Sonder remained suspended in the air, in that space just above the roof.
Her body was perfectly still, her focus on maintaining the fragile platform beneath her.
She thought something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what, except for the shard being there.
It was close, closer than ever.
And yet, still not hers.
If she descended. If she touched the roof and forced her way in...
No more waiting.
Sonder lowered herself the final distance.
Her boots met the roof without a sound.
She stood there, weight settled, attention spread outward, waiting for something to happen.
For the guards below to notice her, or for something within the structure to stir.
But it seemed that she remained hidden.
And she moved on the roof.
Not with any urgency, but with caution that kept her steps and presence as light as she could make it.
Eyes scanning the surface as she began.
It was exactly what it had seemed from above.
Flat and gray.
A wide and dull expanse that stretched flatly from one edge to another. No raised edges.
There were no seams or doors, hidden or obvious. No sign that anyone had ever needed to enter from above.
The roof wasn't meant to be used. It was just a lid.
She stopped near the center and looked around, forcing herself to check again, to be certain she hadn't missed anything.
But there was nothing.
Just stone.
She could break it, the roof, tear through it, and take what she came for.
She dismissed the thought.
Her gaze lowered to the surface beneath her.
She wasn't without options, she thought.
She wasn't a thief or a soldier, not even particularly subtle.
But what she was was a sorceress.
That meant something. She just had to get over her own principles. And hope that she could do it quietly.
She crouched slightly, placing one hand against the stone of the roof.
It was cold and unyielding for normal people, but that was fine.
A barrier formed.
Not above, or around, but within.
It appeared just beneath the surface of the roof, so think of it as barely existing, vertically, like a line drawn through the stone.
There was no sound, no flash, and no resistance she could hear.
The only thing was that she has a sensation of placing something where something else already was.
And she placed another, intersecting, crossing the first at an angle.
And then another and another.
She wasn't breaking the roof but defining a shape, cutting it to size.
Below her cuts, which were a square, she formed another barrier, stronger than the ones before.
It was a net and a platform to catch if something would fall.
And then she lifted it.
Without a sound, without a crack or fracture, the section simply gave way.
A hole remained, clean and precise, and just large enough for Sonder to fit through, sword and all.
Sonder remained crouched at the edge of it, looking down into the darkness below.
It was her way in.