The chamber was silent.
Owen sat cross-legged in the darkness. His back against cold stone. His CE sense extended outward, monitoring everything within a kilometer radius.
Raxka's signature moved through the ruins above. Systematic. Patient. She'd covered seventy percent of the labyrinth in the past two days.
The remaining thirty percent included his hiding spot.
Time until midnight: 18 hours.
Owen cycled his RCT. His CE held steady at 5,600. Full reserves.
He'd need every point of it if she found him.
---
Hour 15.
Raxka's signature passed directly above his chamber. Three levels up. She paused. Her CE pulsed outward — scanning.
The stone interference confused her tracking. Owen's location registered as "somewhere below" but nothing more specific.
She moved on.
Owen exhaled slowly.
---
Hour 12.
Footsteps echoed through the corridor outside his chamber.
Not Raxka. The rhythm was different. Lighter.
