Rin set the iron-bound chest down on the pale stone and worked the catch loose, and the whole family drew close as the lid swung back.
Light spilled out, warmer and richer than anything the second-tier material chest had held. Inside lay a handful of dense cores, each one bright and heavy with refined power, and beneath them a folded length of pale cloth that shimmered faintly, cool as water to the touch.
"Wardhide," Korin said, lifting the cloth and turning it in the light. "Woven from a guardian's own essence. Layered into armor or a Medium, it turns aside power that would otherwise cut through. This is worth more than the cores."
"Then we split the cores now and decide the cloth later," Tenebria said. "No one takes anything until we are all standing safe on the surface again. That is the rule that keeps a group from eating itself."
