We took it slow back to the landing. No one talked. Liora's rules make sense when stone wants to trick you. We passed our chalk marks and checked we hadn't missed a smear. Nothing new. The corridor felt like a held breath that finally let itself go.
At the threshold the wardline still glowed white, but now I could see a hairline through it. Thin as a thread. The Lantern showed a tiny resin smear on the outer tooth face, left side—fresh.
Liora rubbed it with the edge of her nail and held the shine to the Lantern. "Schedule," she said to herself. "They're testing for timing."
"Daily?" Cael asked.
"Maybe. Maybe every third change. We'll know when we know." She looked at me. "Armand, log 'tooth face—outer left—thin smear, minutes after trail discovery' and underline the time."
