The hidden slit widens into a narrow stair, spiraling down through raw stone. Erma leads the descent, with the bound Legion Commander shaking ahead of him and the knights tight at his back and sides. Dust drifts from the ceiling with every careful step.

Erma moves where the commander points. A soft click answers from the wall, then a needle-thin dart snaps past his shoulder and buries itself in the stair behind him.

Below, the passage bends around a barred landing. Through the bars, Erma catches a glimpse of torchlight and ash-colored banners, proof that the stair-house is not empty. It feeds straight toward the Ash Regent's road.

The commander swallows, then points down into the darkness again as the group presses on, closer to the heart of the hidden route.

Erma keeps his face hard and his pace measured. The stair accepts the command, and the group descends in silence, one careful step at a time.

Their bound hand trembles, but the direction is exact. The Elder Knight shifts closer behind Erma, shield angled to catch whatever the dark throws next.

Cold air slides up from below, carrying ash and torchsmoke. Through the bars ahead, the road under the stairhouse glows with moving light.

Erma reaches the barred landing with the commander still in front of him, still pointing, still compelled to guide.

Erma turns from the barred view and draws on the stairhouse itself, ash, stone, old warding, and the silver trace hidden in the air. The light gathers low and dense beside the landing.

A young silver dragon takes shape from the gathered essence, compact and powerfully built, her scales catching the torchglow like hammered moon-metal. She lands with a soft scrape, steady on all four feet.

The Legion Commander goes still at the sight of her, their bound hands lowering a fraction as if measuring a new line of danger. The Elder Knight and the Scarred Knight shift to make room without relaxing their guard.

Errisa lifts her head toward the bars, then toward the stair behind Erma, bright-eyed and alert. Below them, the road glimmers with moving torchlight, while the hidden slit in the wall glows faintly in the stones behind.

Errisa shifts closer to the bars, and the silver-green sheen on the knights catches the torchlight as they ease into place behind Erma. The hidden slit in the wall pulses once, then settles.