The first light of dawn stretched across the vale, casting a pale, ghostly gleam over jagged modes and fractured terrain. Mist dallied low to the ground, entwining around sharp jewels and fractured bumps, moving as if the air itself had memory. Maya squinched beside a tertiary knot, the tablet pressed forcefully to her casket, sanguine gleam pulsing noiselessly in meter with subtle temblors beneath the fractured earth. Indeed dormant