The Stones Stay Silent

By Danny Ride

When a deadly plague sweeps the land, the priests of the Parents accuse those deemed to have incurred the gods' wrath. Leiander, unmarried and with interests unbecoming to the woman people consider him to be, flees for his life.

With the Ni

• Language: English
• Publisher: Danny Ride
• Release date: Apr 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9783982494913

Book preview

Part 1: Yarrowhill

Autumn in the Year of the Rose in the Cycle of the Rose of the 27th Circle

Chapter 1: Cleansing

A hoarse scream rebounded off the stone walls, and it took Lei several moments to realize it was his. Too late, he closed his mouth. He gagged, and new spasms of coughing jerked his body. Jolts of pain zapped his aching shoulders and his tied wrists. The heavy metal door slammed shut, and footfalls receded behind it.

The fire stopped crackling and hissing, but smoke from the new batch of chilis and rose stems scratched at Lei’s throat. At least he’d kept his eyes shut this time, though tears flowed freely through the itch and soreness. When he forgot to close them during stoking, the bright flame and acrid fumes brought on a spell of dizziness.

When guards had dragged him out of here and into his cell the previous night, nausea had overpowered him. The tiny room held only a handful of straw, and the crisp air of an autumn night came in through the narrow-barred windows, but he had retched and heaved long after they’d left him crumpled on the floor.

His knees hurt, pressed against the stone slabs, but even the tiny movements his chains allowed brought on more aches than they soothed. Every shallow breath felt like inhaling briars, burning all the way to his lungs. His stinging eyes never stopped watering. He had pleaded with his captors, but it had helped no more than his prayers to the Parents. The face of the red-robed priest who regularly threw chilis and roses into the fire was as cold and unyielding as the blue lith of the gods outside town.

His headache and dizziness made it hard to focus. Only his painful breaths and the stoking of the fire marked the passage of time. Shouldn’t someone have cleared up whatever misunderstanding had landed him here? Thoughts swirled in his head like a flock of startled birds, and he had trouble following a single thread to its conclusion. Eventually, the needling in his arms subsided into numbness. If exhaustion did not overpower him, their soreness would keep him up at night. They’d return him to his cell to sleep, wouldn’t they?

Some moments – or perhaps an eternity – later, the metal door creaked open. With a loud clang, a heavy iron bell dropped over the firepit to smother the flames. Heavy footfalls departed, but a voice nearby continued to murmur. Lei dared to take a deep breath and open his eyes.

The figure on the other side of the firepit had raised her left arm with the palm upward. Her right stretched down, palm parallel to the ground. Two oil lamps by the door framed the priestess’ head in a halo, while the ones behind Lei cast dancing shadows on her face, making it hard to determine her age.

Blinking away tears, he stared at the brooch fastening her scarlet sash to her robes – three red roses in full bloom. Yarrowhill did not have such high-ranking clergy, nor was her stern face familiar. With slight shock, Lei recognized her quiet prayer as the Orison of Cleansing.

When she finished, the priestess opened her eyes and studied him thoughtfully.

Are you Leia, daughter of Fent and Searah, apprenticed to Helennah?

No, thought Lei, but he nodded instead. His shoulders complained. I am, Venerable Aunt.

His voice sounded raspy and foreign. Maybe they had cleared up the confusion and he could go home? The priestess’s face looked like a rock upon which hopes were dashed. Perhaps she had news of his father, then. A dull ache seized him at the thought.

I am Venerable Aunt Vashda, dispatched by the Hearth from Granford to help the good people of Yarrowhill keep the Bleeding Boils at bay. It has been brought to the attention of the Church of the Parents that you have strayed from the Path of Righteousness, a deed for which your father has paid.

My… father? Lei croaked weakly.

"Your father, like all the others whom the Parents have seen fit to strike with the Boils, has been taken to the hospital of the Church. His fate is in the hands of the Parents. Your fate, however, for your part in bringing this plague down upon him and this town, is in the hands of a council of Venerables."

Lei’s breath hitched. Had her gaze flicked to his right arm, or had he imagined it? His vision was still blurry, and he blinked more tears away.

Your behavior has been reason for concern in the past, Leia, but your teachers dismissed it as whims, as young folks are wont to have. Now graver accusations have surfaced, and we cannot ignore them. Lei felt her every word like a punch to his guts.

