The mortar at the integration point was holding.
That was the first thing I wanted to check. Before anything else. The integration point was where the dungeon dimension met the channel infrastructure, and that join had been sitting under city pressure and Abyss-adjacent conditions for months now. Joins under those circumstances tended to develop opinions about their continued participation in reality.
This one had decided to remain sound.
I made a note of that in my coat pocket and straightened up.
Brenne's halo illuminated the chamber with the same steady quality it always had. Not warm. Not flickering. Just consistent. The sort of light that came from something with its own philosophy about illumination and nothing to do with candles or hearths.
The channel ran ahead of us toward the fork Torvel had described. I had written it down when I drew the map. The water moved along the floor at about ankle depth.
