XThe wind blowing off the plains whipped the tails of Adage's robes around. Reflected in the silvery walls of the Hub behind him, he resembled a black flame burning in the heart of the machine.
He pulled the robes more tightly around him. They needed higher walls around the machine, not just to keep the people in but to keep the damned wind out. When it blew from the north like this, it froze his ancient bones into rods of cold iron within his flesh.
His three silent companions didn't appear to feel it. Of course. Their home lay far to the north. Adage had never been to No, their distant city, but he'd heard much about it. Far beyond the plain, over unknown mountains. A place of permanent snow. A city built upon the ice of a frozen lake. Upon a frozen ocean, others said. Some even claime
