“Hey, this looks like the emblem on the guards’ gear,” Xander announced.
Julius approached the book and examined the cover. “Hmm. It would seem so,” he confirmed.
Xander reached out, sliding his fingers along the cover of the top book. The surface felt wooden, hollow to the touch. He smiled as he flipped open the faux text. A lever sat concealed within the center of the stack of books inside an empty, hollow hole. “I knew it,” he murmured.
“Good work, Xander,” Siena complimented.
Xander pulled the lever and a wall in the back of the room slid open.
“What do we have here?” Nolan said.
A dimly lit staircase spiraled into the earth below. Julius peered into the opening searching the way forward. “Let’s go. Watch your step,” Julius led.
The group funneled into the darkened passage one a
