She retracted her hand. There, carved into the face of the clock, was the same flower she’d seen in Vadim. How can this be?
Cautiously, she brought her ear to the clock. No ticking? She reached below it and touched the pendulum, causing it to move from side to side.
A few loud clanks against metal and wood resonated, and the ring of keys fell to the floor, under the clock. She smiled as she reached for them. Hundreds of keys rested together on the giant iron ring. She moved through them, searching for the key made from petrified wood.
Using the light from the moons, she located the key. She ran her hands over it, feeling its coldness beneath her fingertips before she quickly removed it from the ring and put the rest back in their hiding place inside the clock.
She made her way to the d
