As Tasero crossed the threshold of the rift, the world behind him vanished.
For a brief instant, there was no sensation of movement, no discernible direction, and no distinction between the ground beneath his feet and the space surrounding him. The rift swallowed him without resistance, its surface yielding around his body before releasing him on the other side.
His boots met solid ground.
The first thing that struck him was the silence.
It was not the ordinary quiet of an empty forest. There was no rustling foliage, no distant calls of wildlife, no movement of wind through leaves. Even the faint sounds of his own breathing seemed unnaturally subdued, as though the surroundings had absorbed them before they could travel.
The landscape before him bore little resemblance to the world outside.
