The first thing Raze noticed about Elmbridge's upper archive was the silence. It wasn't the absence of sound. Quills scratched, pages turned, and a brass clock clicked somewhere beyond the shelves. The silence came from the way those sounds refused to travel. A cough two tables away died before reaching him. Even his footsteps seemed to end at the soles of his boots.
He turned the metal disc Sariah had given him between his fingers. On one side, the Academy crest. On the other, a blank circle. He had expected an impressive key. Instead he had received something that looked like an unfinished coin.
"Keep staring at it and it might decide to become interesting," said a voice from behind a tower of books.
A small woman emerged, carrying a stack almost as tall as herself. Her silver-streaked brown hair was tied in a severe knot, and a pair of spectacles hung from a chain around her neck. She wore no visible weapon, but Raze's Inspect returned a single unhelpful line.
