Brinn tore the mask from her neck before the Bellmaw could reach it.
She set the green glass facedown on bronze and knelt over it. The chamber's air remained trapped beneath the cup. At once, the pale mouth plates below the drain stopped opening.
"It felt that," Aylin said.
"It feels every pocket that moves against water." Brinn kept one palm on the mask. "Bells. Cups. A diver swallowing panic."
The Bellmaw circled beneath Ninebell.
Its body blotted one pane, then another. Water drew through the drain whenever it passed. The forked brace ground inside the feeding-notch crack but remained seated.
Valea held the exposed end with her forearm. "How long before it chooses the room instead?"
"It already chose us."
Kedra looked at the loose drain stone. "We close the throat."
Brinn's head came up. "Tir and Elen are under it."
"So is the thing trying to eat our air."
"Close that stone and the crushed bell falls across their only climb."
