The emissaries came in silence.
Not the silence of stealth—the silence of beings who had never learned to speak in ways that carried through standard reality. They moved through the breaches like smoke through cracks in a wall, their forms shifting, their intentions broadcast through the cosmic substrate rather than sound.
Lord received them in the courtyard. Uru stood beside him, her green hair drifting in currents that responded to the emissaries' presence. The five juvenile dragons circled overhead, watchful but not aggressive.
The first emissary solidified enough to communicate.
You are the bridge.
"I am," Lord said.
We have observed. Your order is fracturing. Those who built the cage seek to rebuild it.
"Some do. Not all."
The one called Valorin has mobilized. He gathers forces to seal the breaches. To push us back into the dark.
Lord's gold eyes narrowed. "Where?"
