It hits, though Claude almost doesn't notice it at first. There's so much going on that he's blocking out that the anxiety crawling up the back of his throat doesn't register until it's clamped down around it. A long time since he's had that to where he couldn't just tamp it right back down with so many other things he'd rather not acknowledge. But this? Demands acknowledgement.

His grip on Wilhelm tightens yet again as the thought presses in that if he lets go, maybe they won't make it back after all. Maybe this is another illusion and they aren't really escaping. What if this tunnel leads nowhere at all? They haven't been allowed to leave any other time; it's a valid possibility and his pulse races to an uneven beat like their stuttering footsteps as they trudge on.

"Just hang on," he mutters, but whether it's for Wilhelm's benefit or his own remains to be seen. It's the latter most likely even if he can't admit that with his mind whirling through things even more than it was seconds ago. This must be a side effect of the ritual, some spell unknown to Claude before now before dread struck. Maybe if he acts like nothing's changed whatever's going on won't spread to Wilhelm.

What good timing for whatever dim light there was to lessen even more now that they're further into that passageway.