The first bronze gate did not open for the Five Knots.
Its lever remained visible through the dark glass separating the physical corridor from the spirit passage. Gray mist covered the opening around it. Tessa could see dead visitors moving beyond the barrier, but none carried a quest link to the party and none approached the control.
Belda inspected the gate while Orin examined the wall holding its hinges. Neither found a physical mechanism they could reach. Min tested the air around the mist with a strip of cloth. The cloth stopped as firmly as it would against stone.
Kesh compared the two passages.
Harod's warning had described a spirit route that appeared to descend before returning above them. The passage behind the glass climbed from their position, but the bronze symbols set into its floor were inverted. From the spirit side, a visitor would read them while traveling down.
"The glass is changing our view of the route." Kesh said. "The lever may be closer than it appears."
