Below ground, the air throbbed with the angry hum of the Ascendant Dynasty's machines. Tayo, Lyra, and Kaelen could hear the heavy sounds of the Watchers smashing through rock, coming straight for the Nexus chamber. There wasn't much time.
"Here!" Kaelen yelled, pointing to a small, dark crack in the wall, hidden behind some old metal. It was so small, no one from the city would ever see it, or think it was important. "This is an old vent. It's dangerous, but it might lead us away."
"Dangerous is better than caught," Lyra said, ready to move.
Tayo knew they had to be smart. He had just made the city very angry. He needed to use the wild energy in a new way to get out. He remembered Elara's lessons from the Waste-Dwellers about finding hidden paths and using the earth's natural energy flows.
He put his hand on the cold rock near the vent. He closed his eyes, focusing on the wild energy inside him. He felt the very old, tight rock of the vent. Instead of smashing it, he tried to make the energy flow around it, to find the weak spots, to guide the hidden currents that had been sealed for ages. He pictured the rock shifting, making a path just big enough for them.
A low rumble started, not from the Watchers, but from the rock itself. Dust rained down. The crack in the wall slowly, painfully, began to widen. It wasn't breaking apart; it was opening, like something old waking up.
Kaelen watched, amazed. "He's using the old ways," he whispered, a proud look on his face. "Guiding the very stone."
The gap opened just enough for them to squeeze through. They could now hear the Watchers' voices clearly in the Nexus chamber, their heavy footsteps getting closer.
"Move!" Tayo urged, pushing Lyra first into the dark, tight passage. Kaelen followed, his lamp barely fitting.
As Tayo squeezed through, he glanced back. The Nexus chamber was now lit by the cold, harsh light of the Watchers' energy beams. He saw armored figures pouring into the room, their weapons ready. He heard Commander Valerius's angry voice echo, "He's gone! Find him! Do not let the Living Key escape!"
The narrow vent twisted and turned, leading them deeper into the hidden parts of the city. The air was dusty and smelled of ancient stone. They were no longer in the grand, powerful tunnels; they were in the secret veins of the world, a place the city had forgotten.
The sounds of the Watchers faded behind them, replaced by the soft drip of water and the distant hum of the world's hidden energies. They were free from the immediate danger, but their journey had just become even more unpredictable.