Vashda crossed the cell in a couple of resolute strides, stopping behind him, by his shackled wrists. He drew a sharp breath when cold fingers unbuttoned his right sleeve, rolling it up. The movements were neither gentle nor particularly rough, but they set off hundreds of tiny pinpricks in his tired muscles.

There was a disapproving smacking of lips, and then her fingers traced the barely visible lines on his skin, nestled within the web of scars on his right forearm. Lei shivered. Staring at someone’s tattoos was rude, touching them an intimate gesture. To everyone except himself, his true tattoo was on his left arm, the mark of an herbalist. The symbol of a man that he had painfully etched more than two years ago into the skin of his right arm, the arm of the Father, was tantamount to blasphemy.

The priestess lowered his sleeve over the scars once more. She stepped away, lips pursed.

Who gave you that abomination of a tattoo? Do you seek to defy the gods?

Nobody! Lei burst out, his voice breaking on the edge of tears. I’ve had those scars for years, since I fell down a flight of stairs carrying jars.

Do not lie to me, girl! Vashda snapped, her tone icy. The last word stung, and Lei recoiled. "Your little… quirks are not child’s play! Those of you who stray from the Path have brought the plague down upon all of us. People are dying because of it. Because of you, girl! Do you understand?"

The nausea, his tortured throat, his sore muscles and aching knees – everything combined and crushed Lei with exhaustion. Venerable Vashda’s words fell like rocks, burying him underneath.

Yes, Venerable Aunt, he rasped.

His head throbbed. There was no misunderstanding. The guards had apprehended him to be Cleansed and likely punished. Vashda crossed her arms and tapped her lips with a finger. He shivered under her scrutiny, feeling the weight her scarlet robe and triple-rose brooch gave to her accusations. Drawing herself to her full height, she spoke with an air of finality.

"Your apprenticeship with Helennah ends now. She is a pious woman, but in her old age, she cannot shoulder the burden of training two apprentices while also offering guidance on the Path of Righteousness.

You will remain on the grounds of the hospital at all times, under the supervision of a guardian. I have been told you are a gifted herbalist, so you will be an asset to the hospital. Honest toil among those afflicted by the plague the likes of you have brought upon us should keep you focused on atonement. Cleansing will continue daily until your guardian considers your thoughts pure and your mind pious.

Lei stared at her in a daze as she carved away at his little world piece by piece, as if it were an apple.

"It is my understanding that you are in your fourth cycle. You should have married last summer, settled down – then there would be less time for troublemaking. If you are still among us at the end of the plague, the matter of your marriage shall take priority. If not, then the Parents will have cast their judgement upon you. You will not set foot in your father’s bakery henceforth, lest you should give in to temptation again to make a man’s work your own.

As for that… She gestured to his arm, frowned, then tapped her lips again. I have not encountered such a transgression before. You are stubborn, reckless, and misguided about the Path, but a herbalist is most useful with both arms. Perhaps a mere brand will suffice to erase that mark of defiance so the gaze of the Parents will never fall on it again. I will take this question to the Council. We should reach a conclusion tomorrow and deal with it right away. Then you may begin atonement in the hospital.

The Priestess paused, looking quite pleased with herself, and waited. Lei bowed his head and delivered the answer she expected.

Thank you, Venerable Aunt.

I will hear the Pledge to the Path from you.

Lei swallowed, then recited the text that had been drilled into him every morning at school, pausing to cough and draw in raspy breaths that did not soothe his parched throat.

This is the Path the Parents have laid down for us to walk upon so that we may…live fruitful lives in their…care. This is the Path the Parents have entrusted…to their Venerables so that they may guide us and see…that we do not stray. This is the Path that I shall walk…for the duration of my life upon Father Earth, under the gaze…of Mother Sky. May the blessings and mercy…of the Parents be upon us all.

Very well. Think on that before sleep and recite the Orison of Cleansing so you can return to the Path. May the Parents have mercy on you, girl.

The Priestess turned and banged on the metal door, then left in a rustle of her scarlet robes when it swung open.

A guard walked in and removed Lei’s shackles. A pained scream erupted from his lips. His arms fell like lead, reminding him tenfold of all the places he hurt. The guard pulled him up and he groaned, biting his lower lip to stop another scream. His knees were on fire, and he was not sure he could stand or move without keeling over. A second guard entered, and without uttering a word, they half walked, half dragged him to his cell. Lei sank to the floor on the pile of straw, curled up in a ball, and gave in to the soundless spasms shaking his body.

