First Impression

Lokus shut out all sounds of the bustling "allplace," focusing instead on his Mantle, Disturbed Crown, and the Sovereign Gateway surrounding it.

His breathing was deep and even, his eyes half-closed as if in a trance as his he felt for the Majesty his Mantle produced.

He tried coercion, force, gentle nudging, everything as he attempted to replicate the diagrams he had seen within Escalating Nova's scroll, but his Majesty, as if sensing that this task was beyond it, refused to budge.

He was almost about to give up when Ibmund's consciousness nudged his.

It tried to convey something, but its inability to speak his language meant that the message was fuzzy and difficult to understand. But, sensing his Egone's urgency, Lokus made an attempt to understand anyway.

His eyelids drooped further as images and feelings flashed through his thoughts: a cold wave, a sharp claw, what he thought was meant to be "authority," obedience, and finally, the scroll.