[Threshold Port — North Exit — Day 63 — 7:00 AM]
The north road left the port through the early‑morning market sector — the only sector of Threshold Port that at seven in the morning had already been active for two hours, with provision vendors for travelers open before anything else because the north was a frequent destination and travelers to the north always left early.
Maya with the three maps in her backpack and the new one — the Eastern Island map under construction — in her hand.
The team behind her.
Viktor and Max on the boat.
Not because the team had left them behind — because Viktor and Max had decided on their own that their place was the boat, the point of return.
"Aren't you coming?" Alex had asked Max the night before.
"There are things I'm good for," Max had said. "And things I'm not." A pause. "The Eastern Island's northern mountains with F7 inside are the second type."
"And Viktor?"
Viktor had raised his coffee.
