The portal spat them out onto rain-soaked earth with violent force. Rose hit the ground first, her knees absorbing the impact as dimensional energy crackled around her in dying arcs. Sasha landed in a practiced roll, coming up with weapons already half-drawn, while Kira stumbled and nearly planted her face in the mud before catching herself with a string of curses.
The transition between realms always left Rose feeling hollow, drained of something essential. The air here tasted different—thinner, lacking the rich elemental saturation of their homeland. It was foreign and unsettling.
But they were not alone in this venture. Thirty-two of the Aetherian Kingdom's finest warriors had passed through the portal before them, the cream of their military forces dispatched on what everyone understood might be a suicide mission. Rose could see their tracks in the churned earth, the disciplined formation they'd maintained even in this alien realm.
