Book One – Chapter 14

Midnight had always been an observer, a shadow to her wizard, slipping between the cracks of the world, unseen and uninvolved. But now, the clarity she had gained under T̰́̇ͦ̀è̸̷̸̬̤̗̊_̸̵̰̦̗̒͜ȟ̗̍ͤa̶͉͉͍̭̰̅̀̈͜ͅȓ̶̶̛̦͇͙̟̈̿͒ͮ͑̋̚͡u̟͖͔̖̙͙͆̄̿ͩͧ̃̽̓̈̌̀͟͞n‘s veil made detachment impossible. The interconnectedness of everything she had witnessed, the threads of consequence and decision that wove through the battle, demanded her attention. Yet she could not unravel them, not here, not now —

No, she would not. The party’s fates and struggles belonged to a different web of consequence, one she would no longer entangle herself in. The wizard’s death, in the end, held no meaning for her beyond the faint interest of having observed it. What value his final message might hold, if any, was for Yves to determine.

Her duty lay ahead. The Albweiss Mountain Guild and the Barnstream Harbour Guild — the destinations Yves had spoken of with measured certainty, names weighted with rumour and reputation. They were sanctuaries for those who thrived on peril: fighters, wanderers, and adventurers who dared traverse the treacherous expanses of the eastern Midlands and Northlands. Midnight’s path led to them, driven by purpose, though she did not yet know what form that purpose would take. Among them, she might find a ship or a lead, a fragment of opportunity to serve the course Yves had set for them.