The second opening was far more unstable than the first.
The door's silver surface broke apart into horizontal lines before reforming, revealing a narrow corridor made from fragments of different places. There was stone beneath some people, sand beneath others, and farther back, portions of a staircase that ended in the void. Dozens of men and women were packed into that space, some conscious, others collapsed, all trying to approach the opening before it disappeared.
Kael did not enter.
He kept one foot in front of the other and studied the corridor before allowing anyone to cross. There was too much movement among the people. Not only desperation. Two larger shapes moved behind the group, hidden beneath cloaks taken from victims. He could not see their entire bodies, but noticed that neither cast a shadow across the fragmented ground.
"Two problems in the back," he said. "Large. They are using people as cover."
The Cartographer narrowed her remaining eye.
