“I’m sorry,” Barclay told him.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. We spend our lives surrounded by Beasts and Lore, but Lore is still a mystery, isn’t it? We like to pretend, but truth is, we don’t have all the answers. A risk of the lifestyle, I suppose.” He sighed, stroking his crimson beard. “I won’t bother ya if ya want your space.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m just going to sit,” Barclay told him. He peered up at the full moon, wondering if it was bright enough to read. It might’ve been, if he squinted hard. Then it would be almost like ending his birthday at the library. But even in Dullshire, he’d rarely felt this miserable. His friends weren’t speaking. Half of them believed the worst of Runa, someone Barclay considered family. And worst of all, they might’ve gotten an innocent woman banished from her home.

While Barclay shrugged off his bag to grab his book, Ulick peered inside it curiously. “Ya got one of those river charms.”

“What do you mean?” Barclay asked.

“The conch shell—it comes from a Ciansnail, a Beast that lives in underwater rivers. Their shells are mighty tricky to find. The rivers and currents deposit them out toward Knunx. They’re real pretty, aren’t they?”

Barclay’s eyes widened. “Is that what the rushing sound is when I put it in the water? The underwater rivers?”

“Yep. They’re like deep-sea compasses. Put them in the ocean, and they’ll find ya a seafloor river. Put it in a river, and it’ll lead ya to the source. At least, that’s how the story goes.”

“The source? The people of Knunx claim it warns you if you’re approaching doom.”

Ulick chuckled. “I bet they do. Maybe that’s just the Elsie side to the story.”

That might’ve been true, and Barclay wouldn’t normally trust his Elsie instincts… but what if the reason that the people of Knunx thought the charms led toward doom was because they led to Lochmordra? The swirl symbol of the Isle of Roane even looked like the conch shell. And if the Lore Keepers found Lochmordra… maybe they could put a stop to this.

“I have to go,” Barclay said, then took off running back to Munsey.

EIGHTEEN

Barclay raced back to the Guild House and dragged Viola and Tadg out of earshot of the squabbling Guardians.

“I figured it out,” Barclay breathed. “I know how to get to the Isle of Roane.”

Viola nearly dropped the book she was reading. “You did? How?”

Careful to be discreet, Barclay opened the flap of his satchel and showed them the conch shell tucked inside.

Tadg scoffed. “That Elsie charm again? It doesn’t—”