The machine was old.
That was the first thing Holden noticed about it. it didn't look like the usual equipment the academy used. It was heavy and dark, covered in symbols that didn't match anything in the current textbooks. The instructors handled it carefully, like something they had been trained to use but not necessarily to understand.
One of them pressed both hands flat against the central panel.
KRRRRM.
CRACK.
The spatial rift ripped open like a giant hole in the air. It was massive. Wider than the pillars, taller than the arch. There was no light inside it, only a swirling blackness turning in on itself like a storm.
A cold wind pushed outward from the opening and moved through the gathered students like a warning.
Renna grabbed the strap of her bow with both hands. "Yep," she said quietly. "That's a portal to a death zone. That's exactly what that looks like."
