December third.
The exile was on January first, but we'd get going toward the exile point on the twenty eight. So I only had twenty five days remaining to train.
Wip was asleep against my legs when I woke up, curled into herself with her tail wrapped around her paws. I moved carefully, sliding out without disturbing her. She shifted once, made a small sound, and went back to sleep.
I left two servings of meat on the floor beside the bed.
I put on clothes and left to visit Damian. The obsidian corridor outside my room felt different now that I knew what it was made of. Voidstone. The same material that powered the barriers. Obtained by people who had long since become what waited outside those barriers.
I had walked this corridor hundreds of times without understanding it.
Damian's office was at the end. I knocked.
Silence. The usual thing. He always waited for a moment.
"Come in."
He was at his desk, a map spread in front of him… again. He did not look up immediately.
