Chapter 15: What the Smoke Used to Be

"It was a person," Idra said. "Long before my time. A scholar who found the original gate in the Wall and passed through it alone, against all warnings. What came back was... most of him. The rest remained on the other side."

Cael's face had gone pale. "In Nether's Reach, we have a story about this. We call him the Divided Saint."

"And on this side," said Sera slowly, "what do you call him?" Idra looked at the smoke. "We call him the Reason." She folded her hands. "The reason the Wall was sealed. The reason no one may pass. The reason your cat has been circling it for centuries trying to find another way."