Grey Aevum 4

Black crystal shards were scattered around the space, crunching beneath our feet. What remained of the door itself was an uneven, jagged mess, with clusters of crystals stabbing out of the smooth black surface. Every few seconds they would pulse, sending a little ripple through all the individual shards, like a heartbeat.

‘That can’t be good.’

Approaching, I pressed my hand into the portal. Before, the crystals had always shifted to allow me passage. Now, however, they felt rigid and immoveable. Sharp. Dangerous.

The godrune for Aroa’s Requiem burned gold as I imbued it with aether, and motes of aevum flowed over my skin to spill across the malformed crystal structure. More and more poured into it, filling every nook, then flowing away from the door to touch every individual crystal that had been ripped free of the portal.

As if time were reversing, the loose shards jumped up from the floor and flew back to the portal. The craggy, mutilated ridges smoothed. Fluid movement returned to the edifice, and my hand pushed into it. As the previous portals had done, the crystals rolled smoothly away to make room for my passage.

I looked over my shoulder. The others were watching me with a kind of uncertain awe. “Follow right after. Don’t linger.” Then I plunged into the portal.