Dawn on Hearth Two did not arrive gently in Eira’s domain. It was announced by the groan of massive generators powering up and the shudder of conveyor belts resuming their endless cycles. Stollen and Lyra were already at the deep-core drill site, examining the problem with the critical eye of engineers. The drill was a colossal, intricate piece of machinery—to the Hearth Two workers it was a mountain of moving parts; to the giants it was the size of a large house, complex and wounded.Eira pulled up in her rugged vehicle, a fresh mug in hand. She didn’t bother with greetings. “The main rotary coupling. It’s fractured. Shear failure due to vibrational stress. It’s rated for ten thousand ton-spans.” She pointed a stylus at a schematic glowing on her slate. “You’re strong. You also probably caused the stress spike that broke it when you cleared the landslide. So. Fix it.”Stollen studied the schematic. “We’ll need a replacement. And a forge to shape it.”“We have both. You have until mid

Morning in Mudia's sanctuary arrived not with light, but with the slow dimming of the blue crystal filaments that lined the walls. The hum that had accompanied their sleep faded to a barely perceptible whisper. Stollen sat up first, his engineer's ear catching the shift.Mudia was already gone.They made their way outside. The mist had thinned slightly, revealing the settlement for the first time. Low, circular huts of dark stone and riveted metal clustered in a shallow valley. Chimneys released thin trails of smoke that mingled with the fog. People moved between the huts quickly, heads down, shoulders hunched. No one called out. No one paused. They flowed like water avoiding rocks.A subordinate approached them—a thin man with a patchy beard and eyes that refused to meet theirs. He carried a tray of dried fish, hard bread, and water, all scaled for the giants. He placed it on a flat stone and stepped back quickly."Elder Mudia is at the