The threshold's grand light still shimmered behind them like a living curtain between worlds, its prismatic edges casting impossible colors across the caldera floor. Flowers that had never existed in the Beast World continued to bloom in rapid spirals around the anchored gate—petals of starlight and midnight, releasing a scent that was equal parts ozone and warm hearth-smoke.
The shadow's newly formed obsidian-skinned figure stood a respectful distance away, silver-veined robes drifting as though stirred by a breeze from another reality. Taika remained at his side, the massive tiger's pale yellow eyes flicking between the gate and the group with wary fascination.
