Before Michelle could utter a single word of explanation, before she could even begin to process the shocked, questioning stares locked onto her, the world dissolved around them. A sensation—a silent, invisible wave of pressure that slammed into their bodies with a physical force, knocking the air from their lungs.
The Merge Pulse hit.
This was nothing like the first ones, that skull-splitting screech. It was different, too, from the recent silent shudders that had felt like the universe briefly glitching, holding its breath before exhaling. This was deeper, more profound. A deep, subsonic hum that vibrated in the fillings of their teeth and the very marrow of their bones.
The air grew thick and heavy, pressing down on their eardrums, making each breath feel like sucking syrup. For a long moment, nothing else happened. They were trapped in the eerie, pressurized eye of an invisible hurricane.
Then, the Riftborn horde trapped behind the gate began to scream.
