shadow's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Shadow had hunted his father for three days, and the trail was gone. He crouched in the wet leaves of Nova forest, red eyes scanning the dark between the trees. His father had killed and vanished, the way he always did. Shadow gripped a fallen branch until his knuckles whitened. He wanted his father dead. But you cannot strike at a man who leaves no tracks. The scar over his left eye ached in the cold, the old proof of what his father had done. He had no plan and no direction, only the empty forest and his rage. So he did the only thing left. He walked to the one person who might know something. The tavern sat at the forest's edge, its windows warm and gold. A carved dragon hung above the door. Shadow pushed inside and found Silvermoon behind the counter, sleeves rolled up, flour dusting his blue hair. Silvermoon looked up, and his freckled face broke into a smile that Shadow did not deserve. "You look terrible," Silvermoon said. He came around the counter and touched the scar without asking. Shadow let him. Around most people he flinched. Around Silvermoon, he did not. Shadow pulled a small spray of flowers from his hoodie. Blue petals, yellow centers, crushed a little from the walk. "For you," he said. "I'm sorry I keep leaving." Silvermoon took the forget-me-nots and held them to his chest. His eyes went bright. "You remembered these are my favorite." He set them in a cup by the ovens. Then he reached back and pressed a warm pastry into Shadow's hand. "Eat. You never eat when you're chasing him." Shadow ate. It was the first warm thing in his stomach in three days. He almost forgot why he came. "I need your help," he said finally. "I lost his trail. I don't know where he hides anymore." Silvermoon's smile faded. He wiped his hands slow on his apron. "A man came through last week," he said. "Old elf. With purple eyes. He asked the way to the old mill upriver. The one past the falls, where nobody goes." Shadow went still. "You're sure it was him." "He had a scar too," Silvermoon said quietly. "On the nose. I didn't want to tell you. I hoped you'd stay one night." He looked at the flowers, then at Shadow. "But you won't." Shadow set down the pastry. His hands shook, not from fear now but from purpose. He had a place. He had a direction. The empty forest had a name in it at last. "The mill past the falls," he repeated. Silvermoon nodded. He did not try to stop him. He only leaned in and kissed the scar. "Come back alive," he said. "Come back to me." Shadow pulled up his hood and stepped into the dark. His father had a hiding place. And now Shadow knew the road to it.