The concealed seam yields beneath Rika’s hand, opening onto a narrow passage that descends eastward. Fresh boot marks cross the dust, and a torn strip of Yuki’s clothing catches on a jagged stone.
Ilyra stays close behind her, the silver compass dimmed beneath her mantle. At the passage’s end, a bronze door bears the claimant’s seal, its blue lines dulled by recent handling.
Ilyra Venn
The dust is disturbed in both directions. Someone entered recently, then came back to this door. The torn cloth is newer than the footprints.
A faint voice speaks from beyond the bronze, muffled but deliberate. The claimant’s seal answers with one pale pulse, and the door remains shut.
The Voice Beyond the Bronze Door
The claimant has returned. Bring the marked token, and let the one who follows speak before the door decides.
Ilyra Venn
That voice knows the route, but not whether Yuki came through willingly.
Ilyra crouches beside the nearest print without touching it, tracing its direction with one gloved finger. Beyond the door, something shifts softly, and the blue seam waits for Rika’s next choice.
Pass through the claimant's bronze door