Though that sentiment seemed to ring truer with every message they received, not everyone was so willing to accept Ascender as merely a villain. There was too much history between him and the Mountaineers to write his actions off so quickly.
“Ascender is a carpenter. He has a hammer, and all problems look like a nail,” Robert wrote in defense. “He’s lived alone, having to scramble and fight and sneak to get anywhere against the Silver for so long. This is what he does . . . to those he loves and those he loathes.
Whatever he did, however he did it, let’s get the whole story, and then let’s get out of this chrysalis. Maybe he bought us time we needed. We shall see.”
Regardless of Ascender’s still-murky intentions, it was now fairly clear that the symbols found in the watermarks were inde
