The sky over the Western Continent had long since lost its natural blue hue, replaced by the perpetual violet haze of Adonis's ether-shield, but recently, the atmosphere had begun to ripple with a new, unsettling frequency.
Buzz!
It started as a faint tremor, like a vibration in the soles of the feet that many dismissed as the aftershocks of the Emperor's battle with the fallen hero. But within a few days, the vibration evolved into a rhythmic, soul-shaking groan that seemed to originate from the very foundations of the world.
Adonis stood upon the highest parapet of the Dragon Palace, his hands clasped behind his back. At his feet, the golden-furred dog that was once Theodore McKenzie whimpered, its sensitive ears flattened against its skull. The ground beneath them jolted suddenly, a sharp, violent vertical shift that caused the massive obsidian spires of the city to chime like tuning forks.
