Maren watched the northern threshold from beyond the checkpoint lane, yesterday's sewer filth still crusted stiff beneath his ragged cloak. He reached the staging grounds on foot before the pair arrived, keeping his sleeve low while their permit opened passage.
Now both of them vanished beyond a barrier he could not lawfully cross with any badge.
'Through the light and gone, while I stand out here with the spears and the paperwork.'
The corruption left in him pressed beneath the sleeve, crawling toward his shoulder though the crystal shattered against yesterday's grating. He flexed fingers that no longer needed the crystal between them, watching another vein spread beneath the cloth without stopping.
His nails dug into the heel of his hand, and he remembered a throat slipping out of that grip.
A sentry swung his spear toward a waiting group beside the rail, "No further entry, the authorized pair comes back before we discuss anybody else's business."