He cried until his tears ran dry. Silent sobs shook him until they were too much to ask of his tortured airways. The headache had subsided, but all his muscles ached. Thoughts chased each other around his head over and over like the drawings on a child’s spinning top, round and round and round.

Father has the Boils. I cannot go back to Auntie Helennah. I am not allowed in the bakery. They want to brand me. I am not allowed into the forest. They will force me to marry if I survive. Father has the Boils. I cannot go back to Auntie Helennah. I am not allowed in the bakery. They want to brand me.

Huddling up tighter kept neither the chilly air nor reality at bay. He pictured himself in his simple dark blue dress, curled on handfuls of straw in the middle of a cold, dark, stone-walled cell, a little like a pill bug after being poked with a stick. And what a stick they had used for him… The mental image made him snort.

I am not a bug, he mumbled into the empty cell. That gave him pause, and he tried to focus on a new train of thought. A bug would not be held by stone walls and iron doors – it would crawl out of the cell and be on its merry way.

Also… why was the cell so empty?

Kevv? He held his breath, listening. Kevv’ach, are you there?

He kept his voice low, but the only sound was the drumming of his heart against his ribs. He had grown so used to the Night Demon’s presence that he took it for granted. Slowly, he willed himself into an upright position. Two small windows high in the wall dripped twin pale orange squares of light onto the floor, crisscrossed with the shadows of bars. It was barely enough light to make out shapes. Lei leaned his back against the outside wall and let his eyes adjust to the darkness.

Kevv’ach? he whispered a little more urgently.

Squinting, he looked for the swirling black smoke. Why was Kevv not here? Was he feeding somewhere else? Lei had not had many dreams to nourish him the past few nights. Not much sleep at all, in fact.

And that other thought, of bugs crawling out of places they did not like… Lei definitely did not like this place. Unfortunately, he was not the size of a bug and could not crawl out, but maybe there was some other way.

If he stood on tiptoe, he could peek outside, into an inner courtyard he knew well. It was not meant to hold prisoners. He was in the old school building next to the church. A new wing had opened during his first education cycle. The old one had been converted into accommodations for pilgrims during the Year of Lavender, and it served as storage for the school and the church when not otherwise needed. And now, it was an improvised dungeon for the priestess from Granford.

He studied the bars on the windows – a new addition. The metal was shiny, no sign of rust or wear. He pulled at them, bracing a leg against the wall, but they did not budge.

Lei ignored the bare walls and closed the short distance to the door. A lighter patch on the wall showed where a bolt had been removed. Lei remembered the sturdy metal latches on the outside, secured with a padlock. He pressed his ear to the thick wood, but the only sound he heard was the blood pounding in his ears. Careful not to make noise, he tried pulling and pushing. Of course the guards had not forgotten the padlock. It gave the door almost no leeway.

With a sigh, Lei lowered himself again to the straw. How else could he get out? He had no hope of overpowering or outrunning the guards. If he wanted to get away before Venerable Aunt Vashda made good on her threats, he needed to sneak out, and he needed to do it before daybreak.

Kevv? Please, I need you.

Chapter 2: Escape

He nearly missed the faint rustling, like two sheets of paper sliding against each other. Black smoke swirled in the middle of the cell, nearly invisible. It took forever to pour itself into the almost-human form of the Night Demon.

Good evening, Leiander.

Lei sagged with relief against the wall. He was only a tiny bit ashamed of how his pleading voice had trembled. I wasn’t sure you would come.

Kevv’ach surveyed the cell, then crouched in front of him. I do not like this place.

Lei snorted. Tell me about it.

Well, it is cold and damp, and there are–

It’s a figure of speech.

Ah.

It means I do not like this place either. I need to get out. Tonight, before they punish me for having brought down the Bleeding Boils upon Yarrowhill.

But you did no such thing.

I don’t know, Kevv. Lei hugged his knees. I do not want to wear blue dresses, or dresses of any kind. Or marry. Or never be allowed to knead dough again. I also do not want to be one of those responsible for the Boils. But if my actions angered the Parents, as the priestess said…

The disease has nothing to do with the clothes you wear, the pies you bake, or the scar you gave yourself, nor with those you worship. The Night Demon looked around the room again, as if there were something to see. How do you plan to leave?

