Deep space lay silent.
The Black Mist Creatures, their grotesque forms and limbs constantly shifting, searched the layers of space near the ancient rift with the patience of hunters.
Their power seemed able to strip away the surrounding turbulence with ease. It could even briefly separate the structure of space, letting their senses probe depths ordinary people could never reach.
Before long, a strange gray-white space appeared in the depths.
"Sub-space?" Winnie frowned.
The others looked puzzled, and Winnie explained.
"Sub-space is a layer between the world's surface rules and its deeper structure. It's chaotic and barren, not a space in any conventional sense."
"Nor is it fit for any known creature to live in, much less cultivate. Any power that enters this layer is slowly pulled apart and stripped away by the world's surface and interior, each acting according to different rules."
"Until nothing remains."
"Ordinary beings avoid it at all costs, but these higher Black Mist beings are themselves corrosive and chaotic. It doesn't seem to affect them as much."
Frowning, Winnie kept watching.
The Black Mist Creatures searched for a long time, their power sweeping through one empty layer after another.
At last, deep within one layer of space, they found their target.
As the space was peeled back, the boundary between the world's surface and interior came into view.
A flame appeared, barely larger than a fist and so faint it seemed it might go out at any moment.
It hung motionless in the void of Sub-space. Rather than the red or gold of an ordinary flame, it glowed with an almost transparent, pure white incandescence. At its core flickered a trace of dark red, like chaos at the dawn of creation.
It gave off no fierce heat or light, and its presence was impossibly faint.