The sound behind the rock stopped.
Lira processed it in the sudden silence — her fingers still, her breathing that had been accelerated returning to something more manageable, her cheeks flushed.
She moved away from the rock.
Fast.
At a speed that made the air close behind her with a soft sound. Three seconds from the rock to the door the labyrinth had opened to the outside.
Two more seconds to the mountain pass.
She stopped among the stones of the western sector with Aethon's sun overhead and her sunglasses on.
She crossed her arms.
She waited.
---
Kai and Serah came out four minutes later.
Lira saw them coming from her position on the stones — Kai first, Serah behind with a satisfied smile.
Lira watched them arrive.
"You took a long time. What were you doing in there?" she said.
"Sorry," Kai said. "What did you do with the administrator?"
Lira looked at him.
"Ah, yes." She adjusted her glasses. "That one."
Pause.
