Chapter 2: Durath Receives Them Badly

The ramp was still extending when Cael felt it.

Not heat, exactly. Heat was what you felt when you stood too close to a fire, a presence with edges, something that came from somewhere. This was different. This was ambient and total and somehow directional, the way sound could be directional — as though the air had a source, and the source was hostility. He stepped through the transport's lock before the ramp had fully settled and the atmosphere of Durath pressed against his face like a palm. Not hot. Intentional.

He stopped. Behind him Maren said, "Cael," in the tone that meant keep moving, and he moved.