‘At least we won’t have any trouble finding our way back.’ Isaac gestured behind them, and Alice looked over her shoulder. Another pedestal, twin to the one in the library, held an identical-looking book. It stood out amid the grass, the only feature for hundreds of yards in any direction.

‘All right,’ Alice said. ‘So do we just go up and knock on the front door?’

‘You’re the one who told me we should expect something nasty,’ Isaac said.

That was true. But there was something inexplicably cosy about the cottage. A big mound of firewood was stacked against one wall and an empty straw basket hung upside down beside the door. It had the look of a place where people lived, full of little repairs and small touches to make their lives easier.

‘I’m not sure,’ she said. ‘Maybe if we . . . explain?’

‘If there’s someone in there guarding the book, they’re not going to just give it up for the asking,’ Isaac said.

‘Let’s get a closer look,’ Alice said. ‘We can hide in those rocks.’

The moon was bright enough that it was easy to see their way up the switchback path, but they were both breathing hard by the time they got to the top. Alice was secretly pleased to see that Isaac seemed to be having a harder time than she was. They knelt behind a pile of loose stones, and while Isaac panted to get his breath back, Alice summoned a single swarmer and regarded it critically. Its dark hair would make it hard to detect, as long as it kept to the shadows, and she thought it would be able to approach the cottage unnoticed.

A moment later, the rickety front door opened, casting a merry rectangle of firelight across the silver grass. It was followed by a splash as someone emptied a pot into the dirt. Alice saw a figure outlined in the doorway – human-shaped, but even in that brief glimpse, recognizably not human – but after a moment it stepped away, leaving the entrance clear.

There’s no percentage in hanging about. Alice’s lip curled in a smile even as her heart gave a little lurch. She signalled Isaac to be quiet, then closed her eyes and slipped into the swarmer’s senses. It sped from their hiding place to the cottage door, then peeked round the door frame and looked inside.

The cottage consisted of a single large room. The stone walls were mostly covered with colourful cloths, and a patchwork of overlapping rugs on the floor that gave the whole place a warmer feel than the outside. A pair of wooden benches sat in front of a massive stone fireplace where a steady blaze crackled. Against one wall, looking somewhat out of place, was a heavy-looking chest bound with leather straps, like something a pirate would keep his treasure in.