The stone seized Serena and spat her into a chamber at the same time as Dex.

They hit the ground hard enough to steal breath, the world spinning violently as they rolled across hot stone. Heat washed over her in waves.

"Serena." Dex was already moving, boots skidding as he crossed the stone towards her. He dropped beside her, hands gentle but urgent. "Hey. Look at me."

She sucked in a breath that burned all the way down.

"You’re dehydrated," he observed. His fingers brushed her forehead, grounding himself in the feel of her skin.

"I’m fine."

"You’re a terrible liar and the matebond proves it." He gave her a crooked grin, even as his pulse hammered. "Let’s agree you’re temporarily functional and revisit later."

That earned a faint, breathless huff from her. He helped her to her feet. She braced her hands on her knees for a moment, shoulders heaving.

The air tore open around them.

Hyran and Gav were thrown into existence to their right, landing in a staggered tangle of limbs. On the left, Aeron and Fin hit the ground almost in sync, Fin already pushing to his feet, eyes snapping to Serena.

"Serena," Fin said sharply, taking a step towards her.

Gav moved at the same time.

The floor cracked.

The sound was deep and violent, stone screaming as fissures split outward in jagged lines. Before anyone could reach anyone else, the ground lurched.

Stone surged upward, separating them. Three massive slabs of rock rose on unseen force, each carrying a pair: Serena and Dex on one, Fin and Aeron on the second, Hyran and Gav on the third. Maelor materialized on a fourth slab, alone, launched from a wall with the disoriented fury of a man who had been mid-sentence when the temple interrupted him.

Below them, molten fire rolled and churned. Thick and alive, breathing heat that licked up their legs in brutal waves.

Their slabs rotated abruptly, each pair facing outward, backs turned inward towards one another, cut off from sight. Some unseen force settled into their bodies, pinning their posture. Serena couldn’t turn her head far enough to see anyone except Dex.

She moved her fingers, interlocking with Dex’s. That was the most she was allowed to move.

The three platforms locked into a perfect circle suspended over the lava, each pair isolated on their own floating rock.

A voice rolled through the chamber as if the stone itself had learned to speak.

"Each soul must answer. Each answer must be true. Fail once, and the stone shall fracture. Fail twice, and both shall return to fire. Only one soul may answer at a time. Once a soul has answered, their voice returns. Their voice may call a name. Their voice may guide. Their voice may never speak an answer meant for another."

Heat surged beneath them.

The lava below churned in quiet agreement.

From somewhere to the left, Aeron laughed, sharp and delighted. "Oh, this is beautiful. Paired isolation with collective stakes. Every answer risks your partner’s life. I’m genuinely impressed."

Hyran actually clapped his hands once, the sound crisp and unmistakably pleased. "Well-designed. Very well-designed."

Maelor, on his solo platform, called out, "Am I being punished for something? Why am I alone?"

"You have yourself," Hyran offered. "That should be more than sufficient, given your self-regard."

Dex and Serena glanced at each other, both wearing the exact same expression. Equal parts disbelief and resignation.

"Mages," Serena said, as if that explained everything. It did.

"That’s lava," Gav said to Hyran. "Actual lava. You realize that, right?"

Hyran did not dignify that with a response.

The voice returned.

"What assumption ensures collapse regardless of intent? Choose the name of who shall answer."

Everyone tried to speak at once. Serena felt the breath leave her lungs, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. She reached for the mindlink. Dead. The Aureus Catenes cuffs sat useless on their wrists.

The realization hit hard and fast. The temple had stripped every channel of communication.

A name. They had to think a name. At least that’s what she assumed.

Serena thought her own name, unsure how much time they had.

Serena Drakenfell.

The voice spoke again. "Your time is up. Only one listened to the instructions and provided a name. Their name. Interesting group. The chosen may answer."

Sound rushed back into Serena’s throat. "The conditions will remain stable."

Somewhere behind her, she could practically hear Hyran wanting to give that answer.

"Correct."

The platform beneath Serena and Dex stopped trembling. The heat receded under them. The invisible force pinning her posture eased. She felt it immediately. She could move. She could speak.

The voice returned.

"What is the only fortification in Skardos that has withstood three consecutive sieges by three separate armies in the same decade without structural reinforcement, and what architectural principle made this possible?"

Serena knew the answer was Gav’s before the question finished.

She knew because he’d told her this, months ago, on the ramparts at Drakenfell. It had been late. The sun was going down. They were talking about nothing and everything the way they used to, back when the space between them was easy, back when she could sit next to him and let silence be enough.

He’d started talking about fortifications because the view from the ramparts reminded him of something he’d read. She’d expected a joke. He gave her a lecture so detailed, so precise, so quietly passionate that she’d turned to look at him and realized, with a clarity that startled her, that Gavriel Sterling let the world believe he was the funny one because it was easier than letting them see the rest.

He was brilliant. He had always been brilliant. He just kept it where most people couldn’t find it, tucked behind sarcasm and self-deprecation, visible only to the people he let close enough to look.

She wasn’t one of those people anymore.

The grief hit her sideways. Quick. Sharp. The specific kind of loss that comes from being close with someone one day and the next not able to talk to him.

She swallowed it. Buried it. Filed it under the growing pile of things she would deal with later, which was becoming structurally unsound.

"Gav knows this one," she called across the lava. "Think his name."

Silence from every platform. She could feel the collective skepticism without seeing a single face.

"The chosen may answer."

Gav’s voice carried across the chamber, clear and steady and entirely devoid of the man who’d been cracking jokes about warm lava two minutes ago.

"Halvermark Citadel. Eastern Stormwall. It survived the Blacktide Siege, the Thornvale Offensive, and the Second Ironclave Push between 4012 and 4021. The principle is recursive buttressing. Each wall is load-bearing for the wall behind it, so applying force to any one section distributes pressure across all adjacent structures simultaneously. You can’t breach one wall without strengthening the others."

There was silence from the temple.

One second. Two. Three.

"Correct."

Serena’s lips twitched. She could only imagine Hyran’s face.