The world shattered around them. One moment Lin and Keller were braced against the oppressive pressure of the Seam's heart, the strange hum drilling into their skulls, and the next the ground fell away beneath their feet. There was no sense of falling, no wind tearing at their clothes, only a cold, crystalline silence that pulled everything apart.
When Lin blinked, he was standing alone.
The Seam's horizon—those twisting ribbons of light and shadow—had splintered into jagged panes like glass. Each shard floated in a void, separated from the others by swirls of gray mist. For the first time since stepping into the Seam, Lin felt truly isolated.
"...Keller?" His voice was swallowed, muffled, as if the air itself rejected sound. "Keller!"
No answer came.
