62. The Murder Alphabet

Kinch tends Norrigal with water and pain-dulling roots, then rigs anchors and a rope so Galva can help the weakened Queen Mireya down from her rocky perch. Yorbez quips at Mireya’s ten days as a bird, underscoring the queen’s fragility. Kinch searches the dead Guild magicker Bavotte, closing his eyes, pocketing Oustri coin, and taking a humming neck torque of unknown power.

Noticing the giantess Misfa’s grip on a deadly book, Kinch dons proofed goatskin gloves and persuades her to hand it over, warning it is poisoning her. The tome is titled The Book of the Full Shadow, its binding toothed and slick with thieves’ dew, confirming its lethal, Guild-made nature.

Kinch weighs his long-held theory about the Murder Alphabet: only complete comprehension prevents its killing confusion. Trusting his instincts and training, he opens the book despite Norrigal’s taunt. The script resolves for him; he reads revelations that the Takers weakened Hrava’s magickers, prefer Oustrim’s fall to enforce fear, and profit while serving the Forbidden One.

The text implies the Takers control other guilds—Carters, Runners, Builders, Seafarers—and may have engineered the horse plague they publicly blamed on goblins. This raises the stakes from regional conflict to a coordinated, trans-guild conspiracy.

As Kinch reads further, the book becomes aware, eyes on each page seeming to move. It flips itself open to a crab illustration, which leaps from the page onto the cave wall. The Book of the Full Shadow proves alive, escalating the immediate danger and confirming the Guild’s mastery of terrifying, autonomous magic.