'When did it get that big…?'
The thought slipped out unguarded as his throat worked around a shallow breath.
His fists tightened at his sides, arms heavy, shoulders sagging a fraction under the scale of it. From here, the difference was impossible to ignore. His enlarged frame barely reached a fraction of its height. The distance he'd created only made the imbalance clearer.
His jaw trembled once before he locked it down.
Then something changed.
The flow shifted.
Kaiden's eyes narrowed as the streams around the creature began to skew. The particles no longer rushed inward evenly. Their paths bent, subtle at first, then more clearly, curving toward a tighter point. The hollow's edges drew in, contracting, the endless mouth narrowing as if adjusting its bite.
His skin prickled.
The space between them felt different.
