Aiden wanted to test the floor before we gave up on the return.
That was a better plan than mine. I wanted the floor to become less broken because I had stared at it long enough. He took the empty carrying board and laid it flat inside the refuge entrance, well away from the damaged lip. Liora held the rear handles while he extended a pole across the nearest loose paving.
"Not a bridge," he told me. "A way to test where it still holds."
The pole pressed down. A thin piece of stone moved. Beneath it, the rest stayed firm. He changed the angle and tested farther out. This time, the paving sank with a grinding sound. Aiden drew the pole back before the section broke free.
More of the inner edge vanished into the channel. The distance to stable ground had grown while we watched.
Liora pulled the board back from the doorway by its rear handles. Aiden kept his weight inside while guiding the pole after it. Neither tried to save the paving they had just tested.
