He couldn't help but curse inwardly as he realized the reality of things. This fucker was sentient and just laid a trap for Kael. Making him feel like it was still asleep when it was fully conscious and knew that Kael was here.
The anger that flared in him was immediate and sharp, not because he'd been fooled, that was expected, but because he'd almost trusted his own eyes. The Tower was teaching him again: the map was truth, and perception was bait.
If Kale had moved trusting but his eyes, he would have turned to cooked charcoal and cinder. The thought arrived vivid and ugly, his body blackening, hair igniting, lungs filling with heat until there was nothing left to inhale. He felt bile rise, not because he was nauseated, but because his survival instincts hated imagining failure so clearly.
'Fine,' Kael muttered, "Presence!" The word came out low and controlled, like a switch being flipped. He didn't waste time arguing with pride. Pride didn't extinguish fire.
