The Knowledge of Choice

Sadie watched Tenever trudge upstairs, spreading a collection of maps and notebooks across the dining table. Astarlane's grindstone faded into the background while she carried out the convoluted process of making a best guess at the next day's route.

Hazard almanacs spilled their wisdom in numbered charts and neat tables; scrawled notebooks carried jotted reminders of previous encounters. There were modern, printed maps for a few locations where they had been in the past, with clear and scientific analyses of lethal zones - but the Blasted Hills did not afford such certainty.

However, it was warmer than the Mined Mountains, easier than the Sirenways to the north, and a good deal quicker than going by Aldgate further still. The Blasted Hills were probably the most dangerous, though, and Sadie hoped it had not been a mistake to bring them here. She carefully double-checked the distance of tomorrow's march, then packed up and slumped on a chair next to Astarlane.

Maybe things would look better in the morning.