Gnewt

Gnewt's Arc
Chapter 13 of 14

Gnewt's dream is coming to Strykers' aid and proving to the village she's the good and the elders are bad guys.

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by @MudbugI
Chapter 13 comic
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Chapter 13

Gnewt slithered toward the western dock, where Guidry was securing rope to his boat. The moon hung low over the water. Stryker would leave at dawn, and Gnewt needed to know if there was another way. She'd protected her daughter by hiding the truth, but now the village had forced Stryker out anyway. Guidry looked up as Gnewt approached. "Come to see her off?" he asked. Gnewt shook her head. "I came to ask about the blood oath," she said. "The one you sealed with Stryker." Guidry's expression shifted. He pulled a bone tablet from his pack, its surface carved with symbols and sealed with wax and moss. "This oath binds her to the village," he said. "She can't leave Serpent Village while it holds." Gnewt's scales went cold. The banishment made no sense unless someone had forgotten about the oath—or unless they wanted Stryker trapped at the boundary, unable to obey the order to leave. Gnewt moved closer to the tablet. "Can it be broken?" she asked. Guidry traced one of the carved symbols. "Only the one who sealed it can void it," he said. "That's me." He looked toward the old church at the village edge, its stone walls covered in moss and vines. "I kept the knife we used in there. Still has her blood on the blade." Gnewt understood immediately—Guidry held the power to free Stryker or keep her bound. The elders had banished her daughter knowing she couldn't leave, setting her up to be branded a defiant criminal when dawn came and she remained. Gnewt met Guidry's eyes. "Will you void it?" she asked. Guidry was silent for a long moment. Then he nodded. "I never wanted her trapped," he said. "I just wanted the route kept secret." He stood and walked toward the church. Gnewt followed, watching as he retrieved the blade from inside and carried it back to the dock. He drew the knife across the tablet's surface, cutting through the wax seal and splitting the bone. The symbols cracked and fell away. "She's free to go," Guidry said quietly. Gnewt coiled the broken pieces into her pouch. Her daughter could leave now—but that meant Gnewt had run out of reasons to keep her here, and out of time to tell her the truth.

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