The floor moved again.
Shad shifted his weight as the stone beneath him tilted. One of the soldiers lost his footing and slammed against a pillar. Dust rained from the ceiling as something deep beneath the reservoir dragged against the foundation.
Fray caught another soldier before he plunged into the exposed basin.
"Move!"
His command cut through the darkness.
Thin lines of blue light began to glow beneath their feet.
The official stood frozen near the entrance.
For the first time, Shad saw his face clearly.
The man was afraid.
Not confused. Not surprised.
Afraid.
That mattered more than the shaking ground.
"Get them out," Fray ordered.
The official finally reacted.
"Everyone, move back!"
The soldiers hurried toward the corridor.
Another tremor struck.
A section of the ceiling collapsed behind them, burying the entrance beneath a mass of broken stone.
The official stared at the rubble.
"No."
Fray turned toward him.
"What?"
The man stepped closer to the collapsed passage.
"That was the secondary route."
Shad glanced at the blocked corridor.
"There is another way out."
The official spun toward him.
"How do you know?"
"I don't."
Shad crossed the chamber toward the opposite wall. He placed his palm against the stone.
Cold.
And hollow.
"There."
Fray understood immediately.
He drove his fist into the wall.
The impact cracked the stone, sending fragments across the floor. A narrow passage emerged behind it, concealed by a thin layer of masonry.
The soldiers stared at the opening.
Fray pointed toward it.
"Go."
They needed no further encouragement.
The soldiers hurried through the passage, dragging the injured man between them.
The official remained behind.
Shad turned toward him.
"You knew."
The man looked at him.
"You knew something was buried beneath this city."
The official's expression tightened.
"I knew there were old structures beneath Oakhaven."
"That isn't what I asked."
The man glanced toward the broken basin. For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he lowered his voice.
"We were instructed never to disturb the foundation."
"By whom?" Fray asked.
The official did not answer immediately.
"I don't know."
Fray frowned.
"You expect us to believe that?"
"I don't expect anything from you."
Another tremor passed through the chamber. The official's eyes shifted toward the floor.
"You should leave."
Shad studied him.
"What happens if we don't?"
The man's voice dropped.
"Then you will learn why this place was sealed."
A crack opened beneath the basin.
Something shifted behind it.
The sound was quiet.
That made it worse.
It was the slow grinding of stone against something enormous, as though the foundation itself was being dragged across a surface that had no business existing beneath it.
Fray grabbed Shad by the shoulder.
"Now."
They moved.
They emerged into the streets several minutes later.
Oakhaven had felt the tremors.
People stood outside their homes, staring toward the western district. Guards were already moving through the streets, ordering residents away from the reservoir.
There was no panic yet.
The city did not understand what had happened.
Shad looked back.
The storage buildings surrounding the reservoir were still standing.
For now.
Fray released a slow breath.
"Your investigation into a missing notice is becoming increasingly expensive."
Shad glanced at him.
"You came willingly."
"I blame you anyway."
The official emerged from the hidden passage with two soldiers behind him.
He looked different now.
The authority that had held his posture together was gone. His shoulders sagged, and the years seemed to settle across his face all at once.
He approached them.
"My name is Cael."
Shad said nothing.
Cael glanced toward the reservoir.
"We have known about the lower structures for generations."
Fray folded his arms.
"How many generations?"
"Enough that no one remembers who built them."
"Then why keep them sealed?"
Cael hesitated.
"Because the people who opened them stopped coming back."
The answer was simple.
Perhaps too simple.
Shad looked toward the western district.
"What's beneath it?"
Cael's face tightened.
"We don't know."
Fray gave him a skeptical look.
"You know enough to be afraid."
"Yes."
Cael looked at Shad.
"And not enough to stop it."
The words settled between them.
A distant crack echoed through the city.
Everyone turned.
The western district remained standing, but a thin line of blue light had appeared between two buildings.
Shad watched it carefully.
The light vanished a moment later.
Cael's face went pale.
"We need to inform the city council."
Fray turned toward him.
"About what?"
Cael swallowed.
"The seal moved."
Shad's eyes narrowed.
"The seal?"
Cael nodded.
"The thing beneath Oakhaven isn't what we're afraid of."
Fray's expression shifted.
"Then what are you afraid of?"
Cael looked down at the ground.
"The seal failing."
They returned to the inn before sunset.
Lyra and Orin were waiting. Lyra rose the moment she saw them.
"What happened?"
"Nothing," Shad said.
Fray looked at him.
Shad paused.
"Something happened."
Lyra stared at him.
"That was remarkably unhelpful."
"It's complicated."
"Of course it is."
Orin looked past them toward the street.
"The ground shook."
"Yes."
"Is it dangerous?"
Fray sat down.
"Potentially."
Lyra's expression tightened.
"You are both doing that thing again."
"What thing?" Fray asked.
"Talking as if you already know something the rest of us don't."
Fray glanced at Shad.
Shad remained silent.
Lyra looked between them.
Then she understood.
"You're going back."
"No," Fray said.
Shad turned toward him.
Fray leaned back in his chair.
"Not yet."
The answer surprised even Shad.
Fray continued, "We don't know enough."
"You usually don't let that stop you."
"I am learning."
Lyra almost smiled.
Almost.
Then her expression became serious.
"What happens now?"
Shad looked through the window.
Oakhaven was slowly returning to normal.
People moved through the streets. Shops remained open. Children were being called home, and guards had taken positions near the western district.
Nobody knew what had happened beneath them.
Nobody knew how close they had come to something they might not be able to fight.
Shad watched the city for a long moment.
"We stay."
Fray nodded.
"For now."
Neither of them noticed the figure standing across the street.
A hood concealed his face.
He watched the inn for several seconds before turning away.
Far from Oakhaven, the road to Veyris City stretched beneath the evening sky.
Inside the carriage, Veyris sat alone.
A folded report rested on the seat beside him.
He had not opened it.
He didn't need to.
The messenger had already delivered the news.
The seal beneath Oakhaven had moved.
Veyris gazed through the carriage window.
For the first time that day, his pleasant expression disappeared.
"Too soon."
The carriage continued along the road.
Veyris leaned back against his seat.
He had expected Shad and Fray to survive the northern outpost. He had expected them to notice the structures beneath Oakhaven.
That had been part of the reason he sent them there.
What he had not expected was for the buried structure to respond so quickly.
His fingers tapped once against the armrest.
Then stopped.
There were questions he needed answered before returning.
And two men in Oakhaven had just given him the first useful measure of their strength.
Veyris looked toward the road ahead.
"Interesting."
The smile returned.
This time, there was no warmth in it.