The Phoenix Stair – 12:47 a.m.
The descent was narrow, spiral, and endless.
Langdon and Lenka moved down the stone staircase lit only by Langdon's phone flashlight. Symbols flickered across the walls—Hebrew, Enochian, even Sanskrit.
The languages of mysticism.
After several minutes, they reached a vaulted corridor.
At its centre was a pedestal holding a brass sphere, intricately engraved with celestial bodies and constellations.
Langdon recognized it instantly.
An armillary sphere.
But this one was strange—its bands were inverted, rotating inward, pointing toward a blank centre.
At the base of the sphere was an inscription in Latin:
"Per ignem veritas. Per mentem eternitas." Through fire, truth. Through mind, eternity.
Suddenly, the sphere clicked. A hidden compartment opened, revealing a fragile scroll.
Langdon carefully unrolled it.
Inside was a map.
But not of Prague.
It was a mirrored schematic of London, centred not on the Thames—but on St.
Dunstan-in-the-East, an ancient bombed-out church.
And beneath it, the words:
"There, the mind was fractured. There, it must be restored."