The Domini saga

The original page lies open beneath the cellar lantern, Veyra Ashhand’s name and tonight’s handoff plain to everyone present. Odran sits under guard while Bren watches the stair, and Nhal keeps the altered copy beside her.

Bren’s gaze remains fixed on Odran as footsteps shift faintly above. Nhal compares the two pages, finding that the altered copy removed one warning beneath Veyra’s name.

Kynes drives the Soul-Cutter through Odran’s thigh, pinning him to the floor without striking bone. Odran cries out, and Bren’s hand tightens on the stair rail.

Odran grips the cellar floor, pale and sweating, while Kynes keeps the blade steady. The wound is severe but controlled, and no magical machinery answers the violence.

The Soul-Cutter grows quiet beneath Kynes’s hand. Its edge stops drinking the cellar’s lamplight, and the pressure against Odran eases without the blade leaving him.

A colder impression follows, precise as a verdict. The blade recognizes fear, guilt, and concealed knowledge, but none of them grant permission to claim what remains within him.

Odran watches the weapon’s dark edge with terrified attention. Bren lowers her hand from the stair rail, while Nhal keeps the two pages together and waits for Kynes to decide what the answer means.

Kynes grips the Soul-Cutter and draws it free in a slow, deliberate pull. Odran’s cry breaks across the cellar as the blade leaves him, pain following its entire retreat.

The sword clears Odran completely. Blood darkens his trouser leg, severe but contained, while the wound closes enough to keep him conscious and breathing.

Bren kneels with cloth and bandages, while Nhal secures the pages against the chest. The cellar settles into tense, ordinary silence around the withdrawn blade.

Kynes casts a minor healing spell over Odran’s thigh. Warm light seals the wound and stops the bleeding, though the spell leaves Kynes’s hand numb and his breath briefly unsteady.

The torn fabric remains dark, but no fresh blood spreads. Odran tests his leg carefully, finding the pain reduced enough to speak without losing consciousness.

Slaan draws her dark cloak around herself and spreads its shadow across Kynes, Bren, and Nhal. The lanternlight dulls around them without disturbing the cellar.

Bren binds Odran’s wrists securely beside the chest, leaves water within his reach, and checks that his wounded leg remains stable. Nhal gathers the pages and altered copy.

The four climb through the cellar and pass the unconscious keeper and couriers without a glance from outside. Frosty air receives them as the eastern path opens beneath the ash trees.

The party follows the eastern path beneath the ash trees, keeping close to the hedgerow. Frost muffles their steps, and the wayhouse soon disappears behind the rise.

Slaan lets the shadowed cloak fall back around her shoulders. The others emerge plainly into the pale morning, their papers and evidence secured beneath their coats.

They cross the last stretch of frost-stiff grass and reach the eastern ash post. Its stones lean beneath twisted roots, while a narrow trail continues toward the quarry road.

Kynes stands at the ash post with Bren, Slaan, and Nhal close beside him. Beneath the roots, loose stones mark a concealed descent, exactly where Odran said it would be.

Kynes leaves the others by the ash post and scouts along the quarry road, keeping low behind frost-pale grass and broken stones. The path bends east before descending toward a disused quarry.

He finds fresh bootprints crossing older cart ruts, three sets traveling toward the quarry, and a sheltered overlook above the road. From there, the route to the hidden entrance is plainly visible.

A loose shale shelf shifts beneath Kynes’s foot. He catches himself against the stone, but several pebbles scatter down the slope, leaving a clear warning that someone has inspected the road.

Kynes returns with the road mapped in his awareness: the quarry approach is open, the recent tracks lead directly toward its lower cut, and no watcher remains in sight. His ankle is bruised, but sound.

Kynes circles wide beneath the broken wall, using frost-pale grass, quarry shadows, and the slope itself to conceal the party’s approach. The others follow in his footsteps.

He guides them below the overlook and down toward the lower cut, keeping the ash post and eastern ridge hidden behind stone. No watcher turns toward them.

The three fresh tracks lead through a narrow cleft and end at a low quarry entrance screened by fallen shale. The passage stands open, its interior dark and dry.

Bren reaches the entrance beside Kynes and studies the ground. Beneath the dust, he finds a dropped strip of black cloth bearing the faint mark of a split ash branch.

Kynes enters the quarry with Bren close behind, while Slaan and Nhal flank the passage. The dry stone swallows their footsteps, leaving only distant dripping water.

The passage bends around a fallen pillar. Two gray-cloaked figures appear ahead, carrying short blades and watching the deeper tunnel, unaware of the party.

Kynes raises one hand. Slaan’s shadow folds across the nearer watcher as Nhal strikes the other with a clean pulse of disabling magic, and both collapse unconscious.

Bren catches one body before it strikes the stone. Slaan checks both breathing, then removes their blades and cord, leaving them secured without needless harm.

Beyond the fallen pillar, the quarry opens into a low chamber. Fresh tracks continue through it toward the western wall, while a faint lantern glow moves deeper inside.

Kynes leads Slaan and Nhal along the fresh tracks while Bren slips through the quarry’s side shadows. The lantern glow retreats around a bend.

Three gray-cloaked figures emerge from a cramped gallery, carrying blades and a sealed satchel. Kynes, Slaan, and Nhal strike together with controlled stunning spells.

The first watcher drops against the wall, the second collapses beside the satchel, and the third staggers before Bren appears behind him and knocks him unconscious.

Stone clatters into the tunnel as the third watcher falls, echoing through the quarry. No answering footsteps come, but the noise cannot be concealed.

Bren drags the stunned watchers into shadow and binds their wrists. Kynes reaches the gallery’s far end, where the open passage descends toward a lamplit chamber.

Kynes kneels beside the sealed satchel in the gallery’s shadow. He checks the clasp, cuts the cord cleanly, and opens it without disturbing the papers within.

Inside rests a narrow iron-bound case, a folded route chart, and a wax-wrapped bundle marked with the black key over three ash branches.

Kynes opens the case and finds a thin slate of dark stone engraved with Ilyr Domini’s custody mark. Beneath it lies a signed succession record naming Veyra Ashhand as inheritor.

The record confirms Veyra’s authority to present the sealed witness chain, but grants no ownership over the witness, the memories, or the record itself.

Kynes secures the slate, succession record, and chart among his evidence. Behind them, the bound watchers remain unconscious as lamplight flickers deeper in the quarry.