Lilith Blackwood's Arc

Chapter 2 of 21

By dawn the crates had grown into a small mountain in Lilith's yard. The magical creatures had kept their word. Rope, milk, salve, bandages, and blankets waited under the frost. But the fox was not alone now. A rabbit with a broken leg lay shivering beside it. A bird with a bent wing huddled in the straw. Her stable held two animals at most. The cold was already killing what she was trying to save. Lilith knelt and pressed a blanket around the rabbit. Its breath came in weak puffs. She had the supplies but no walls, no roof, no room. She could not build a sanctuary from nothing before nightfall. She needed a building, and the town would sell her none. Then she remembered the empty shop at the edge of Gorethroat. No one had used it in years. She pulled her cloak tight and walked to see it. The old apothecary leaned under a sagging roof. Vines crept through cracked windows. Faded jars still lined the dusty shelves inside. The faded sign hung crooked above the door. No one guarded it. No one wanted it. Lilith tried the handle. The door groaned open. Inside, dust rose in the grey light. But the walls were solid. The roof held. A wide counter ran along one side, long enough to lay a dozen animals. She pressed her palm to the wood and felt no draft. This place would keep the cold out. She worked all morning. She swept the floor and cleared the broken jars. She hauled her crates through the door, one after another. She spread blankets across the counter and along the floor. She carried the fox first, then the rabbit, then the trembling bird. She laid each one in the warm dim room and covered them. By afternoon the animals slept without shivering. The rabbit's breath came even now. The fox lifted its head and watched her move. Lilith stood in the middle of the room and looked at what she had made. Not a house. A shelter. The first true walls of her sanctuary. Then a shadow crossed the dusty window. A woman stood outside on the road, staring in. Her mouth pressed thin. She turned and walked fast toward the town. Lilith watched her go and understood. The apothecary belonged to no one, but the town would not let her keep it. They would come to see why the feared woman had claimed a building of their own. She latched the door and returned to her animals. She had shelter now. But by morning, the town would know exactly where to find her.