The portals began opening without pattern or mercy, rending the fractured realm with bursts of unnatural light and shadow. Some of these gateways showed glimpses of alien worlds, landscapes twisted into impossible geometries, skies that churned with colors no mortal eye should comprehend.
In one, mountains floated upside down over oceans of molten silver; in another, titanic shapes moved behind translucent veils, watching like patient predators.
The effect was disorienting and terrifying. Shadow beasts, sensing the instability, scattered in panicked waves. Some sprinted toward the remaining patches of solid ground, desperate to escape.
Others were not so lucky. They were dragged screaming into the rifts, their bodies stretching and fragmenting before vanishing entirely into those unknowable dimensions.
Byun kept moving, refusing to look too long at any one portal. His instincts screamed that staring would be an invitation, one he might not be able to resist.
