At the base of the slab, where the densest dust had fallen, something moved that was not an outline.
A man pulled himself free of the gray powder as if climbing out of deep water. He was thin, gray-haired, and dressed in the layered style of an era none of them could place. His eyes were the only part of him that looked fully present. When he spoke, the words arrived a fraction late, as though the basin still half-expected him to have no voice.
“I am Coren. I was the last cartographer assigned to this place before the removal order. I stayed to finish the final map. The order included me. Most of me obeyed. A remainder did not.” He looked at his own hands with mild surprise. “You forced enough presence back into the basin for the remainder to stand up. Thank you. It was becoming difficul
