Adam turned and walked toward the stairwell, his footsteps silent on the worn stone. Isolde hesitated for a moment, her gaze lingering on the carved wooden box, then followed.
They climbed back up, past the unconscious guards, through the twisting corridors of Croft's establishment. Adam moved with the same silent confidence, navigating by the rhythms of the guards' patrols. Twice they pressed into alcoves as footsteps approached. Once, Isolde held her breath as a guard passed so close his elbow brushed her hood.
Finally, they emerged onto the main floor.
"The office," Adam murmured, his crimson eyes fixed on a set of double doors at the end of a long corridor. "That's where Croft will be."
Isolde's voice was tight. "And the guards?"
"Two at the door. Maybe more inside." Adam's lips curved. "But we're not going to fight them."
He reached into his pouch and withdrew the Null-Sense Ward Orb. Its surface pulsed faintly, the dark light swallowing the ambient glow.
