The keeper’s stair opens behind a weatherworn shrine, where pale morning light rests on moss and fallen leaves. Beyond the shrine, the village rooftops lie quiet beneath the hills.
The Taken Child steps onto the shrine’s broken flagstones, then stops before a row of boundary stones. Their gaze fixes on the distant homes.
The Taken Child
That is where I lived. I can see our roof from here.
Their hand lowers from the nearest boundary stone without touching it. Brin remains near the passage mouth, giving the child room while watching Enzo’s bleeding hand.
Brin
Ilyra Vey was not sacrificed to make the safeguard. She chose to become its keeper, and I was the one who carried her name away when the iron failed.
Brin
I told myself silence would spare the village. It only left you to uncover the cost alone.
The shrine offers a dry ledge beneath its cracked canopy. Wind moves softly through the grass, and no bell answers from the tower. Brin looks toward Enzo, waiting without pressing him.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn why Brin carried Ilyra Vey’s name away