Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 186 of 619

Ajax gathered the crew at the gate after supper. The stable posts were up. The plow strip lay open along the stream. The walls held. He had one job left before winter set in, and it stood two valleys north. "The grove asked me to close the last seat," Ajax said. "I gave my word. We ride at first light." Grayson stood with his arms crossed. "Who goes." "You. Chalam. Marco. Asher. Elara stays. Tucker stays with Bran and holds the gate." Tucker leaned on the post. "I'd rather ride." "I know. The gate needs a name on it who can call the ward. That's you." Tucker nodded once and let it go. Chalam set his staff against the wall. "The seat sits in a hollow above a spring. No keeper this time. The grove said the woman there died last winter and no one took her place. The stone has been feeding on its own since." "Then it wakes soon," Ajax said. "Days. Maybe less." Marco spoke from the bench. "I'll listen ahead as we ride. If anyone waits at the seam, I'll know before we top the ridge." "Good." Ajax looked at Asher. "You ride second. Bow across your back." "Understood." Elara stepped forward. "Take the healing cloth. If the creature comes up before the salt takes, someone will bleed." Ajax took the folded cloth and tucked it into his belt. "How's your band." "Full." "Stay here with Tucker." She nodded. Ajax turned to Grayson. "Anything you want said before we roll out." "Say it in the yard," Grayson said. "Not at the gate." Ajax walked to the center of the yard. The crew followed. He faced them under the last light. "We closed five seats. One left. When it's done, no more roads for a while. We build here. We hold here. This is the ground." No one spoke. Bran stood with the chain bright at his chest. Rell watched from the stable line and kept his mouth shut. Cody's men leaned on their tools. "First light," Ajax said. "Pack tonight." He went to the arms shed and pulled his father's blade from the rack. He checked the edge in the lamplight. Clean. He slid it into the sheath and set it by his roll. Chalam brought a small pouch to the door. "Salt from the bone tube. Enough for one opening." "Flowers?" "Dried. Two handfuls. It's what the grove left me." "Then that's what we take." At dawn, five horses stood saddled in the yard. Ajax mounted. Grayson, Chalam, Marco, and Asher fell in behind him. Tucker opened the gate from the inside and named each rider as they crossed. The ward let them through clean. Ajax rode north into the pine country. The last seat waited two valleys ahead.