The crack came softly at first, so soft that Lucrezia almost thought she imagined it. It was like a thin, brittle sound, almost resembling ice giving way beneath unseen weight.
She stilled. Her breath caught in her throat as her gaze snapped toward the space ahead of her, toward the place where nothing stood… and yet everything resisted.
Another hit followed, and this time, louder, making her shudder.
The air rippled violently when the invisible barrier bent inward for the briefest second before snapping back into place. One of the creatures struck it again almost immediately after, its form distorting on impact before it was thrown backward, but clearly not as far as before.
Lucrezia's chest tightened. They're breaking it, she thought. Her fingers curled tighter into Vespera's clothing, her grip trembling as she forced herself to move again. She dragged her back another inch, then another, her arms burning, and her breath shaking with the effort.
