Chapter 15 — Knocking From the Other Side
The knock came again.
Slow. Heavy.
The stone wall to Kael's left dipped inward slightly with each hit, like something was testing how much force it needed.
Lira swallowed. "That's not polite knocking."
The guide didn't move. It just watched the wall, eyes calm, almost bored. "You don't have much time."
Kael shifted his stance. "You helping, or just narrating?"
The guide glanced at him. "Helping costs something."
"Everything here does," Kael said. "Name it."
The knocking stopped.
Silence pressed in, thick and tight.
The guide smiled faintly. "Good answer."
It stepped back and snapped its fingers.
The hall changed.
Not fully—just enough. A thin line appeared along the floor, running away from them toward the far end. The cracks in the walls stopped spreading. The pressure eased a little.
"A path," Lira said.
"A suggestion," the guide corrected. "Paths are promises. This place doesn't make those."
The wall behind them bulged again. A hand pushed through this time. Stone cracked around it, dust falling in slow motion.
The hand wasn't stone.
It was pale. Smooth. Wrong.
Kael didn't wait.
"Run," he said.
They sprinted.
The floor vibrated as they moved, like the hall didn't like being used this way. The knocking turned into tearing. Stone split. Something large began forcing itself through.
Lira glanced back once and regretted it immediately. "It's smiling."
"Don't look," Kael said. "Just move."
The line on the floor brightened as they ran over it. The air grew colder. The hall narrowed, ceiling dropping lower with every step.
Ahead, the guide stood waiting.
It raised one hand. "Stop here."
Kael skidded to a halt, blade up. "You said time was expensive."
"And you've spent it well," the guide said.
Behind them, the wall exploded inward.
A figure stepped through the dust—tall, wide, its face split open in a grin that went too far. It dragged pieces of the wall with it, like decorations.
Lira backed into Kael. "That thing followed us."
"Yes," the guide said calmly. "It always does."
The line on the floor ended at the guide's feet.
Beyond it, nothing. Just a drop into black.
Kael looked at the guide. "Now what?"
The guide met his eyes.
"Now," it said, "you choose who jumps first."
The thing behind them laughed.
And the hall began to collapse.