Vell didn't hesitate. He strode forward, stepping into the darkness without so much as a glance back.
The knight grunted. "Reckless fool."
Sonder took a steadying breath; blasting the door had drained her, then followed
Stepping through was like being swallowed whole. For a moment—nothing. No light. No sound. No sensation.
Then the world snapped back into focus.
They stood in a long, dimly lit corridor of black stone, stretching far beyond their sight.
"Now this is a proper wizard's lair," Vell said.
The knight and squire emerged behind them, tense and alert.
"No doors. No windows," the knight murmured. "Just a corridor. There is trickery afoot."
Sonder moved beside Vell, but something felt off. She couldn't place it.
Vell ran a hand along the wall. "The magic here is strong. Different from outside." He tapped the stone. "This place is designed to confuse. To turn intruders around. Trap them in endless corridors."
"And you know this how, Sir Dark Mage?" The squire asked, some fear in his eyes.
"I've used this trick before."
"Then how do we get through?"
"You counter a mage with another mage."
The knight drew his sword. "Caution might serve us better."
Vell shrugged. "Your call. But I think our wizard already has an idea."
Sonder did. She reached out with her mana, trying to sense the right path forward—like sensing ores in a mine with Lunt Junior.
She felt something. A straight path ahead. But she couldn't see very far, as something was dampening her mana.
Vell sensed her reaching outward. "I'll follow her. You can, too."
Without much deliberation, they pressed on, with Sonder guiding them.
"If anything feels off, tell me," Vell said. "This could be a trick, an illusion."
"I'll try," Sonder said. "But it's hard to send mana anywhere here."
She kept her focus forward, holding her mana at a steady ninety-degree angle, ignoring the space behind her where the others followed.
The hallway seemed to shift as they walked—twisting while staying straight.
Then—something she hadn't noticed until she stepped on it.
Click.
The squire froze. "Did you hear that?"
Before anyone could answer, the floor vanished beneath them.
Sonder barely had time to react before she was falling. The world spun.
She hit the ground hard but managed to roll, absorbing some of the impact.
Coughing, scrambling upright.
She wasn't alone.
Shadows slithered along the ground, twisting into humanoid forms with elongated limbs, hollow eyes, and clawed fingers.
The first one had already lunged at her.
She twisted aside as its claws slashed the air where her head had been.
A pulse sent the creature flying as it tried to attack her again.
The knight and squire landed nearby, rolling to their feet. The knight's sword gleamed as he swung, cleaving through a creature.
Vell hit the ground with considerably less grace, landing with a groan. "Traps? Rude. We're in a wizard's tower for heaven's sake, not a dungeon."
He dusted himself off, then flicked his staff. A burst of energy erupted from the tip, incinerating one of the creatures instantly.
The squire, shaky but holding his own, asked, "What are these things?"
"Guard dogs," Vell said, dodging another swipe. "Or Griffonage's version of them. I can't see them well, but I can sense them."
More emerged from the darkness, shifting unnaturally as they closed in.
Sonder's stomach twisted. She didn't want to fight.
Vell's voice cut through the tension. "Don't worry, Sonder. They aren't alive. Just magical constructs. Not even summons—more like tools. Like a broom. You wouldn't hesitate to break a broom, right?" He grinned. "Zap 'em."
Sonder hesitated. Then, it was them or her.
She raised her hands. Energy crackled in her palms—then exploded outward in a needle-like volley of manabolts.
Vell smirked as holes and scorch marks pockmarked the creatures and the walls behind them.
"Not bad."