Aldric Wandermere's Arc

Chapter 5 of 9

Mara studied the trees for a long time. "There's no clean trail to the witch," she said. "Every path she knows loops back to the camp. If we skirt wide, we meet the elk." Aldric weighed it. Bandits could be reasoned with. The spirit could not. "Then we go past the camp," he said. "Straight through." Mara's jaw tightened, but she nodded. They walked in with hands open. It didn't matter. Two men stepped from the shacks with blades up, and more circled behind. Aldric stopped by the fire pit. The pink-haired leader came last, antlers rising through her hair, curved like a stag's. She looked them over the way a merchant counts coins. "Your valuables," she said. "Now." Aldric didn't reach for his purse. "We're not passing through for loot. We're here about the curse in these woods." The word stopped her. Her men glanced at each other. One at the treeline flinched, then pretended he hadn't. "Say that again," she said, quieter now. "The curse," Aldric repeated. He kept his eyes off her antlers, but she saw him not looking. "We know it's real. We've seen the elk." "Kendra," one of her men muttered. She raised a hand and he went silent. "What do you know?" she asked. "I'm hunting the one who did this to me. I've asked money and rumor. Neither gives me a name." Aldric chose his words. "Not much. But we're going to someone who might. A witch, deeper in." Kendra's antlers seemed heavier as she thought. "Then I come too," she said. It wasn't a request. She sheathed her sword. "Show me the way, and your purse stays yours." Mara didn't argue. She led. Kendra walked between them, saying nothing, her men left behind at the fire. The three of them cut through brush for an hour before a crooked hut rose from the roots. Lanterns hung from its eaves in green and orange glass. Dried herbs swayed at the door. An old woman opened it before they knocked. She wore a purple hat with flowers wilting on the brim. Her eyes moved over each of them and settled last on Kendra's antlers. "Three of you," Agatha said. "Why are you at my door?" Aldric stepped forward. "A man hired me to bring his daughter home. Jane. She walked east on her own, past the camp, past the elk." He glanced at Kendra. "This one's cursed and wants to know who did it. And I can't reach anyone in these woods without help." Agatha studied him. "Jane," she said, as if the name meant something. She stepped back and held the door. "Come in. The tea's already warm." Aldric crossed the threshold. He had gotten past the camp, and he'd gained a cursed ally he never asked for. The witch knew Jane's name. Whatever came next, it started inside.