The elves noticed something profoundly strange occurring at the barrier, an anomaly that sent immediate ripples of alarm through their monitoring stations positioned along the massive magical structure. There was something pushing against it from within the dark continent—not the usual ambient pressure of corrupted magic that had been constant for centuries, but something deliberate, forceful, intelligent. The barrier itself was responding with visible distortions, ripples of energy flowing across its surface like waves on disturbed water.
