Jude spoke last, his gaze sweeping the wives. "Tomorrow we ascend further. Climb the mountain. We will take watchers with us. We will meet horizon."
The wives nodded, somber but unafraid. The children yawned as wives lifted them to slings.
Grace brushed his cheek. "We'll go together."
He touched her hand. "Together."
They slept under watchers' light. Mist filtered through tents.
When dawn came, it was frigid and bright. Jude wrapped the staff in cloak, loaded backpacks with glyph stones and supplies, and shouldered Laurel. Grace carried Raven. Wives and watchers formed a column of light.
They climbed the basalt steps, each etched with watchers' spirals. The air thinned, crisp as bone. The watchers brightened; each step they paused, waiting for them, then rose ahead again, guiding the way on moon-washed stone.