Arthur stepped forward and handed Daniel a rolled parchment.
"This is the route to Finn Foster's last known location."
Daniel accepted it carefully.
"The Ashen Mountains?"
Arthur nodded.
"Three weeks if the roads are clear."
"And if they aren't?" Lily asked.
Arthur looked toward the distant horizon.
"Then you'll understand why Finn chose that place to hide."
Bill reached into pat and removed eight small silver badges.
Each bore the emblem of the academy.
"These belonged to former expedition teams," he said.
One by one, he handed them out.
"Wear them. If any Ghost Killer station sees these badges, they'll know you're under academy protection."
Daniel fastened his badge to his cloak.
The metal felt cold against his chest, a reminder that he was no longer just a student.
As the others prepared their bags, Bill
As the others prepared their bags, Bill reached into his inner pocket.
He pulled out a heavy, leather-bound canteen.
He didn't offer it to everyone.
He held it out specifically to Daniel.
"Vervain wine," Bill said, his voice flat. "It won't heal a broken bone, but it keeps the rot from spreading if you take a hit."
Daniel took the flask.
The weight of it felt like another anchor pulling him away from the academy.
"Thank you, sir."
Bill didn't reply.
He simply turned around and walked back toward the main hall, his shadow stretching long against the stone floor.
Arthur remained standing by the gates.
He didn't say goodbye.
He just watched them with eyes that had seen too many expeditions leave, and too few return.
"Move out," Daniel said.
His voice sounded older to his own ears.
The team fell into formation.
Lily walked just a step behind him, her eyes constantly darting to the tree line beyond the academy walls.
The silence between them was heavy.
It was the silence of people who knew that their pasts were finally catching up to them.
Two days later, the sky turned the color of bruised iron.
The path toward the Ashen Mountains was no longer a road.
It was a jagged scar through the earth.
Daniel stopped, pulling out the parchment Arthur had given him.
The ink seemed to blur in the damp air.
"Daniel," Lily whispered.
He looked up.
She wasn't looking at the map.
She was looking at the base of the first mountain peak.
There were no trees here.
No birds.
Only hundreds of old, weathered wooden stakes driven into the gray soil.
And pinned to the top of each stake was a rusted, ruined academy badge.
The protection had failed here long ago.