Crimson's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

The raccoon doesn't leave. Three days pass with the creature watching from the chamber's edge, eyes tracking every strike of the hammer. Crimson works the vein, shaping new panels, but his attention drifts to the wall where the ore runs deepest. He builds a detector from scrap metal and a fragment of ore heated until it responds to nearby veins. The device pulls toward the wall when he holds it close. Crimson follows the signal, marking stone as he moves through the chamber. The vein branches. Not one path — three separate lines spreading outward beneath the forest floor. He needs to know where they surface before someone else finds them. The first location sits two miles north, where the ore breaks through cracked earth in a small clearing. Heat radiates from exposed crimson, visible even in daylight. Crimson forges a weathervane from chamber scraps, carving symbols into the metal that match the patterns his ancestors hid. He drives the marker into the ground beside the vein. A claim. The second site runs east, partially buried under roots. He places another weathervane there. The third branches west, closer to the forest edge where travelers might pass. He marks it before dusk. Back at the forge, the raccoon sits near the entrance, watching him return. Crimson sets the detector beside his tools. Three sites claimed, but now the forest holds markers that point directly to what he's protecting. Anyone who finds one weathervane will know to look for others. He's made the veins easier to track — for himself and for anyone who follows the symbols. The choice sits heavy. He returns to the anvil and begins working the ore into something sharper.