Chapter 17: Squad Entry (1)
The drift gate pulsed.
Lucen stood just behind Maika as the shimmer field expanded, light flickering across their legs. A wave of static ran over his skin, not painful, just enough to make every tiny hair stand at attention like it thought it was important.
The entry threshold buzzed.
No one moved.
Then Kell stepped forward with way too much confidence for someone who had literally been accused of stapling his gloves together.
Maika followed, practically bouncing. Rin moved third, silent, already pulling a thin dagger from her belt like she expected to need it before the first corner.
Lucen took one step in and felt it hit.
That drop.
That sudden quiet.
The kind of stillness that didn't come from sound dying, but from sound being pulled away. The moment the drift sealed behind them, the gate outside disappeared like a door slammed shut in his ears.
He blinked once.