Velrion stood by the window a while longer after the last report settled into his mind. His gaze fixed on the quiet expanse of Leonora below while his thoughts moved far beyond what his eyes could see.
The city looked stable and almost peaceful from this height. Its lights steady and its structure unchanged, yet he knew that beneath that calm surface sothing uncertain had already begun to take shape.
The presence of the three world travelers alone had already disrupted the balance he and the others had carefully maintained, but what troubled him most was not their strength or their ability to bypass his defenses. It was their intent. Or rather, the lack of clarity in it.
If they had co to seize the Sky Anchor, he would have prepared for conflict. If they had co to destroy it, he would have begun containnt asures. But this... this silent observation, this patience, ant they were calculating sothing far more complex than simple action. And that left him blind.
The unknown pressed against his thoughts like a weight he could not shift. Without knowing what they intended to do he could not prepare this world for what was coming.
Any action he took now risked being the wrong one. To mobilize forces blindly would waste resources and create unnecessary panic. If he reinforced the wrong location it would leave another vulnerable. Every decision carried the risk of being not just ineffective, but harmful. And in a situation tied directly to the Sky Anchor and the travelers from another world, even a single misstep could ripple outward into consequences far beyond his control.
That was what made it truly dangerous. Not the enemy he could see, but the one he could not predict.
A quiet breath escaped him, heavier than he intended, as he finally let his shoulders ease just slightly. For a man who held authority over the arcane structure of an entire world, the feeling of helplessness was rare and deeply unwelco. Yet it lingered all the sa.
A knock broke the silence.
Velrion did not turn imdiately. Instead, he lifted his hand slightly and one of the nearby spirit ssengers drifted toward the door before phasing through it. A mont later, the door opened on its own guided by unseen force.
Garrick stepped inside.
His posture was straight, his expression serious, and the urgency in his movent was clear. He closed the door behind him and approached with quick steps, stopping a short distance away.
Even then, Velrion’s expression did not change. Whatever Garrick had co to report it could not outweigh the storm already turning within his mind.
"Sit," Velrion said calmly.
Garrick obeyed without hesitation and sat himself into the seat across from him, though his eyes did not leave the Archmage’s face. It did not take long for him to notice the subtle fatigue there as if there was a weight behind the calm.
"Is sothing wrong?" Garrick asked.
Velrion gave a faint smile that lacked any real light behind it.
"You know there are a lot of things wrong already," he replied quietly.
Garrick hesitated for a mont before leaning forward slightly. "I an... is the situation getting worse?"
Velrion’s gaze shifted back toward the window for a brief second before returning to him.
"Hmm... I don’t know," he said. The uncertainty in his answer was honest, and that alone made it heavier than any firm conclusion. Then his expression steadied again. "What did you co here for?"
Garrick straightened slightly. "I went to the alley again," he began. "The sa one as before. I felt it again. That sa strong and unmistakable presnce. I’m certain sothing was there just monts before I arrived."
Velrion listened without interruption, his expression did not change as the report settled into place. When Garrick finished, he simply nodded once.
It confird what he had already suspected. If those three individuals could infiltrate the Sky Anchor sites without resistance then slipping in and out of the city itself would an nothing to them. Their presence within Leonora was no longer surprising. It was expected.
"That is... less important right now," Velrion said after a mont, his tone calm but firm.
Garrick frowned slightly but did not interrupt.
Velrion continued. "We cannot stop them with conventional asures."
The words carried no defeat, only acknowledgnt. Silence lingered briefly before Velrion let out another quiet breath.
"At the mont, nothing is clear," he added. "Their intentions, their goals... all of it remains uncertain. Acting without understanding will only make things worse."
Garrick’s expression tightened slightly as he absorbed that.
"So what do we do?" he asked.
Velrion’s gaze steadied.
"We will wait for now," he said. "The Arcane Authority will need to analyze this further. Until then, any action we take would be guesswork."
It was not the answer Garrick wanted, but it was one he understood.
After a brief pause, he gave a firm nod and rose from his seat.
"Understood," he said. "I’ll remain on watch."
Velrion inclined his head slightly in acknowledgnt.
Garrick turned and made his way to the door with the weight of uncertainty now shared between them. The door opened once more under the guidance of the spirit, and he left without another word.
The room fell silent again.
Velrion remained where he stood, his gaze drifting once more toward the city below, but this ti his thoughts were far less steady.
—
In a dinsion where light failed to exist and space itself seed unfinished, a vast presence stirred within the void.
It had already felt the disturbance the mont its missing Creation was touched, not through sight or sound, but through the fracture in its design.
Awareness spread slowly, deliberate and absolute, as if the entire dinsion breathed with it. The knowledge settled without surprise.
He had always expected this mont. Yet sothing else followed behind that certainty, a subtle deviation.
His Creation had resisted. For an instant, the darkness pulsed. Then it grew still again in a vast and patient manner, as intention began to form.
—
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