Atsuki Nightwhisper's Arc

Chapter 5 of 17

Atsuki followed the black orchid at dawn. Aelindor had told him the family left the flowers where they gathered. He found one pressed under a stone at the edge of the woods. Then another, farther on. The trail climbed toward a ruined watchtower on the cliffs. Broken stone leaned against the sky. Weeds grew through the cracked steps. A family could vanish here for decades, and no one would climb to look. He reached the tower's base and stopped. Beside the dark doorway stood a stone deer. Moss covered its flank in faint yellow light. Someone had cleaned the grime from its face. Someone still lived here. Atsuki set his hand on the doorframe and drew a breath. He had knocked on a hundred doors. This was the last one. "Turn around, elf." The voice came from behind. Atsuki spun. A man stood on the broken steps, robes red and gold, a gold pendant hanging at his chest. A red scar cut across his brow. He had followed Atsuki's questions through the streets for days. He was the reason the doors had shut. "Father Matthias Crimson," the man said. "I keep the old oaths clean." He drew a sword. The blade shimmered with pale light, flecked like scattered stars. "You carry a broken thing. I bury broken things." "They're in there," Atsuki said. "Alive. You want them dead for an oath nobody swears anymore." "The oath was broken by blood. Blood closes it." Matthias climbed toward him. "Give me the pendant. Then leave. I may let the old ones die quiet." Atsuki backed to the doorway. He had no sword. His hand found a loose stone in the wall. Matthias lunged. Atsuki threw the stone and dove aside. The starlit blade rang off the doorframe. Sparks fell. Atsuki rolled into the dark of the tower and came up running up the inner stair. Matthias followed. Atsuki reached a broken window near the top. Wind pulled at him. Below, the cliff dropped to rocks. He turned. The priest filled the stair, sword raised. Then a hand pulled Atsuki back through a gap in the wall. An old woman held him. Behind her stood others, faces pale, watching. The hidden family. She pressed something cold into his palm. Half a silver pendant. It fit the jagged edge of his own. "Now he can't hide it from anyone," she said. "The mark is whole. Kill us and the whole town knows why." Matthias stopped in the doorway. He stared at the joined halves in Atsuki's hand. A witnessed oath, restored. Killing them now would prove the very truth he wanted buried. His grip tightened, then loosened. He lowered the blade. "This isn't finished," Matthias said. He turned and went down the stair. Atsuki looked at the pendant, whole at last. The family stood around him. He had found them. Now the priest knew exactly where they were.