The bars at the window are solid. I cannot transform into a bird to fly away or drink a strength potion to break them. Nor do I have any idea how to pick a lock or wrestle a key from a guard. As he spoke, a claw of despair and defeat crushed his windpipe. I… I thought this was all a mistake, but it wasn’t. They mean to make me atone, and I… I just cannot be the repentant Leia they expect. I can’t!

A wail rose from another cell. Sleepy voices grumbled, a fist hit wood, and someone in the room next to Lei’s protested their innocence. Where Kevv’ach had stood, a blur of smoke rose through the air and swirled into nothingness. The door slammed open a mere moment after Lei curled up on his pile of hay.

What’s with the chatter? asked the guard. Another one repeated the question a room over.

I… I don’t know. I was sleeping and–

Keep it down, or you’ll be smoked like sausages next, tied over the fire!

A key turned, and the heavy bolt clanked against the door as the guard slid it into place and shuffled away, still muttering, to the next cell. By and by, the noise died down, and Lei’s hammering heartbeat returned to normal. Kevv’ach slowly coalesced again.

People here are frightened, he whispered.

So am I, Kevv. It was the same two guards who brought me to my cell earlier. They might be tired and inattentive, but what use is that if we’re all locked up here and they have the… Lei trailed off and watched his friend, pondering. The occasions when he was not half see-through were rare, but not unheard of. "Kevv… would you be able to steal the key and unlock the door?"

Straddling the worlds like that… tiring, but it might work. I shall wait until they are asleep.

The human-shaped smoke swirls faded from view. Time crept by painfully slowly with nothing but heartbeats to measure it. Lei’s thoughts circled like fruit flies around Venerable Aunt Vashda’s words. More than once, he wrestled with his doubts. Venerables had started writing about the Path upon the Departure of the Parents, when people had begun counting the years, to preserve their teachings. They had amended it with their wisdom over the cycles. Lei saw nothing wrong with what he had done, but if a three-rose priestess found fault with it, who was he to claim innocence?

They are asleep.

Kevv’s whisper interrupted Lei’s musings. Barely visible smoke coiled and slid under and through the door. Lei listened intently, murmuring something akin to prayer, trying to will his hope into reality. In the silence of the night, the turning of a key in the lock sounded impossibly loud, echoing in his chest. His heart made a frantic attempt to escape his rib cage. The door swung inward enough to let him pass.

Lei slid out into the dark corridor and paused to let his eyes adjust. The door closed quietly behind him. He could not make out Kevv yet. Faint torchlight passed through a crack at one end of the corridor, but barely gave him a sense of direction.

Can we help the others? he whispered.

Only if you want to get caught. Lock your door and take the key.

Lei’s heart went out to his fellow prisoners, who were likely as innocent as he was, but he had to admit Kevv was right. He could not spare the time, and the noise would likely alert the guards. Feeling for the lock, he turned the key as quietly as he could, then tiptoed toward the end of the corridor, fingers light upon the wall for guidance.

The darkness blocking out the torchlight save for the narrow slit resolved into a heavy curtain. Soft breathing and an occasional snore came from the other side.

Go.

Putting his trust in Kevv’ach, Lei inched past the curtain. He blinked against the light coming from a single torch in a sconce and froze in place. One of the guards slept on a narrow bed, facing the wall. The other sat with folded arms in a chair, his head lolling to one side. He was the snoring one, mouth slightly agape. If either of them woke up…

A smoke tendril waved frantically in front of Lei’s face. Following it, he edged along the wall, keeping an eye on the seated guard, watching his chest rise and fall. He passed so close to the man, he could have reached out and touched his shoulder. He held his breath until he was at the door, then paused. This would make or break him. Lei took a deep breath and pushed gently, bracing himself. It opened a crack. No one stirred. Just a bit more. He pushed again and froze at the first sound of a creak.

A loud snore and another creak came from behind him, and panic rooted Lei in place. He turned to find that the sleeping guard had rolled over in his bed. With a sigh of relief, he squeezed outside.

Key.

The upturned palm at the end of a smoke arm closed around the key and retreated behind the door. Lei closed it with infinite care. His legs felt like jelly and his whole body shook, but he forced himself to take in his surroundings. An overhang sheltered a walkway along the buildings. A couple of pillars held sconces with torches, the source of the pale orange light in Lei’s cell, but the courtyard itself and the buildings enclosing it were dark.

Go.

