“We made it!” Sky whooped, soaring down the final stretch of the corridor. She landed with a victorious skid in front of a heavy wooden door.

Without hesitation, she grabbed the handle and yanked it down—

Nothing.

Frowning, she tried again, harder this time.

Still nothing.

Her breath hitched. “What?” she muttered, rattling the handle as if sheer determination could force it open.

“I think you need a code,” Terrain said, coming up behind her and pointing to a keypad mounted on the wall.

Sky’s shoulders slumped as she sank to her knees. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

She looked up at him with a weak, hopeful smile. “D-Do you happen to remember the code?”

“I think I figured out the first two numbers,” Terrain replied, squinting at the pad. “But… we might have to go back.”

Sky sprang to her feet. “No, wait. Let me go. I’ll grab the tapestry while you work on guessing the code.”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Alright. Be careful.”

“Don’t worry,” she called over her shoulder, already sprinting away, “I will!”

Sky darted through the winding alleys, her eyes scouring the walls as she passed. Not that one. Nope. Still no. Symbols and shapes blurred past as she flew.

Then—bam! She crashed straight into a cluster of Firemelon guards and tumbled to the ground.

Several guards loomed over her.

“Gah!” Sky kicked off the ground and shot upward just as a fireball blazed past her shoulder.

Great. I forgot about them.

“I don’t have time for this,” she muttered, twisting through the air. “I'll just have to lose them.”

She dove, veered left, then right, dodging blasts and flying debris. The guards stayed on her tail like smoke in the wind.

Seriously? Still?! Why can’t they take a hint?

Then she spotted it—a tapestry draped across a wall, adorned in symbols and numbers.

“There it is!”

She whipped around mid-air, kicked off the opposite wall, and tore the tapestry free in one swift motion. Behind her, the guards collided in a tangled heap. 

Almost there.

Her armband buzzed.

“Hey, Sky—” Terrain’s voice crackled through.

“Get ready to block the exit!” she barked.

“Huh, what? Uh—okay!”

She rounded the final corner and spotted him. "Now!"

Terrain thrust his hands forward. A wall of stone erupted behind her, sealing off the hallway just as Sky dove through the shrinking gap.

She hit the ground hard and rolled to a stop. Scraped, breathless, and slightly singed.

Terrain hurried over and smoothed out a tiny flame smouldering in her hair. “You okay?”

She coughed and waved away the smoke. “I’ve been better.”

From her belt, she pulled out the tapestry, a little charred but mostly intact. “Here it is”, she said, dusting it off. “It's a bit burnt, but I’m sure we can figure out at least one of the—"

Creak.

The door groaned open.

Sky blinked. “W-What?”

Terrain stood beside it, one hand on the handle, the other rubbing the back of his neck. A sheepish smile sat across his face. “I, uh… ended up guessing the code.”

Sky stared at him, expression blank. Then, without a word, she let the tapestry slip from her fingers. It hit the ground with a soft, defeated flop.

“Let’s just go,” she muttered, too exhausted to argue.