Aldric Thornwood's Arc

Chapter 5 of 9

Morning came gray through the trees. Aldric woke against the log with the cloth bundle still on his lap. The bleeding had stopped. The bound sleeve was stiff. Ephrat was already crouched beside him, watching the trail, knife across his knee. "Den's quiet," Ephrat said. "Then we go now." Aldric pushed at the log with his good hand. Pain flared under the bandage, but his legs took him. He stood. He held the cracked cane and found it would still bear weight if he kept it straight. He drew a breath and let it out slow. He had strength for this. Not much more. Enough for the walk to the shrine and back to sitting. "I can take the flower alone," Ephrat said. "No. I go too." Ephrat looked at him. He did not argue. He shouldered under Aldric's free arm and matched his pace. They passed the black stones one at a time. Aldric counted them to keep his feet moving. Past the last stone the path opened into a small clearing. The shrine stood at the far end. A stone statue of a hooded woman rose from a low base, one hand raised, a butterfly carved onto her palm. Her face was tilted toward the butterfly. She looked kind. Before the statue stood a long table draped in silver-white cloth. Bowls sat along it. Candles burned between them, though no one was there to have lit them. Aldric stopped at the edge of the clearing. His legs shook. He put the cracked cane down first, then took his arm off Ephrat's shoulder. "Give me the flower," he said. Ephrat unfolded the cloth and set the pale blue bloom in Aldric's hand. "Now go," Aldric said. "Place it on the table. In one of the empty bowls." "You want to watch." "I came three days to see the offering made. I'll see it made." Ephrat took the flower. He walked to the table. He chose the center bowl, empty and white, and set the bloom inside. He stepped back. Aldric watched from the edge. He kept his weight on the cane and did not sit. The candles did not flicker. The statue did not move. But the air in the clearing changed. It went still the way a room goes still when someone has entered it. Ephrat turned to come back. He stopped halfway. His head lifted. He was looking past Aldric, at the trail behind them. "Grandfather," he said. He never used the word. "Don't turn around." Aldric heard it then. A soft dragging step on the path. One foot, then a pause, then another. Coming slow. Coming from the direction of the den. The offering was placed. The hooded lady had not yet come. And the thing with one eye and one leg had followed them to the shrine.