I told them I could interrupt the join.
I did not say I could keep it dead. I did not promise the whole boundary would fall. Those limits were true, and I used them to make the part I hadn't checked sound more reasonable.
"One contact," I said. "Nobody crosses until we see what changes."
Nyx looked at the pale line across the walkway. "I watch from here. If it opens, I tell you."
Liora checked her angle to the Warden. "We hold the arms for the contact. Then we come back. Don't stay there waiting for a second result."
I nodded. My right palm hurt before the hilt settled into it. The dressing protected the raw surface from the grip. It did nothing about the strain of feeding the blade.
Seraphina saw the movement.
"You already know what one contact did."
"This is a smaller join."
"You don't know what it carries."
