The third stake wouldn't go in.
Kaelen Ironfist knelt on the hardpan where the soil thinned out at the edge of the treeline and drove the iron survey marker into what should have been packed earth over limestone substrate. The mallet rang twice — clean strikes, good contact — and the stake sank four inches and stopped. Stone underneath. Granite, probably, or the remnant of something older. He worked the handle sideways, testing for a seam, and the stake shifted a half-inch east before locking again.
"Granite shelf," he said. "Goes deep."