Kevv’ach’s whispered instruction made Lei peek out carefully. To his left, a steeple was silhouetted against the sky. The building on the right housed clergy and clerks, and its archway was how supply carts came in. Lei slunk toward it, keeping to the flickering shadows. Not for the first time, he wished he too could turn into smoke.

Wait, Kevv’ach instructed from the shadowed archway. The large wooden gates were shut, and a heavy metal bolt in place, but a narrow door was carved into one side. Smoke wisped through its cracks and Lei crouched in the shadow.

Hey, you! Stop right there!

Lei flinched. The shout had come from beyond the gate. He huddled even closer to the wall, shivering in his blue dress. In the name of the Parents, I bid you stop!

The commotion was followed by the sound of departing heavy boots. Moments later, the narrow door cracked open and a see-through arm gestured at him. Lei scampered out and closed the door behind him.

To the right.

Sweat beaded on his brow despite the chill. He slid along the wall, heart hammering. He had barely rounded the corner when the grumbling guards returned to their posts.

We should report this in the morning. Probably a kid’s prank… as if this is the time for that.

Aye, someone should catch those rascals and tan their hides.

Or smoke their brains out, like they do to those inside – that’ll teach ‘em manners.

Their tone and chuckles made Lei sick to his stomach.

A shiver ran through his hand, and the hair on his arms stood up as a smoke tendril touched him. He nodded and followed. The Night Demon had lost all shape, a sign of his fatigue.

Thanks for keeping those guards asleep. I wouldn’t have made it out otherwise.

I did not. Cannot.

Lei’s legs gave out and he braced himself against a wall. He had thought the Night Demon had somehow ensured the guards would not wake up. If he had not, they could have woken at any time to find one of their prisoners in their room, holding their key.

He pressed his forehead to the cool wall of the house until the spell of dizziness passed, then dragged his feet forward. His heartbeat did not settle into a normal rhythm until he reached narrower, darker streets. Recognizing where they were headed, he stopped.

Kevv! Where are we going?

Kevv’ach retreated to the shadow of a shop entrance and Lei followed.

Home. Pack. Flee.

My parents…

His voice trailed off. Few people survived the Bleeding Boils. If he left, his mother would likely lose her husband and her child in the span of a few days. Still, what choice did he have? The bakery was the first place the guards would search for him. He’d be forced to live the rest of his life as Leia, but without the moments of joy – his studies with Helennah, the quiet hours of solitude in the forest, the aroma of freshly baked pies, and the stolen morning hours kneading dough alongside his father. Under the clergy’s watchful eyes, he could not brew his concoction to stop bleeding or steal away to put on the bandages that made him feel a bit more like himself. He had never been Leia, but his little transgressions made it a bit more bearable. He could not pretend to be her without the relief they brought.

I have to leave this place.

As soon as the words left his lips, barely exhaled, he realized their crushing truth. In all ways imaginable, his life in Yarrowhill had come to an end. He peeled himself from the doorway and set one foot in front of the other. He headed toward his father’s bakery, keeping to dark, narrow streets whenever possible.

The display shelves in the windows were empty, the rest of the house dark. A last glance around revealed only an empty street. He heaved and tilted one of the large potted shrubs next to the bakery’s door. A smoke tendril curled underneath it and brought forth a key. Lei quickly let himself in, grateful that his father had never hung bells above the door. In a bakery, they would have jingled all day long.

Lei moved confidently around in the darkness, past the display and the till and into the back room, each step familiar. A large oven dominated the outer wall, and a well-polished wooden work counter lined another one. The smell of bread and pastry lingered in the air, even though the oven had been cold for several days.

He ducked through a narrow door and into a small storage chamber and felt around on the shelves for candles. In the feeble light of one, he saw his father’s work clothes hanging from a hook by the door and swallowed hard.

His own trousers, shirt, and apron lay folded on a shelf next to his small leather pouch, and hidden between them, precious strips of fabric. He bound them around his chest, then pulled on the clothes he usually wore while learning the art of baking away from prying eyes. His hair went up in a twisted knot, out of his way. He snatched one of the small empty flour sacks for special orders, a good size to serve as a travel satchel. In it went a change of clothes and his cloak, rope, a small knife, flint and a tinderbox, and half a dozen candles.

Lei found some dry flatbreads, wrapped them in a piece of cloth, and added them to the bundle. He emptied the little tin can he used to store the coppers his father sometimes slipped him to spend at the market, transferring the few coins to his leather pouch. It still held some dried herbs and the notes from his last foray in the woods, and he stuffed it all into the satchel before tying its strings.

