Flashback ( PDFDrive )

There’s also my sloppy inflicting, Sophie noted, which might work on the
ogres. They aren’t wearing headpieces—but I might take you guys out too,
so . . .
So we have a lot of messy plans that cause a lot of problems, Marella
finished for her. But . . . I guess it’s better than nothing.
And sadly, that was all the planning they had time for. The path was
getting brighter as they drew closer to the glowing fence, and the next
bend they rounded brought them back to the clearing with the
override.
“Have you figured it out yet?” Vespera asked, waving her arms at all
the swirling metal statues.
“You want us to turn off Everglen’s fence?” Sophie guessed.
“No, I want you to see beyond what your eyes tell you,” Vespera
corrected, tilting her face toward the moon. “Long ago, I realized the
best place to hide things was in plain sight. And I shared my theories
with someone I respected—someone who has since been using that
knowledge to put a veil over everyone’s eyes for the last several
millennia, while I’ve wasted away in Lumenaria for similar crimes. So
now it’s time to shatter those illusions.”
With a swish of her golden gown, Vespera reached for the mirrored
orb in one of the tallest statues, lifted it from the coils of metal, and
hurled it at the ground. And as the glass splintered into a million
pieces, the world around them flickered away, revealing a hidden
section of the clearing that stretched into the space that used to look
like a wall of dark trees.
Now there was a large grassy knoll bathed in the moonlight—and
pressed into the side was a round silver door, like they’d found some
sort of futuristic hobbit hole.