Nyx had ruled out the Shallows months ago.
Back then, they had been searching for any viable path into a Dark World. The Shallows had looked unreliable, distant, and too dependent on a narrow tidal window to justify the risk.
Now it was the only door left that made sense.
"Nine days," Valerica said, reading from a page of old notes by lamplight. "That was my original estimate for the stable period."
She turned the page.
"It still holds."
Isole looked up.
"You kept the notes?"
Valerica gave her a look.
"I keep everything."
A pause.
"You know this."
Nyx smiled faintly from across the fire.
"She does."
Valerica returned to the page.
"We finally have a reason to build around the window instead of treating it as a reason to avoid the place."
They reached the coast the following afternoon.
At first, there was nothing remarkable about it.
Grey water.
Grey sky.
A long shoreline scattered with dark rock.
