Chapter Forty-Nine

In the Ice Caves of Khitan, Euyn narrates as a floor trigger slams a net upward, pinning him and Mikail to the mausoleum ceiling. The chamber is empty of Staraheli’s body, revealing the tomb as a decoy for thieves. Expecting brutal Marnan enforcers, Euyn listens for footsteps that never come.

From the doorway, Sora remains free, having avoided the net’s sweep. While Euyn and Mikail discover the mesh is rope interlaced with metal—technology Euyn attributes to Weian forges—Sora hesitates, weighing whether to leave them to die. Mikail appeals to her, and Sora chooses to help.

Carefully stepping along the walls to avoid pressure tiles, Sora reaches a protruding stone counterbalance. Leaning her full weight into it, she drops one end of the net, creating a rope-ladder escape. Mikail lands nimbly; Euyn less so. The trap’s sophistication strengthens Euyn’s belief that Wei armed the Marnans and supported Staraheli’s revolt.

Freed, Euyn wrestles with the implications: with the tomb empty, their mission is compromised, and Sora could still reach Quilimar by other means. He fears that any of them—Aeri, Royo, Sora—might betray the others to deliver the Ring to Joon, perhaps as part of Joon’s design to pit competing assassins against one another.

Before they can regroup, alarm bells peal through the caves. The sound confirms the Marnans are alerted to their presence, raising the immediate stakes and forcing Euyn, Sora, and Mikail to prepare for pursuit or confrontation.