Vix stood with one foot through the door. A large atrium, lit by smoking torches, lay beyond. A bizarre pattern of splotchy tan markings covered the floor, with a mess of blue trickling between them.

Vix stared at it, uncomprehending, for a moment. Then she realized what she was looking at. ‘It’s a map,’ she thought to herself.

Vix had never spared much time for maps, but she could tell what was displayed beneath her feet – continents and oceans, the landmasses of the ...