Nyxa turned just in time to see him fall.
"Ren."
She ran to him, dropping to her knees as the ground lurched. The crystal light around them dimmed, then surged wildly. The basin was collapsing, not breaking, but erasing itself, pulled back into the lattice it had torn open.
She grabbed Ren under the shoulders and dragged him back as the stone behind them vanished into empty air. There was no heat, no explosion. Just absence.
Nyxa planted her staff and forced a veil open, thin and unstable. The world behind them folded once more, and then the basin was gone.
Far away, deep within the Southern Archive, Ervin stiffened.
