There were more questions to be solved. But she knew a crisis was bound to occur tomorrow, or perhaps sooner.
Suddenly, Sabrina remembered a few months ago, when she had been clearing the shelves, she had taken away a map of the Aetheris mainland.
To the north lay the territory of the Stellarans; to the south, the native land of the Umbrals. In the east lived the Aarakocra. The western mountains were home to dwarves and golemkin. The forests held elves. In the seas swam merrows and dragons. Humans dwelled on the plains. Oracles hid among all races.
For a moment, as she looked at the map, Sabrina was distracted.
“Hmm… if I escape, maybe I can see the elves. I’ve heard they’re so beautiful.”
“Oh, right, I need a direction. Yes! North. I like elves. Maybe I can visit the Stellarans—they have starry eyes.”
Immersed in a pleasant dream, Sabrina took a minute to think about what she would do tomorrow.
The weather was clear; a new day had come. Sabrina worked just as before.
“Hi, Jan. I want to go to the holt today. Do you want to come with me?”
“Yeah, it’d be my pleasure.”
“Holt! I want to go to the holt. Do you want to join us?”
“Hey, don’t say it like that! But I’ll come.”
“No, Lila, I have a lot of work to do today.”
“Maybe I should ask Mr. Voss.”
“Oh, too bad.”
“Lila, why do you want to go to Glimmerwood today?”
“I need to pick Mourning Daisies. The anniversary of my great-grandmother’s death is coming up. Can’t I?”
“Oh, of course you can. The God of Light will protect you. But you don’t need everyone to accompany you—there’s no one else to work for the God of Light.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. But can I still go to Glimmerwood today?”
“Can it wait until tomorrow?”
“No, tomorrow’s my turn on duty.”
“Alright, you may go. Come back early.”
“Thank you. The God of Light will protect you.”
“Gabriel Voss… Mr. Voss…”
“What’s wrong? Speak slowly.”
“The notice board has been marked with a symbol. It says: TODAY WE DIE.”
Gabriel Voss looked at Sabrina… but eventually, he shifted his gaze away.
