No names past this point. No questions you aren't ready to answer. Three knocks on the outer door. Then wait. Stone cold beneath my feet Something tied across my eyes A hand settles on my shoulder "Easy. Just follow the voice." I hear locks turn somewhere ahead Then another one behind Funny— Nobody mentioned there'd be this many doors Most never notice. They ask what I came looking for I almost say knowledge Sounds stupid out loud So I tell them the truth— "I don't know yet." Nobody laughs That's worse somehow A match strikes nearby I smell wax and old stone Then someone asks "If the walls came down tonight... what would you stand between?" I don't answer fast enough Something moves far below us Not loud More like stone remembering weight The hand on my shoulder tightens "Don't worry about that." Right. Sure. I came here looking for a doorway They put a line beneath my feet Said, "Cross it if you mean it. Some things don't let you leave clean." There's a room beyond the darkness There's a reason for the guard And whatever sleeps beneath this house Just knocked back from the other side Blindfold comes off Candlelight Black coats Faces half in shadow No throne No altar Nothing like I'd pictured Just an old table A worn book And a stone cracked straight through Someone turns it over There's writing underneath Not a language I know But my stomach does You've seen it before. No, I haven't. Not awake. Then somewhere past the wall Steel leaves leather One man says, "They found the eastern passage." Nobody asks who "they" are Nobody needs to That's when I realize This ceremony was never about joining I came here looking for a doorway They put a line beneath my feet Said, "Cross it if you mean it. Some things don't let you leave clean." There's a room beyond the darkness There's a reason for the guard And whatever sleeps beneath this house Just knocked back from the other side THREE KNOCKS ABOVE ONE BELOW THE BUILDERS KNOW WHAT THE SWORDS DON'T SHOW STONE BY STONE SEAL BY SEAL SOME DOORS WERE NEVER MEANT TO YIELD THEY DIDN'T BUILD THIS TO KEEP MEN OUT THEY BUILT IT TO KEEP SOMETHING DOWN They place something in my hand Heavy Cold No explanation "Keep it." "For what?" "You'll know." I hate answers like that Then the floor shakes again Closer this time The oldest man in the room looks straight at me and says— "Now you know enough." I came here looking for a doorway Now I'm standing in the seam Between the world that walks above us and the things beneath its feet There's a house built over silence There's a watch that never ends And before tonight I thought the walls were meant to keep secrets in Three knocks on the outer door. A pause. Then one from below.
