They went at midnight.
The same time as the Veil's destruction — not deliberately, the timing simply optimal for the same reasons it had been optimal then. The Hall of Ascension's overnight staff minimal. The Church's senior clergy absent. The sublevels accessible through the maintenance entrance that Asha's map had shown and that Hael's key opened without resistance.
Smaller group than the Veil night.
Kael. Hael with the key. Maren. Daren. The Commander.
Sera, because Sera did not stay behind.
They descended past sublevel one where the standard administrative archive ran. Past sublevel two where the original Church records went back three hundred years. Past sublevel three where seven anchor chambers sat empty now, the pale light of the Veil's architecture simply absent, the rooms carrying the quality of spaces that had held something important for a long time and were still adjusting to holding nothing.
The suppression field began at sublevel three's floor.
