For half a heartbeat there was nothing — no light, no floor, no sense of direction.

  Another half a heartbeat saw gravity take control and they hit stone hard enough to jar teeth and rattle lungs.

  Tony landed on his side with a snarl, claws scraping for purchase. Fen staggered on impact and dropped to one knee, palm slapping stone to steady himself. Miri and Tamsin landed on their feet, knees buckled and they grabbed each other for balance.

  Silence. Real silence this time.

  No echo of the sitting room above. No muffled city noise.

  There was only the faint sound of all four of them breathing.

  “Everyone good?” Fen asked, flexing his knee.

  Miri groaned, shaking out her tingling feet. “Define good.”

  Tamsin straightened her belt. “Functional.”

  Tony prowled in a tight circle, tail low but not tucked.

  Then—

  A thin ring of gold light ignited at their feet. It raced outward in a perfect circle, climbing the curved walls in spirals that chased one another toward a vaulted ceiling far above.

  Stone revealed itself in stages. Circular chamber. Smooth walls. No door. No seams.

  Miri’s stomach dropped again. Slower this time.

  “…Oh,” she muttered.

  A single, deliberate clap echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once.

  Another.

  Then applause. Measured. Appreciative.

  A voice boomed down from above, rich with theatrical delight.

  “WELCOME, PARTICIPANTS!”

  The word reverberated off the curved stone, lingering longer than it should have.

  Silence followed.

  Miri closed her eyes briefly. “…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Before the thought could fully bloom into villain trap, underground death cult, I knew it, I absolutely knew it—

  A section of the wall above them irised open. A clean circular aperture sliding back with deliberate precision. Warm light spilled down. A figure stepped into it.

  Robes. Hands folded behind his back. Balding crown gleaming faintly beneath the light, stubborn horseshoe of hair framing his head like a halo he refused to relinquish.

  He beamed down at them. Not maniacal; delighted.

  “Excellent,” he said warmly. “Responsive reflexes. We do love to see balance.”

  Miri stared up at him.

  There was a beat where her brain tried very hard to file him into a category.

  Villain.

  Madman.

  Eccentric scholar.

  Retired theater kid with too much money?

  It failed.

  “What the hell are you—” A hand clamped gently but firmly over her mouth.

  Fen leaned in close, voice low near her ear. “Let’s maybe not antagonize the man who controls the ceiling.”

  Miri made a muffled, furious sound into his palm.

  Above them, the robed man tilted his head.

  Tamsin stepped forward, posture straight but not confrontational.

  “Master Kale,” she called evenly. “We are contracted by the Helmsworth Guild to escort you. We would appreciate clarification.”

  Ardran Kale pressed a hand dramatically to his chest.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Clarification?” he echoed, wounded. “You fall through one modest transition platform and immediately demand clarification?”

  Miri peeled Fen’s hand away from her mouth. “You dropped us into a hole.”

  “Transitioned.”

  “You dropped us.”

  “A controlled descent,” Kale corrected sharply.

  Tamsin didn’t look back at Miri. “Are we in danger?” she asked.

  Kale blinked. Then smiled.

  “Oh,” he said lightly. “Almost certainly.”

  Miri opened her mouth again but Fen’s hand hovered threateningly nearby.

  Tony growled — low, steady. Kale’s eyes flicked to him with keen interest.

  “Oh, splendid,” he murmured. “You brought something interesting.”

  Tamsin did not turn around. “Are we free to leave?” she asked.

  Something shifted in the air. Kale folded his hands in front of him now, posture straightening just slightly.

  “You are free,” he said. “To try.”

  Silence pressed in again. Fen exhaled slowly through his nose.

  Kale spread his arms, robes falling dramatically around him.

  “If you wish to escort me,” he declared, “you must first demonstrate competence.”

  Miri blinked once. “…You’re testing us.”

  “Of course I’m testing you,” Kale said, almost offended. “You are attempting to transport a national treasure.”

  “You’re not a—” Fen elbowed her lightly this time.

  Tony’s tail flicked once against the stone.

  Tamsin asked the only question that mattered. “What are the parameters?”

  Kale beamed.

  “Escape.”

  And then he clapped once.

  The light along the walls shifted. The stone beneath their feet shuddered once more.

  But none of them moved. Not yet. They turned inward instead.

  Four heads close. No theatrics now.

  “Vertical exit?” Fen asked quietly, glancing up at the sealed aperture above.

  Miri followed his gaze. Smooth stone. No seams. No ledges.

  “Not without wings,” she said.

  Tony huffed.

  “Wall integrity?” Tamsin asked.

  Fen pressed his palm to the stone beside him. “Integrated. No fault lines I can see. If I Pulse it, I’m just going to announce we’re stupid.”

  “Charming,” Miri muttered. She forced herself to breathe slower.

  Okay.

  Not dead.

  Not bleeding.

  Not separated

  “Sidestep won’t get us through solid rock,” she said. “Veil won’t hold against the ceiling if it drops.”

  “Stone Skin buys seconds, not exits,” Fen added.

  Tony prowled once more around the chamber’s perimeter, nose close to the wall. No scent change. No air shift.

  Tamsin met Miri’s eyes. “No escape,” she said.

  It wasn’t defeat. It was assessment.

  Miri blew out a breath through her nose. “Cool. Love that for us.”

  Fen rolled his shoulders. “So we do it the old-fashioned way.”

  “Which is?” Miri asked.

  Tamsin’s mouth twitched faintly. “We escape.”

  That was it.

  No speech. No panic.

  Just onward and upward.

  Miri nodded once. “Inventory check.”

  They moved automatically. Charms were redistributed — one minor healing draught to Fen, one top-tier potion to Miri. Tamsin kept two mana tonics. Fen passed over a hardened-skin charm from his belt. Miri handed Tamsin a second wind-imbued arrow with a nod.

  Rations split. Water skins passed. Sleep Dust transferred.

  “You take this,” Miri said, pressing the Panic Sigil into Fen’s palm. “In case things get… crowded.”

  Tony bumped Miri’s hip impatiently. “Yeah, yeah,” she murmured, scratching behind his ear once. “You’re fully equipped.”

  She caught Tamsin’s eye. “We stick to verbal count,” she said.

  “Yes.”

  “No assumptions.”

  “Yes.”

  “No ‘we’ve got this.’”

  Tamsin allowed the ghost of a smile. “Agreed.”

  They were halfway through the redistribution when the wall behind Fen slid open. With a grinding whisper, sections of the smooth wall withdrew. Stone slid back in curved segments, revealing five dark corridors. The golden chamber light spilled a few feet into each one before surrendering to black.

  Kale’s voice echoed from above. “Forward, little adventurers.”

  They looked at the corridors, each one identical to the last. No indication of anything beyond.

  “Split up?” Fen asked.

  “Absolutely not,” Tamsin said immediately.

  “Yeah, that felt like a trick question,” Miri muttered.

  Tony walked straight to one of the corridors and sat. All three of them looked at him.

  “…You don’t even know what’s down there,” Miri said.

  Tony blinked.

  Fen shrugged. “He hasn’t been wrong yet.”

  Tamsin adjusted her grip on her bow. “Animal instincts maybe.”

  Miri sighed. “Cool. Sure. Let’s follow the tiger into the murder hallway.”

  From above, the warder’s voice drifted down again, bright with delight.

  “Ooooh, decisive. I do appreciate initiative.”

  Miri looked up and cupped her hands around her mouth. “You are the worst!”

  Without waiting for a response, she stepped past Tony and into the darkness.