Orion lowered his hand one centimeter at the unmistakable tone in his brother's voice.
Magnus spoke from the other side of the barrier at the same moment, the voice of someone looking at something they don't fully understand, which was precisely what was frightening about it.
"The barrier isn't responding."
Orion turned.
The orange-and-blue surface that had been rotating with the consistency of something well-constructed had a different texture at two specific points.
Not holes.
Not visible fractures…
A fluctuation, a tremor in the synchronization between the two elemental systems that the twins had been holding stable for the last several minutes, responding now to something that wasn't any of the attacks that had been hitting it from outside.
As though someone had found the correct frequency from the wrong direction.
"What is happening?" Orion said, in the voice he had when something was outside his calculations.
