The stair went first.
There was a deep, grinding sound somewhere inside the wall, and then the steps leading down from the landing began to pull away from the stone one after another. They tipped out over the drop, slowly at first and then faster, and fell into the open middle of the tower, until the whole flight they had climbed was gone and there was nothing below the landing but air. A moment later the steps above went the same way, so that the landing was left on its own, a flat shelf of black stone fixed to the wall with nothing leading to it and nothing leading away.
Mirko had her back to the wall and her sword up. Kuro had dragged the Steward in against the stone, and Ororo stood over both of them with her staff raised.
"Hmph," Mirko said, looking down at where the stair had been. "This Knight preferred it with steps."
The Lord hung in the air ten feet out from the edge, with her wounded hand closed at her side, and watched them.
