Ant's Arc

Chapter 6 of 12

The path curved between two low hills, and someone stepped out from behind a tree. They stood in the center of the path, arms crossed. Ant slowed but did not stop. The figure did not move aside. A crude camp sat just off the trail, barely hidden by brush. A worn bedroll lay beside a circle of stones. Tin cans were stacked near a blackened fire pit. The stranger had been here for days, maybe longer. They held up a single page, yellowed and torn at one edge. "I saw you," they said. "You had the book. The one with all the leaves." Ant recognized the page. It had fallen from the compendium when he closed it. The stranger's voice was flat, not angry or excited. Just certain. "Tell me the name you found. Then you can go." Ant looked past them. The path narrowed ahead between a mossy stone wall and the hillside. There was no way around. He could turn back, but that would mean walking toward the cabin again. He met the stranger's eyes. "There was no name," he said. "It was crossed out." The stranger's grip on the page tightened. "You're lying. Everyone who opens that book finds a name. That's how it works." Ant adjusted the leaf on his back. "Mine was erased. I don't know who did it or why. But it's gone." The stranger stared at him, then slowly lowered the page. Their shoulders sagged. "Erased," they repeated, quieter now. They stepped aside, still holding the page but no longer blocking the way. Ant walked past them without another word. Behind him, he heard the stranger sit down heavily near the fire pit. The page fluttered to the ground beside them. Ant kept walking. He had told the truth, and the truth had been enough. He did not look back.