The portal that had opened at the precise moment the binding timer reached zero was impossibly vast.
It stretched across the barren landscape like a wound in reality itself, a tear in the fabric of existence that seemed too enormous for what should have emerged from it.
The Herald's generals had anticipated many contingencies during their tactical planning. Still, nothing in their centuries of military refinement had prepared them for a gateway of this magnitude to disgorge a single human figure.
The confusion rippled through the draconic formations like a physical wave.
Thousands of dragons, suspended in the sky with perfect spacing and discipline, suddenly shifted in their positions.
Their formations wavered as commanders turned to one another, their eyes seeking confirmation that they were all witnessing the same inexplicable phenomenon.
Malicia's copper scales caught the light as she wheeled in the air, her gaze locked on the gateway.
