The installation of the Red Loom-Eye into the crown of the High Spire transformed the Citadel's atmosphere. As the giant sphere of purified glass was lowered into the obsidian cradle, a wash of infrared light flooded the city. The grey static of the "Between" didn't just clear; it revealed a hidden architecture.
The Void was no longer empty. Through the red lens, Alicia could see "Loom-Currents"—vast, flowing rivers of unwritten potential that connected the Frayed Provinces like the veins of a titan.
"It's a highway," Alicia whispered, her own eyes reflecting the crimson glow. "The Void isn't a desert. It's a network that's been sabotaged. The Queen didn't just burn the kingdoms; she cut the roads between them."
From the Sky-Fray, the indigo shadow-thread pulsed. Clevatess was feeling the change. The Citadel-Beast adjusted its stride, its obsidian legs now stepping precisely onto the Loom-Currents. The friction of the Void vanished, replaced by a smooth, terrifyingly fast glide. They were no longer walking; they were surfing the reality of the universe.
"We're gaining speed," Nelluru noted, her lime-green aura hummed in resonance with the red light. "But something is following our wake."
Through the Red Loom-Eye, Alicia saw them: "The Hollow-Skippers." They were thin, translucent entities that looked like skeletal dragonflies, their wings made of vibrating glass. They didn't attack; they simply hovered in the "Current," feeding on the ripples the Citadel-Beast left behind.
"They aren't predators," the Architect muttered, his voice sounding more lucid in the crimson light. "They're scavengers of momentum. If they drain enough of our speed, the 'Current' will eject us into the Deep Void—where the Spindle can't reach."
Alicia picked up her raven-bone pen. "Then we don't give them a wake to follow. We need to streamline the city's presence. We need to turn the Citadel into a ghost."