Five days remained when Mossbank sold its second group of ridgeback permits.
Four days remained when Lessa Vorn reproduced the warming pattern on iron after Hammer added a stable compensation plate beneath the runic archive. The first result passed. The second did not. Lessa recorded both and refused to call the material test complete.
Three days remained when Deepvein opened twenty additional clearing contracts. The settlement hired its own clerks, expanded the visitors' yard with local stone, and raised the price of beds after every room filled.
Two days remained when a riding team completed the longest Dawnhoof trail without losing a mount or missing a checkpoint. The horses returned muddy. The riders returned worse.
One day remained when Max stopped looking for another way to prepare.
He had not run out of work.
