Rias reached the east service bridge with the young Sairren runner and two wardens less than a minute after leaving Mireva. From a distance, the route looked untouched. Its bronze span still connected the lower residential ring to an upper stair, the side rails were intact, and no Dark Force monster stood anywhere on it.
The first physical marker ruined that impression.
Rias stopped so abruptly that the young runner nearly walked into her. Three raised lines had been worked into the bronze plate beside the entrance, old enough that dust had gathered inside the grooves.
"That means shelter route," he said.
Rias crouched without touching it. "And this bridge?"
"Never led to a shelter."
