Elder Lux's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Elder Lux walked the edge of the gathering circle at dusk, counting the empty logs where the young ones should have been. He carried every story the commune had ever told, but stories needed ears. Tonight he would try something different. He would change how he told them. He dragged the old puppet stage from the back of the stone hall where it had sat for seasons. The wood was heavy, the carvings still sharp under his fingers. He set it in the center of the circle and lit two lanterns on either side. The red curtains caught the light and glowed. Tomorrow he would not just speak the histories. He would make the ancestors move and breathe behind that little frame. He would give the young ones something they could see.