The second message from Obsidian arrived six weeks after the first.

Marina read it at the map table in the early morning before the leadership group had assembled. Vael had forwarded it through the eastern ground channels with a brief note attached that said simply: you should read this before the others do.

Marina read it twice.

Then she sat with it for ten minutes before she did anything else.

The message was longer than the first one. Obsidian wrote the way he did everything, precisely and without excess, but the length meant he had something substantial to communicate and had taken the time to structure it carefully.

He had...