Across Aetheris, the sky tore open...
One moment, the world was calm. People went about their days like it was just another normal night. In Aegis Prime, mana-lamps lit up the streets. In the coastal city of Valenfall, giant iron cranes stood silent under the stars while dockworkers finished tying down their ships.
Then came the sound.
It was not thunder. It was not an explosion. It was the terrible, screeching snap of reality breaking like dry wood.
A jagged black line split the sky directly above Aegis Prime, but it didn't stay in the clouds. The tear ripped straight down through the air, stopping just fifty feet above the main plaza. It tore open both in the sky and along the stone ground itself.
The sky bled a sick, bruised purple and black.
