The passage beyond the shimmering boundary closed behind them without sound.
Not sealing. Not locking. Simply removing itself from relevance.
Arios noticed immediately that the air changed the moment they crossed through. The warmth from the cavern receded, replaced by a neutral temperature that felt controlled rather than natural. Each breath carried no scent, no dampness, no trace of stone or earth. It was sterile in a way that made his skin tighten slightly.
Lucy slowed her pace. "This doesn't feel like the rest of the dungeon."
"No," Arios replied. "It's deliberate."
Liza glanced back once, then forward again. "So we're being funneled."
"Yes," Arios said. "Into something designed to force interaction."
The corridor ahead was narrow, but not restrictive. Its walls were smooth, made of the same dark stone as the basin floor, but without etchings or visible mechanisms. Light emanated from no visible source, evenly illuminating the space without shadows.
