One of the men looked carefully into the center of the ancient cemetery. There, among the shriveled tombstones, two open marble sarcophagi floated in the mist in the middle of the burials. One carved lid, with a knight depicted on it, had fallen apart and was in three pieces. The other was too sturdy and lay there, beneath the marble bed. Two sarcophagi, two hollow coffins for the number of guests.

…

Taking another step, I brushed the dewdrops off the last blades of grass and stepped onto the white steps. As I walked up the rough surface of the steps, I touched the wet marble of the side wall of the crypt with my hand. It was as smooth as if it had been polished yesterday, the damp drizzle gathering right on it and flowing down a small stream in a chute. My companion took his time, looking around, he picked his way among the ruined tombstones. "I think it's the right decision to go around along this whole long white wall. The marble seems to have flecks of jade," I looked closely at the stone. Ahead, two rows of columns again emerged from the fog. Finally, my companion caught up with me, and we moved forward without making any noise.

Titan Jodcheim was nearing sunset. Even though I'd ordered a wake-up call in the morning, none of the locals dared to get me up at the crack of dawn. Especially after my "greeting the guards," they didn't want to get a crossbow bolt or worse in their foreheads. Having slept well among the lettuce leaves, I gladly sent one of the leaves wilted on my sweat into my mouth, "Mmmm..... That's a flavor I'll never forget." Afterward was a conversation with the deputy Elder, the young man who had balked in front of me yesterday. He clenched and unclenched his hands, feeling a kind of insecurity while talking to me. I looked at his shattered fists, "Did he really fight with his twin over gold in the middle of nowhere like this?" The deputy told me that the head of the settlement was sick from all yesterday's worries and asked him to choose a guide for me.

Borna, my guide, followed suit as I froze near the crypt. The woodcutter's ragged and anxious breathing turned to vapor with each exhalation. His stick was slipping from his sweaty hands, and he gripped it tighter. Borna fumbled himself so hard, that when I turned to him, I made him flinch.

"Why don't you go back, there's not much going on inside?" I glanced at him obliquely, leaving the first pair of columns behind and keeping my eyes on the passageway. He looked as if I'd invented speech for him again. And it poured out of him like a full-blown river.

"No, no, my lord! Have mercy! I don't walk in the woods alone! I'll be eaten, I'll be calmer with you at least," the man wailed, taking away the trembling in his knees. "If he continues to tense himself up like this, then our business will definitely not end well," I thought. "We've got to distract him somehow."

"Do you have the relic?" I tossed the question casually over my shoulder, treading carefully on the marble slabs, which were surprisingly tightly fitted together.

"Yes, yes, she's here." Borna dropped his hand to the bundle lying on top of his shoulder bag.

"Try to keep up," I whispered to him as I ducked closer and closer. "One more thing. Light a fire. You have a torch with you, I hope?"

"Yes, yes, here, wait, wait, I'll light it," Borna paused to get what he needed from his bag, and I stood waiting. With two flicks of a flint, my guide lit some caustic cloth with shaking hands. Then he stood up and grasped his club with his other hand, and then he smiled.