Chapter II The Sharpest Among Beasts   23th of the Deep Cold, 1537 The Lifeless Wetlands called The Mires, on The Isle of Ulmsbottom In solitude, Edgar de Saltpans treks through desolation in search of the man who could help him.     Howbeit, the obscure and tenebrous marsh he found himself in was not a place to come unguarded and weak-witted. There were no ghosts here. He had peered over his shoulder thrice now as he rode through the swamp, and