The structure did not open, it did not expand, or invite, or even acknowledge them in any way that resembled permission.
It simply remained, complete now, suspended in the space before them like an idea that had become too stable to ignore.
Darian felt it first, not as a pull, but as a recognition, like standing at the edge of something that had already accounted for his next step.
"You feel that?" he asked quietly.
Adanna did not look at him, her gaze remained fixed on the structure, her focus narrowing the way it did when she was no longer observing, but aligning.
"Yes," she said. "It's not trying to draw us in."
Darian's brow furrowed slightly. "Then why does it feel like we're already part of it?"
That was the problem, they weren't stepping into the structure, the structure had already begun including them. Adanna took a slow breath, grounding herself before she spoke again. "Because it's not a place," she said.
"It's a condition."
