Syn's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Syn stood and walked to the tree, ignoring the rust-colored cat that loomed over her. She studied the fresh gouges spelling Ratch. Her mother had never said what happened to him, only that he left before the charm could pass to him. Now his name sat carved into bark like a claim, like proof he'd been here recently enough for sap to still drip. Syn pressed her nose to the marks and caught a scent beneath the tree smell — iron and old magic, the kind her grandmother's crystal carried. She turned from the tree and followed the scent trail into the undergrowth. Ratch didn't follow. He stayed by the carved trunk, watching. The trail led to a structure half-buried in vines and moss, all iron frames and cracked glass panels that caught the early light. Inside, plants grew in twilight darkness despite the dawn outside, their leaves glowing faint blue like the charm used to. On the ground near the door sat a leather pouch, still warm. Syn pawed it open. Three crystal shards tumbled out, each one humming with the same frequency her dead charm had lost. She looked back toward the clearing where Ratch waited. He hadn't attacked. He'd shown her his name, then led her here by scent. The question shifted in her chest from why is he hunting me to what does he want me to understand. She took one crystal in her mouth and left the pouch where she found it. If this was an offering, she'd see what it could do before deciding whether to trust the giver. Syn pressed the new crystal against the charm. Heat spread through the metal, then light, blue and bright as it had been before dawn broke it. The charm pulsed once, twice, steady again. She looked up at Ratch through the glass structure's doorway. He dipped his head and turned back toward the forest. He could have taken the charm while it was dead. He could have carved his claim over hers. Instead he'd left her the tools to fix what broke. Syn didn't know why he'd walked away from the legacy or why he'd come back now, but she knew one thing: protecting the charm wasn't hers alone anymore. She'd have to decide whether that made her safer or put everything at risk.