The snow around Olson Lodge lay quiet, untouched but for Noah’s tracks leading from his doorstep to the small rise just to the east, where the sun touched first. It wasn’t far from home but the clearing here held a kind of stillness that felt right.
Noah hauled the small sled to a stop, its runners whispering to a halt over the crusted snow. His breath curled into the cold in great white puffs as he began unloading what he’d brought: the ordinary building supplies stacked neatly at the back, and, handled with far more care, the treasures of the quest. He lifted the pale, iridescent sections of dragon eggshell; the tight new buds gathered from the thawing groves; and finally the skins of water from Safrin’s Mirror.
Days earlier, he’d written to Borin and Lysandrel Kael, requesting guidance from someone skilled enough to honor Safrin properly. They’d replied only that help would be sent. No name. No hint of who might come trudging through Halo’s frost to stand beside him. So now he waited, the cold settling around his boots, listening for footsteps or voices carried on the wind with keen attuned ears, uncertain of who would answer the call.
Noah hauled the small sled to a stop, its runners whispering to a halt over the crusted snow. His breath curled into the cold in great white puffs as he began unloading what he’d brought: the ordinary building supplies stacked neatly at the back, and, handled with far more care, the treasures of the quest. He lifted the pale, iridescent sections of dragon eggshell; the tight new buds gathered from the thawing groves; and finally the skins of water from Safrin’s Mirror.
Days earlier, he’d written to Borin and Lysandrel Kael, requesting guidance from someone skilled enough to honor Safrin properly. They’d replied only that help would be sent. No name. No hint of who might come trudging through Halo’s frost to stand beside him. So now he waited, the cold settling around his boots, listening for footsteps or voices carried on the wind with keen attuned ears, uncertain of who would answer the call.
s e n t i n e l
