Bam!
She smacked face-first into the barrier, the impact hard enough to make her stumble backward. The cores nearly slipped from her hands as she caught her balance.
"Ow," she muttered, rubbing her nose with obvious irritation.
It was apparent to them, the condition was not based on who enters first. Not based on possession of the cores. What variable was different between him and them?
"Yara, you try," he instructed, taking the cores back from Selene.
Yara approached cautiously, one hand extended to feel for the barrier. When she touched it, she pushed experimentally.
The result was identical. The barrier refused her entry completely.
"Maybe the pavilion has already recognized you specifically as the only person permitted to enter?" Selene reasoned, unable to come up with any other logical explanation that fit the evidence. "Something about you triggered its acceptance criteria."
