The Blood of Dawnwalker: Between the Words Walkthrough with Anca

After hauling the forbidden volumes out of the catacombs beneath St. Tyna’s Chapterhouse, Anca takes them back to the old inn at the Crossroads and asks Coen to help her read through them. Most of the writing is dense, cryptic Latin. The one page that matters is the one that looks empty.

Quick answer: Meet Anca inside the Crossroads Inn, start the book study, then pick up the blank volume titled Sancti Mihai Historia Vera from the table and hold a lit candle under its pages to burn the invisible ink into view.

Between the Words: Requirements and start location

The quest triggers on its own the moment Echoes of Silenced Bells wraps up, so there is no one to talk to and no marker to hunt down first. Fast travel or ride to the Crossroads Inn in the east of Vale Sangora, south-east of St. Tyna’s Grove, and go into the old inn building. Anca is inside with the books already spread out.

Detail	Value
Quest giver	Anca
Location	Crossroads Inn
Requirement	Complete Echoes of Silenced Bells
Fail state	None
Leads to	A Monk and a Saint, then Where Old Devils Lie

Note: the quest consumes time segments, so treat it as a planned trip rather than something to squeeze in between other errands.

Anca’s merchant wares at the Crossroads Inn

Before the reading starts, Anca will trade. She is worth visiting for her manuals in particular, since manual and recipe stock does not rotate the way weapons and armour do at other vendors. This is also a convenient place to dump junk for coin before you head back toward Svartrau City.

Type	Stock
Recipes	Minor Vitality Balm, Regenerative Salve, Mending Ointment
Witchcraft manuals	Evil Eye, Unholy Vitality, Unnatural Resilience, Soul Stigma, Aether Flow, Forbidden Sigils, Frugal Witchcraft, Lasting Malediction, Amalgam
Body and stamina manuals	Endless Effort, Vigour, Fleet of Foot, Burning Blood
Crafting and support manuals	Forager, Medicus I, Herbal Remedies I
Ingredients	Slippery Jack, Chanterelle, Bear Fur

Prices are not fixed. A high Infamy level pushes them up, and levelling the Bewitching Influence ability pulls them back down, so buying the expensive manuals after investing in that ability saves a meaningful amount of denarii.

How to study the forbidden books with Anca

Speak to Anca and choose the option to browse through the books. Coen sits down and the game runs a montage of him working through the Latin text, which advances the clock.

Interaction prompt to talk with Anca inside the Crossroads Inn — The prompt to talk with Anca, which opens both her shop and the book study. Image: Rebel Wolves

When the montage breaks and Anca says she is thirsty, walk to the pot on the table and brew a warm drink. This is an optional objective, but it costs nothing and opens up her conversation about the convent.

Inside the Crossroads Inn with the Between the Words objectives tracked on the HUD — The inn interior where the pot sits on the table, with the quest objectives tracked on the right. Image: Rebel Wolves

Hand the drink to Anca. She thanks Coen, talks through why she left the convent and what the sisters made of her reading habits, then sends him back to the pile of books.

Anca talking to Coen at the table after being handed the warm drink — Anca opens up about her time at the convent once Coen brings her the drink. Image: Rebel Wolves

How to reveal the invisible ink in Sancti Mihai Historia Vera

Inspect the books laid out on the table. Cycling through them turns up one odd volume, Sancti Mihai Historia Vera, whose pages are completely blank. Bring it to Anca when the objective updates.

Pick up the candle and hold it under the open pages. Keep it there rather than tapping the input once. Heat is what brings the writing out, and the text fades into view line by line while the flame is held in place.

You know it worked when the empty spread fills with script and Coen starts reading aloud. If nothing appears, the candle is not being held close enough or long enough over the page.

Anca telling Coen "See? I told you to be patient" after the hidden text appears — Anca reacts once the hidden writing surfaces on the blank pages. Image: Rebel Wolves

What the hidden text reveals about Saint Mihai’s sword

The concealed history rewrites the saint’s official story. Mihai was a pagan, not the dragon-slaying churchman the sanctioned accounts describe, and the creatures he cut down were vrakhiri. He did it with a magic sword built to kill monsters, and he was buried with it in Svartrau.

The book stops short of naming the grave. Anca’s read on it is that the one person likely to know is Albertus, a monk generally described as mad, who can be found in the Middens district. She also lets slip a little about how she feels toward Coen before sending him off.

Cinematic conversation in which Anca points Coen toward the monk Albertus — Anca names Albertus as the lead on where the sword was buried. Image: Rebel Wolves

Rewards and what unlocks next

Completion is confirmed by the quest banner for Between the Words closing out, with 34 XP and 1 Skill Point paid out on the summary screen. A Monk and a Saint opens immediately after, carrying the objective to look for Albertus in the Middens.

Anca’s own questline continues separately with Where Old Devils Lie, which she gives you back at the Crossroads Inn, followed by Stronger Than Achilles. The Middens is also home to one of the better Witchcraft Vendors in the game, stocked with Legendary and Epic recipes and a deep shelf of manuals, so the trip to find Albertus is worth combining with a shopping run.

Ways the quest ends without the sword lead

There are only a few outcomes, and two of them cost you the payoff.

Outcome	Result
Read the book through	You get the reference to the ancient monster-slaying sword and the lead on Albertus
Read it after already finding the sword	The reference still appears, but points at a weapon you own
Feed on Anca	Anca dies and the knowledge in the books is lost for good
Go after Brencis instead	The quest closes out unresolved

Anca has been teaching Coen to read between the lines since long before any of this, and the blank book is the whole lesson in miniature. Bring the candle, hold it steady, and the rest of the questline opens up.