Eccar stood at the center of the runed chamber with his feet planted firmly against the smooth stone floor. The walls around him were carved with layers upon layers of ancient inscriptions, each one designed to anchor, distort, and absorb unstable energies.
Faint blue lines pulsed along the carvings like veins beneath skin.
He closed his eyes. The time power answered almost immediately.
A golden aura flared around his body, it was faint at first then steadily rising like a quiet flame fed by unseen wind.
It did not shine too brightly. But it just shimmered. Threads of luminous gold coiled upward from his shoulders and spine, circling him in spiraling currents.
The air warped subtly around him, bending light at its edges.
Eccar took a deep breath and let his awareness sink inward.
The sensation struck again. That sideways pull. Not forward into tomorrow or backward into yesterday. But sideways into another reality.
The golden aura brightened.
