The thing under the stone had a pulse.
That was the information I had. I sat with it for a few minutes while the rest of the group spread out through the meadow in various states of decompression. Several people were lying in the grass. One of Commander's team had found what looked like wild strawberries at the forest edge and was bringing them back in a cupped palm. The rabbits that had been in the trees earlier had migrated to the meadow's edge and were watching us with the calm, absolute indifference of prey animals that had never encountered a predator.
I looked at the open exit gate.
I looked at the sword.
I thought about what it meant for the anvil to be warm from the inside and have a rhythm under the stone. The sword was embedded in the anvil. The System said pull the sword and go. The exit was already open.
If I pulled the sword, I left with the sword and whatever was under the anvil lost the thing pinning it down.
