Meanwhile...
Ignis tumbled through the crack in reality, her wings snapping open on instinct as the world spun around her. Wind roared past her ears. The sky above was wrong, just a dull grey expanse without sun or cloud, like the inside of a sealed jar. Below her stretched a vast plain of cracked, barren earth, reaching in every direction until it vanished into a faint, shimmering haze at the edges.
She caught herself mid-air, wings beating hard, and slowed her descent. Her boots hit the ground with a muffled thud. Dust puffed up around her ankles. She straightened, flames flickering along her arms, and looked around.
She only saw empty ground and a strange wall that was blurry in the distance, pulsing faintly like a living thing.
Ignis narrowed her eyes. She raised one hand and sent a small burst of flame toward the haze.
The fire hit the barrier and scattered, swallowed without a sound.
"Tch. A cage."
A slow, metallic clap echoed behind her.
