The Portal They Did Not Take

The manor stopped agreeing with itself.

Faephine reached Maine from the astral refuge with a message that made no sense: she had seen the party leave Pringle Manor. From her side, the group had gone. From Maine's side, they were still inside, still battered, still surrounded by the consequences of Solar and the false guards.

The closet portal was gone.

That absence changed the question from where do we go next to which version of us did Faephine see leave.

Then Oskar found another door and another answer. Beyond it was a warehouse-like room with an active portal inside, different from the one that had connected them to Faephine's refuge. Solar was using it as his escape route.

For a moment, the chase was possible.

Maine rushed toward the room. Oskar called out what he had found, first with the urgency of pursuit and then with the caution of someone remembering exactly who they were chasing. An unknown portal behind a speedster was not a doorway. It was a decision with teeth.

The party hesitated.

Twelve seconds can be nothing in a normal room. In a crisis, it can be the whole story. Two rounds passed. No one safely committed to the portal before it vanished.

Solar escaped.

The party remained in Pringle Manor with a worse problem than a lost enemy. If Faephine had seen them leave while they had not, then someone or something wearing their shape may already have moved into the city.