The shadow at the portal is the shape of a man, and it did not move. It simply stood there, and although I could not see any eyes, I knew that it was watching me… I could feel its eyes in my soul.
It steps from the portal into the hall, and the shadow followed him, and I could see space freeze, and all sound disappeared.
The golden statues began to sag as if they had been heated to the point of melting, as the orbs in their hands went dim. The fox on my shoulder, which had eaten tribulation lightning like candy, goes rigid against my neck and makes no sound at all.
I reached for my lightning, and it did not come. My channels were full, my Anima was burning, but the lightning would not answer. It was as if the shadow had reached into me and silenced the storm.
I look at the shadow of a man walking towards me, and every part of me that knows how to measure a threat was telling me that there is nothing to measure, the way there is nothing to measure about the sky.
