Chapter 3

Evar pursues Clovis and Kerrol from their birth chamber, passing a motionless skeer holding a doorway open. Furious and grieving, Evar confronts Kerrol over his claim to “find” Livira. Evar reveals Livira’s spirit had inhabited the Assistant and Malar the Soldier, both now shattered with no sign of the humans within.

Kerrol apologizes and admits he misled Evar to draw him out of danger, claiming Livira’s essence resides in a book that, taken to the Mechanism, could reunite them “in a manner of speaking.” Without the book, they must find an assistant, which Kerrol insists lies somewhere beyond their old confines. Clovis urges immediate movement through skeer territory to reach the outside and gather warriors.

As they march, Evar wrestles with guilt and loss, yet refocuses on survival. In a high-walled aisle strewn with shed skeer armor, he advises searching for Carcasan tomes on tweel vellum to mask their scent. He climbs a ladder to scout from the shelf tops while Clovis warns him to stay focused.

From above, Evar spots a vast bowl of descending shelves cradling a colossal metal-and-fur golem, shackled by a single monumental manacle. The construct raises its head toward them, joints popping, and emits a roar that shakes the air. Certain it intends to kill them, Evar drops, and the siblings immediately run.