Marcel and I reached the outskirts of the valley, and then I got a full glimpse of why this place was called the Wilderness.
The land rolled forward like the dunes of a desert, except it wasn't sand. It was stone. Vast ridges of rock rose and fell in formations that had no business existing on solid ground, as if someone had frozen a desert mid-gust and replaced every grain of sand with grey rock, solidified dunes of stone instead of scattered rubble and flat earth.
Marcel glanced at me as my gaze swept across the expanse.
"I take it you've not been around the Wilderness much?"
I nodded.
"I haven't been around at all. My first time out here was trying to run away."
Marcel's eyes widened for a moment. Then the surprise settled into a smile.
"You're interesting. It's like I'm taking every single second to find that out."
He paused for a breath and added, "I'm sorry for the way Henry spoke to you."
I waved it off with an easy expression. Very forgiving person, me.
