Captain Aldric Thornwood's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

After the cage was sealed, Aldric followed Matthew down the ridge toward the hollow he claimed to have scouted. Something in the younger man's pace was off. Too quick. Too eager to lead. The cave sat behind a wall of thick green bushes, leaves pressed tight against the stone. Aldric frowned. Dry brush like that, packed against a cave they meant to smoke out, would catch fire in a heartbeat. Matthew had not mentioned it. A captain should have. Aldric stepped sideways to study the ground. Crushed berries marked the dirt in a scattered line, red and blue smeared under small boot prints. The trail did not lead to the cave. It bent the other way, toward a low wooden hatch half buried in the slope. He walked to it. A heavy padlock hung from the iron loop, its shackle worn smooth by hands that opened it often. Not rusted shut. Used. Whatever sat below had been visited, and recently. "Captain." Matthew's voice came from behind him, steady as ever. "The cave is this way. We are losing light." Aldric did not turn at once. He looked at the lock, then at the berry trail, then at the man he had named his successor that very morning. He stepped back from the hatch and followed Matthew toward the bushes. He said nothing about the cellar. But he had seen it. And now he knew his successor was keeping a door closed against him.