Back on Earth, Veylan didn't slow as he crossed the inner platform, but his hand lingered longer than usual on the railing that marked the boundary of the eastern ward. The stone was warm. It always was. Still, he noticed it.
Behind him, Ryn broke the silence first. "So," she said, casual in tone, "how long do we pretend this is routine?"
Veylan didn't answer immediately. He stopped near the stairwell, turning just enough to glance back at her. "Until pretending stops being useful."
"That's not an answer."
"It is," he replied. "Just not a satisfying one."
Sylis approached from the far side of the platform, closing the distance without hurry. "The traces along the eastern boundary haven't dissipated," he said. "They're faint, but consistent. Not drifting. Not collapsing."
Ryn frowned. "Meaning?"
"Meaning whatever Kara's team is dealing with hasn't resolved itself," Sylis said. "And it isn't moving the way I'd expect."
Veylan nodded once. "Keep watching. Quietly."
"And if they don't report in soon?" Ryn asked.
"Then we adjust," Veylan said. "Not before."
Ryn studied him for a moment, then snorted. "You really hate acting early."
"I hate acting wrong," Veylan replied.
—
---
---
Far from Havenwood, the canyon narrowed into a passage that looked simpler than the one they had left behind.
Kara stopped anyway.
Xander nearly walked into her before catching himself. "What, did the rocks give you a bad look?"
She didn't smile. "This should open up," she said. "It doesn't."
Elara crouched, fingers brushing the stone near the path's edge. "Map says it does," she added. "At least, it did the last time someone came through here."
Drake shifted his weight, glancing ahead. The passage curved gently, smooth stone on both sides, nothing obviously wrong. "Looks fine," he said.
"That's what worries me," Kara replied.
Luna tilted her head slightly, eyes unfocused as she listened to something none of the others could hear. "It's not hostile," she said. "Just… uncooperative."
Xander let out a breath. "Great. I hate when terrain gets opinions."
Kara turned back to Drake. "You good to take point?"
"Yeah," he said immediately.
Too immediately, Elara noticed.
She said nothing, but her eyes followed him as he stepped forward.
The first few meters passed without issue. Drake kept his pace steady, careful not to rush. He placed each step deliberately, testing the ground before committing his weight. It was something he'd done a hundred times before.
The third step slid.
Not enough to send him falling, but enough to force a correction. Drake caught himself, jaw tightening as he adjusted.
"Loose stone?" Xander asked.
Drake shook his head. "No. It held. Just… shifted."
Kara frowned. "That doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't have to," Xander said. "It just has to stop doing it."
They moved on, slower now.
A few minutes later, the passage narrowed again, funneling them toward a bend that should have opened into a wider shelf. Instead, it led to another slope, steeper than expected.
Elara checked her bearings again. "That's wrong."
Kara exhaled through her nose. "We're losing time."
Drake glanced back at them. "We can still push through."
Kara hesitated. Just a second too long.
That was new.
"We'll take the slope," she said finally. "Carefully."
No one argued.
As they descended, Luna fell into step beside Drake. Not close enough to crowd him. Just close enough to notice his breathing.
"You're forcing your pace," she said quietly.
"I'm not," Drake replied.
She didn't look at him. "You are."
He frowned. "I'm fine."
"I know," Luna said. "That's not what I meant."
They reached the bottom of the slope without incident, but the silence lingered longer than usual afterward.
Xander broke it. "Okay, I'll say it. This place is being annoying on purpose."
Kara shot him a look. "It's not a person."
"Everything's a person if it inconveniences me enough," he said.
Elara straightened, eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at Drake again. "You didn't use mana back there," she said.
He blinked. "I didn't need to."
"I know," she replied. "I'm just noting it."
Drake opened his mouth to respond, then stopped.
Kara noticed that too.
They continued forward, conversation drifting to smaller things. Route options. Supply counts. Xander complaining about the heat. Luna asking Kara about the last time she'd taken this path.
Normal talk. Comfortable talk.
Still, the path never quite behaved the way it should have.
Nothing dramatic happened. No collapse. No attack. Just small corrections, one after another, until everyone was a little more tired than they should have been.
When they finally stopped to rest, Kara sat apart, studying the map again.
"This shouldn't have taken this long," she said.
Drake leaned against a rock face, arms folded. "We still made it."
"Yes," Kara agreed. "But not cleanly."
Xander dropped onto the ground beside them. "I vote we blame the canyon and move on."
Elara shook her head. "It's not the canyon."
They all looked at her.
She hesitated, then shrugged. "I don't know what it is," she said. "But something's throwing our margins off."
Silence followed.
Drake felt it then. Not fear. Not pressure.
Awareness.
He kept his expression neutral.
"Tomorrow," Kara said at last, folding the map away, "we adjust our pace."
No one objected.
As the group settled in, Luna sat beside Drake again. She didn't speak right away.
"You're trying very hard not to react," she said eventually.
Drake stared ahead. "Is that a problem?"
She considered it. "Not yet."
That answer bothered him more than if she'd said yes.
Drake exhaled through his nose and pushed off the rock face. He rolled his shoulders once, then looked toward Kara, who was still crouched over the map.
"How far to the exit?" he asked.
Kara glanced up. "If the route holds, half a day. If it doesn't—" She tapped the edge of the parchment with two fingers. "We burn supplies we didn't plan to."
Xander, already rummaging through a pack, snorted. "Love how that's become a recurring theme."
Elara leaned closer, angling the map so the light caught the etched markers. "The western breach should've been visible by now," she said. "We should be seeing thermal vents along the ridge. Instead, we're still funneled."
"So the canyon's lying," Xander said.
"It's not lying," Kara replied. "It's just not matching precedent."
Drake frowned. "Precedent based on what?"
"Three recorded traversals," Kara said. "Two academy teams, one independent survey crew. Same entry point. Same exit. Similar timing."
"And none of them took this long," Elara added.
Luna tightened the strap at her wrist. "Because they weren't delayed."
Kara nodded once. "Which means we don't keep pressing blind."
Drake straightened. "We can still move."
"Yes," Kara said. "But not the way we planned."
She folded the map and stood, dusting her hands off on her pants. "We slow the advance. Shorter pushes. More stops. If we're going to lose time, we control how."
Xander dropped his pack with a sigh. "Translation: less walking, more waiting."
"Translation," Kara corrected, "we don't bleed resources chasing a schedule that's no longer real."
That landed.
Drake glanced back down the path they'd come from. Nothing had changed. Same stone. Same heat shimmer. Same distant hiss of molten flow.
"Then what are we doing here?" he asked. "If not pushing through."
Kara met his gaze. "We're getting out," she said. "Just not fast."