Each of us carried a dark water canteen strapped to our pack. Coco had filled them that morning with the unhurried focus of someone who considered it entirely routine, holding each canteen steady while the water inside fell like dense oil. He had even hummed some improvised tunes while doing it.
The first target was the stretch between the third outpost and Argent's outer wall, one of the sections with the densest concentration of Corruptors on the entire route. The plan was to source silver from the ruins around the outpost and build a narrow corridor, low and quiet enough that the next group of exiles could walk through it without drawing attention. A plan that only worked because I could remove anything that noticed us before the build was finished.
