The Man’s Decree – Chapter 6327

The northern mine sat at the far northern edge of the Fifteenth Firmament, buried inside a desolate vale. The darkness before dawn pressed over the entire vale. The stars had gone dim, and the moon was smothered behind a sheet of clouds.

The air carried a cold, damp bite. Frost spread across the ground, catching what little light there was and flashing silver-white.

Towering cliffs rose on both sides of the vale. They stood bare and stripped clean, not a blade of grass growing anywhere on them.

A gigantic pit had been carved into the valley floor. It stretched hundreds of yards across and hundreds of yards deep, like some enormous mouth thrown open at the sky.

The walls of the pit were riddled with mine tunnels. Each one was black clear through, the bottom nowhere in sight. Every so often, wind pushed out from inside, carrying the mixed stench of rot and dust. A screen of light had been set around the mine.