According to Tomas, the families had been promised permanent protection over a large area of territory. The agreement had been witnessed and recorded, but later several powerful men had attempted to erase it. Cole listened in disbelief. He had always believed the land surrounding his cabin was simply empty wilderness. Tomas told him that was not true.
Someone had stolen the land through false records. And now, decades later, descendants of those men were searching for the original proof. Cole asked why his father's rifle carried the same symbol. Tomas did not answer immediately. Instead, he asked whether Cole's father had ever warned him about the cabin.
Cole remembered the strange rules his father had repeated when he was a child. Never sell the cabin, never destroy the old well, and never trust anyone who asks questions about the land. For the first time, those old warnings seemed connected. Before Cole could say anything, a distant light appeared on the ridge. Then another, then another.
Several riders were approaching. Saurin quickly closed his hand around the medallion. Tomas looked at Cole. They found us. Cole stepped toward the window and counted the riders.
There were at least six. The leader stopped his horse at a distance and shouted that Cole was protecting criminals. He demanded that the three strangers be handed over. Cole raised his rifle. He had no idea what secret these people were carrying, but he knew one thing.
He had already given them his last water. He was not going to hand them over now. The riders remained outside the cabin, their horses shifting nervously beneath the moonlight. The leader repeated his demand, ordering Cole to send the three strangers outside. He claimed they had stolen something valuable and warned Cole that protecting them would make him an enemy as well.
Cole did not lower his rifle. He asked what they had supposedly stolen. The leader refused to answer. That silence told Cole more than any explanation could have. Tomas quietly told Cole that the men were lying.
The three strangers had not stolen money or weapons. They had discovered evidence that could expose people who had controlled the surrounding land for generations. Cole looked at the medallion again. He asked Tomas what had opened. Tomas explained that the medallion was not a key in the ordinary sense.
It was a marker used by the families who had protected the original agreement. Each trusted family had been given one. Cole realized that his father must have possessed one as well. He searched the cabin while watched the windows. Inside an old wooden chest, he found several belongings that had belonged to his father.
Beneath an old blanket was a small leather notebook. Cole opened it. Most of the pages contained ordinary notes about cattle, weather, and repairs, but near the middle, several pages had been carefully removed. One remaining page contained only a rough drawing of the same symbol. Below it were three words.
Beneath the old well, Cole remembered his father's warning. Never destroy the old well. He looked outside. The well stood only a short distance from the cabin. The riders suddenly fired into the air.
The message was clear. They were running out of patience. Cole told Tomas that they had to leave through the back of the cabin. The group moved quickly. Ara grabbed a lantern while Saurin kept the medallion hidden beneath his shirt.