The first lock would not yield.
Cole struck it with the butt of his spear, and Leon seared the edge with the void, but the white seal only sank deeper into the glass. A stone dog thrashed behind the door. Every time the fire touched the plaque bearing its mistress's name, a crack spread across its back.
Rem found a ring of keys beneath the ledger.
"The cells have different classifications," he said. "Debt, judicial, inheritance, dangerous."
"How many keys?"
"Seventy-two."
Eight minutes remained until the purge.
Styx sent up two scouts. One landed on the lock, the other on the key ring. Through her came the smell of metal, oil and old blood. She could not read the numbers on the keys, but she could tell which had been handled most often.
Rem chose a worn key, and the lock opened.
The stone dog darted out and pressed itself against the wall. Cole left a clear path between it and the exit. The beast did not run. It turned towards the next cell, where a small earth spirit writhed in the flames.
"He's showing us," Leon said.
We opened the second cage.
The first few doors made it clear that no two cages were alike: one held a sleeping cocoon that could not be shaken, while in another a bird hurled itself at the light. The third cell was empty, but its seal was still drawing energy from an owner who had died long ago in debtors' prison.
Rem called out the rules as we ran.
"Put out blue plaques with water. Don't touch the green ones with bare hands. If a name has been crossed out twice, only a witness can open the door."
The white fire descended faster.
Leon and the Void Dragon held it back along one wall beneath the ceiling. The beast spread its damaged wing and swallowed the light at the edge of the rift. Every fresh flare widened the hole, but the dragon himself grew smaller. The void was consuming strength he could no longer restore through his titanic core.
"One more minute," Leon said.
The dragon turned his head.
Leon corrected himself:
"As long as you can."
The beast stayed.
A transparent spirit burst from a green cell. It flew past me and struck Rem in the chest. The assessor dropped to his knees. A black handprint remained on his cloak.
Cole raised his spear.
"Don't," Rem gasped.
The spirit struck again. This time Rem covered his face with one arm, but did not activate his protective seal.
"I assessed his owner. Then I authorised the transfer."
Rem would not defend himself, but I had no intention of handing him over for slaughter. I stepped between them. The spirit scorched my shoulder, recoiled and noticed the open passage. It hovered before Rem for several seconds, then left for the exit.
The assessor got to his feet without help.
"The next one's blue."
The freed beasts did not form an obedient column: some ran for the doors, while others hid under the shelves. A bird with a broken wing huddled in a corner, and the stone dog kept returning to cages where it heard movement.
Styx flew to the freed creatures and showed them not a command, but three images: fire, the ventilation hub and the exit.
Most chose the exit.
The stone dog stayed. So did the earth spirit and a blind bird that sensed seals with its beak. Three out of several dozen.
It was not enough to open the whole archive, but each of them took a door.
When the timer reached four minutes, Rem found the central grille.
"The emergency hub is behind it. If we shut it down, the fire will stop."
The grille had three sockets for seals: Guild, family and city.
We had Rem's and Leon's seals.
The city seal belonged to a man who had already renounced the uniform.
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