The settlement sat at the edge of the Oasis of Grain's western reach. Flat terrain, low stone buildings, the kind of place that existed because people needed somewhere to be, and nobody had cared enough to stop them.
Silas had gone ahead.
His Dark Interval threaded outward through the settlement's perimeter before the rest of them got within scan range.
Alistair waited on the ridge with Due and Elara, watching the morning routine play out below. Merchants were setting up their stalls, and a woman carried water across a recently repaired road.
'Everything about this place looks normal,' Alistair thought. 'Which is the problem.'
"Seventeen structures," Silas said when he returned. "One person matching the courier's description. Third building from the western edge, ground floor, living alone."
"Any security?" asked Alistair.
"None."
