Uzziel took another step forward, without averting his gaze from the invisible barrier. The air there was different, thicker, as if the world resisted letting him pass.
His heart was pounding, not just from fear, but from the pent-up frustration of being unable to act.
“I can’t just stand here waiting,” he murmured to himself.
He took another step… and then it happened.
His boot caught on a root hidden among the dry leaves. The ground gave way beneath his feet and Uzziel lost his balance. Instinctively, he raised his arms and closed his eyes, bracing for the impact, convinced his body would hit the barrier as he had witnessed countless times before.
But the impact never came.
Instead of encountering an invisible resistance, he felt an abrupt change, as if passing through a curtain of
