Valttair's eyes did not leave him. "Speak."
"We found traces of passage," Moses said. "Recent ones."
That pulled Caelum's full attention to the map.
Moses tapped one armored finger against the lower edge of the stone, where a knot of marks had formed near a narrow corridor between two ridges. "Camps cleared with tools. Stone cut from the wrong side of a sealed entrance. Ash buried under snow that had not had time to harden. Something moved through parts of the Meridian before us, and not centuries ago."
Caelum's voice came quiet. "People, then."
"Yes."
"Not ordinary travelers."
"No." Moses's mouth twisted. "Ordinary travelers would never reach the barrier. Even if they reached it, they would not cross. Anyone who entered the Dead Meridian before us was either strong enough to force the passage, informed enough to know the right route, or carried through by something that did the work for them."
