The third year brought a message from the mountains.
A traveler arrived at the eastern gate, exhausted and half-frozen. She carried a letter sealed with black wax—the same black wax Mira had used. William broke the seal and read.
The cave is collapsing. The white blade must be moved. Come quickly.
There was no signature.
William packed a bag. Strapped on a belt with a simple iron knife—not the black sword, which remained sealed in its lead box. Julian met him at the gate.
"You're not going alone."
"I'm not going to argue."
"Good."
They walked east, into the mountains.
---
The journey took five days.
The pass was harder than William remembered—the snow deeper, the wind colder. The village beyond the mountains had grown; new huts, new faces. The elder with the flint eyes was still
