Aldric Thornwood's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Aldric Thornwood knocked on the ninth door that day. He had come to the village to find one person who still believed in the old magic. Instead, wood slammed shut in his face. His grizzled beard dripped rain. His twisted staff felt heavier than it had in years. The land had forgotten the old ways, and now the old ways had a beggar's welcome. "Wizard," a woman spat through her window. "We don't feed madmen here." She pulled the shutters closed. Aldric lowered his hood and breathed slow. He needed an ally. Without one, he could not begin to wake the sleeping magic in this land. But every villager saw only a fool with a stick. A dog barked near the well. A compact brown hound stood in the mud, ears too big for its head, a bone tied to its collar. It did not bark at Aldric. It stared past him, then bolted toward the trees. Aldric followed. He had nothing left to lose but wet boots. The hound led him to a clearing. A portly boy in animal furs knelt over a ring of stones. Wild hair stuck out in every direction. A short sword hung at his hip. The boy was arranging herbs in a pattern Aldric knew by heart, a pattern no one in this village should remember. "You're doing it wrong," Aldric said. "The rowan goes east." The boy jumped up, hand on his sword. Then his eyes fixed on the twisted staff. His mouth fell open. "That's a spellwood staff. My grandfather told me about those." He stepped closer, careful, hungry. "He taught me the old ways before he died. Everyone here says it's nonsense." "Everyone here shut their doors on me," Aldric said. "They'd shut them on you forever," the boy said. "I'm Finn. Finn Wildbrook." He knelt again and moved the rowan east. The dog circled his feet. Aldric felt something loosen in his chest. Here was the ally he had walked all day to find. A believer. A student. Someone the old magic could still reach through. Then an arrow struck the ground between them. It stood quivering in the mud. A girl stepped from the trees, bow already drawn again. Blonde hair, leather clothes, red runes painted across her face. Her aim did not waver. "Finn," she said, "step away from the old man." "Astrid, wait," Finn said. "He knows the old ways. He's real." "That's the problem," Astrid said. Her eyes stayed on Aldric. "The village elder put a price on any wizard who comes near. Gold. Enough to feed us all winter." Her fingers held the string. "You brought a hunted man to my door, Finn." Aldric had found his ally. Now the girl who might kill him held both their lives on the end of an arrow.