Ferra opened the embassy's root-vault door and checked the seal before Hajin carried the refusal socket inside.
Ferra tested the hinge before anyone crossed, since a root seal could trap a living witness inside.
At the center of the quiet chamber, a shallow basin of crystalline quartz held a thick coil of pale golden root.
The ancient wood folded over a dark sap seam that still retained a faint trace of radiant golden glow.
Hajin stopped several paces short of the basin, resting the bronze refusal socket case upon a low stone pedestal.
"This is the root that bled under divine pressure centuries ago, so the scar belongs to an ancient route," he said.
Eirwen stepped to the edge of the crystalline basin, her twelve silver Shards drifting into a protective halo above her head.
"It uncoiled for a single breath during the cataclysm, revealed a trail beyond our maps, and sealed itself shut," she replied.
