Elena Vasquez's Arc

Chapter 5 of 11

Elena didn't sleep. She sat outside the shack with the pack beside her, watching the lavender mist spread across the water. By the time the sun rose, it had reached the first fishing boats. She heard the crowd before she saw them. Voices carried across the square, low and angry. When she reached the well at the center of town, more than thirty people had gathered, some holding tools, others just standing with their arms crossed. A woman at the front pointed at Elena. "Another child is gone. The girl from the rope maker's family. She was drawing water at the well last night, and this morning we found her bucket lying on the stones." The woman's voice cracked. "Give them what they want. Give it back before they take more of us." Elena set the pack down and unwrapped the artifact. The skull glowed in the morning light, its surface carved with symbols that pulsed lavender and white. The crowd stepped back. Someone made a warding sign. Elena held it up so everyone could see. "This is what they came for. A cursed thing that belongs to no one here." She looked at each face in turn. "But if I give it to them now, what promise do we have they'll return what they took? What guarantee that they won't come back for more?" The crowd surged forward. Hands reached for the artifact. Elena pulled it back against her chest, feeling its heat through her shirt. "You want to hand it over? Fine. But you'll be the ones to do it. You'll be the ones to face them when they don't keep their word." She wrapped the skull again and pushed it toward the woman who'd spoken. The woman's hands trembled. She didn't take it. No one did. Elena picked up the pack and walked toward the river, her decision made. She would take it north as planned, but not to draw the figures away. She would find where they came from and make them return what they'd stolen, or she would throw the cursed thing into the deepest part of the river and let them search forever.