The moment Kain stepped through the gate, he felt the world pull tight around him—like a sheet snapping into place. A soft pressure pressed against his ears, and for a heartbeat he wondered if they'd stepped into a vacuum.
Then the pressure eased.
Light bloomed.
Silent. Even. Too even.
Kain blinked as his vision adjusted.
"…What in the world—"
The realm they entered resembled a forest—if a forest had been designed by someone who had only heard descriptions of nature from a narrator with only half their senses intact..
The air was unnaturally still, filtered to perfection, carrying no scent of earth, moss, decay, or even moisture. It smelled like nothing, which itself was unsettling. Soft illumination radiated from everywhere yet nowhere, a cool bluish-white glow that made Queen's chitin gleam.
Kain stepped forward, boots crunching on a bed of moss-like substance that compressed like foam. He crouched and brushed two fingers across it.
It wasn't moss.
It wasn't even plant.
