Five Knots returned to Dread Fort with pry bars, rope, shuttered lanterns, and enough healing supplies for a real fight.
Their first attempt had shown them the burial grounds outside the western wall. Matthew's maps showed an intact chapel almost directly opposite them inside the fort. Min had heard a hollow space beneath the ruined chapel floor.
That did not prove the two buildings were connected.
It gave them something specific to test.
Tessa led the party away from the road as soon as they appeared on the pale hill. The fortress remained quiet in the distance. Patrols crossed its walls, the corpse wagon followed its familiar route, and cold lights burned behind narrow windows.
Five Knots reached the burial grounds without drawing attention.
The ruined chapel waited near the highest row of graves. Half its roof had fallen in, and pale grass grew between cracked floor tiles. Rows of weathered skulls had been carved around the doorway. A headless statue stood behind the altar.
