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shook her head.  “It could not have possibly fallen from another aerock.”
    “How do you know that?” Devan asked.  “Who knows how many aerocks float above Centara?”
    “I’ll grant you that,” Amara said.  “Yet, if it had fallen from the stars – which would generate the force and heat to melt the dirt into a glass – how did the body survive intact?”
    “Dare I say,” Conrick said, “that more experiments are in the future of the natural studies department?”
    “I’d suggest your assistants but they’re far too busy studying the Rose of Andon.”
    “At least my assistants look the part of the upper tier.”
    “Shallow worries, shallow minds.”
    “Takes one to know one.”
    “Oh, step off an edge,” Amara snapped.
    Conrick snorted.  He said, “There was mention of a family of longwings.”
    “It was a good omen,” Benton said.
    “Indeed,” Conrick replied.  “You did bring back the knight safely.”
    Devan crossed his arms at the tone of Conrick’s reply, as well as the shared glances between the professors.  There was nothing wrong with believing in the good fortune that longwings brought – no more than believing in the power of the three moons.
    “Well,” Conrick said, “I’m unable to identify the armour’s period or if it’s even related to any aerock that Centara has previous encountered.  I’ll have to get some students to take rubbings of the designs.  Perhaps some of the art students could reproduce the armour itself?”
    “A good idea,” Orval said.
    Jarrell, Romaine and Councillor Marwin approached the table.  “What of the weapons?  The journal?” Jarrell said.
    “Our metallurgy department could examine the sword,” Amara said.  “It would be destroyed in the process.”
    “Linguistics can look at the journal,” Conrick added.  “I think it will be the key to discovering the identity of this knight.”
    Marwin smoothed his silk robe.  “What of a public examination?”
    Orval and the professors met each other’s gazes.  The elder professor said, “I don’t see why not.  It would do much to assuage the gossip on the street.”  He turned to Devan and Benton.  “Thank you, rangers, for enlightening us.  It is much appreciated.”
    “Thank you, professors,” Benton said with a sharp nod.
    Devan followed his lead as Romaine gestured for them to follow her out of the laboratory.  The chatter of the professors, Jarrell and Councillor Marwin dulled as the doors closed.  Outside, a tall elm rustled in the wind, casting a broad shadow over the small courtyard in the middle of the physicker department.  Above, the moon Dwer loomed almost invisibly as its own azure depths melded into the shade of the sky.
    “Did they really need us?” Devan asked Romaine.
    “No,” Romaine replied.  “But professors are a strange lot.”
    “No doubt.”
    Romaine rested a hand on the hilt of her shortsword.  “Sorry to pull you two in, considering it’s your time off.”
    “It’s all right, Marshal,” Benton said.
    “Get out of here.  You’ve earned it.”
     
    Devan clambered up the final incline, grabbing onto a creeping weed for purchase.  Rika preferred the long route following the rough trail and Tayu, ever the gentleman, had accompanied her.  Devan preferred the challenge of cutting directly to the Ledge, as long as he didn’t look back down.  He heaved himself onto the plateau and breathed in the pristine air.
    Little more than foothills lay north of the city, with a handful of estates and hamlets dotting the woodland landscape.  Further east, however, the quarry and various mines lay out of sight of the current vista.  An hour’s hike separated the city from the edge of the aerock, making the Ledge a popular destination despite – or, Devan thought, perhaps because of – the neverending drop.
    As always, Devan approached the Ledge with care.  No one quite knew when the slab of rock had been embedded into the dirt – it had