Son of the Morning Star

"I wasn't asking about her body." Kingsley walked over to the Stone Stele. "I was asking about her consciousness. Is she watching us?"

"She's in the network," Vivi said. "She's watching us right now."

The ground directly beneath the Stone Stele began to glow. Silver-white light seeped out from the cracks between the rocks, sketching a circular outline across the floor.

The outline was about two meters in diameter. The stone inside it began to sink downward, forming a round opening.

The edge of the opening was wrapped in silver-white light, steady and quiet.

A wave of heat surged up from the depths of the opening. Vivi's silver-white magic formed a thin film of light over her skin, protecting her from being burned by the heat.

She crouched at the edge of the opening and reached inside to test the temperature. The light film worked steadily, and her fingers only felt a gentle warmth.

"I'm going down." She stood and turned to look at every member of the Advance Team. "Wait for me up here. If I haven't sent a signal before noon—"

Harry walked up to her. "If you haven't sent a signal before noon, I'll go down and look for you. The passage's Protective Charm won't recognize my magic, but I can follow the path you took. Your magic will leave permanent traces when it passes through the passage, and the Protective Charm will recognize those traces as authorized. If I follow behind you, I won't trigger the alarm."

Vivi looked into Harry's eyes and was silent for a moment.

"All right."

She turned and jumped into the opening.

Silver-white light wrapped around her, holding her as she sank downward.

The inner wall of the opening was as smooth as a mirror, covered in Runes more delicate than