Kiaria froze.
The monochrome light within his Eye of Insight shifted–not in brightness, but in structure. What he saw did not align with any prior pattern, any recorded behavior of the Borderland. For the first time since entering the fog, the formation beneath reality felt… wrong.
"The Yin–Yang formation has changed," Kiaria said quietly.
The words landed heavier than a scream.
His face, usually composed and unreadable, tightened by a fraction. Not panic–never that–but the tension of someone realizing the ground beneath him was no longer following rules he understood.
Azriel, seated close to his daughter, lifted his head at once.
"Patron," he asked, voice edged with restraint, "what do you mean by changed? What happened to the formation?"
Kiaria did not look away from the fog.
"The formation never had a visible eye," he replied. "It functioned through balance. Circulation. Exchange."
He paused.
"But the Yang has disappeared."
Azriel's fingers curled unconsciously.
