Chapter 26

Arpix tends Clovis’s infected wounds, deflecting her attention while reflecting on Master Logaris and the need for method. Clovis presses him to reconsider the plateau’s mysterious boundary and to apply science. She suggests using Wentworth to obtain a skeer for testing, pushing Arpix beyond fear and habit.

Arpix consults Salamonda about Wentworth’s unsettling power. She recalls the cat seeming “as big as needed” when killing cratalacs. With Evar’s reluctant approval, Salamonda summons Wentworth and asks him to bring back a live skeer to the perimeter.

The next day, a vast dust cloud of skeer runners appears as Wentworth leads them by opening small portals and reappearing ahead. At the plateau’s edge, several skeer slam into the invisible boundary. Wentworth casually hooks one through; it simultaneously seems tiny in his grasp yet he remains a cat. Crossing shreds the skeer into armor shards and reeking entrails.

As the group reels, Evar notices the heap changing; Nortbu observes it drifting. Arpix realizes the remains are being pushed toward the boundary by an unseen force. He bravely collects a chunk of offal in a clay bowl, noting the ichor beads crawl in one consistent direction.

Arpix explains that the movement acts like a compass, pointing away from a center—the source of the boundary effect. He declares the grisly sample a key to finding that source, which could become a weapon against the skeer and possibly a path to healing Clovis’s worsening condition.