By the door, he hesitated. He could slip upstairs and say goodbye. Explain. Apologize. Offer what little comfort he could.

Leave. Now.

A hiss from Kevv’ach brought him to his senses. He scribbled a note to his mother. I can’t stay in Yarrowhill. I am sorry, Mother, for everything. I love you. Leaving it on the counter, he blew out his candle and slipped out the door. When he’d tucked the key safely underneath the potted plant, he shouldered his satchel and wound his way through deserted streets, listening for any signs of alarm.

He wanted nothing more than a clean bed and a soft pillow, to wake up and find the last few days had been nothing but a bad dream. However, he had only a couple of hours before the early risers took to the streets and the priests woke for sunrise prayers. A couple of hours to put as much distance as possible between himself and Yarrowhill – and life as he knew it.

A town gate was close. Beyond it, the road snaked upstream along the Soltrun to the small mining town of Pinebrook. Lei headed in the opposite direction. Carefully kept stone and brick houses gave way to wooden shacks, though he barely saw their outlines in the moonlight. No grates or slabs covered the gutters, and their less-than-pleasant odors mixed in the chill morning air. Following Kevv’ach’s cue, he ducked into alleys a couple of times, avoiding any encounters before he reached the town wall.

It was barely worth the name there, serving to keep wild animals out more than anything. Lei scaled a crumbled section and hurried uphill, a familiar shortcut to the forest’s edge.

Pausing to catch his breath, he turned toward the town sprawling at his feet. Yarrowhill was blue and cold in the pale moonlight, its rooftops a jumble of slopes and dark edges with the tall spire of the church dominating the view. Torches in the main squares were pinpricks of yellow.

To his left, he could barely make out the shimmer of the Soltrun. To the right rose the Tower of Silence, the town’s funeral crag top. Another gate opened toward it, through which corpse wagons passed so often lately to wind their way up the rocky path.

Beyond the town stretched only darkness that hid the yarrow fields from which it took its name. In summer, they offered a breathtaking view at sunset, when the gentle light of dusk turned them into rolling waves of liquid gold.

Lei tore his eyes from the view with a sigh and forced his weary limbs to move. The Night Demon was mere wisps floating nearby.

Kevv… how long can you stay?

I do not know, came the answering rustle. I have only ever come as far as the forest with you, and this night has sapped my strength.

I must walk a lot farther than I go for herbs.

Lei’s heart, which had barely calmed down after the escape and the climb, started racing. The Night Demon had accompanied him to the forest many times over the past couple of years when herbs needed to be picked at night. The first time had been upon Lei’s request, and he had been surprised his anchoring to the lith had allowed him so much leeway – he usually stayed much closer to the blue rock that was his prison.

Go.

But what if you cannot follow? You never found out how far you can roam! Lei looked around, as if the stones or trees held answers for him. Maybe if I reach a hamlet on the other side of town, closer to your anchor, I could hide there until this madness dies down…

A swarm of yellow dots swirled around the church in the middle of town. Fear rooted Lei to the spot as he watched them spread through the streets in small groups.

Go.

Tears stung Lei’s eyes as he rummaged in his satchel, and when he stepped into the trees holding a lit candle, his hand trembled.

Thank you. For everything, he whispered into the night, heading off the beaten path.

He stumbled and fell, scraping knees and elbows, but pushed on, feeling his way around the dark shapes of roots and boulders in the dim light of the candle. He needed to put distance between himself and the town. Many dragged steps later, there came a faint reply.

You are welcome, Leiander. Stay safe.

Chapter 3: Answers

Lei moved as if there were slabs of stone tied to his ankles. His candle had burned out, but he dragged himself along by the faint light now creeping through the trees. His chosen direction kept him far from any beaten trails, through where the forest was thickest. At least weariness held at bay the other thoughts that circled him like vultures around the Tower of Silence.

Grabbing at a root, Lei pulled himself up a rocky outcrop and paused to catch his breath and get his bearings. The mist rising above the valley of Soltrun shimmered milky in the pale dawn of a glorious autumn day. Under different circumstances, he would have basked in the beauty of the moment. Now, with every pained movement, he wondered if he had traveled far enough to rest. He had rejected the atonement Venerable Vashda had offered. Defying the gods. It made him liable for a harsher punishment, but was he important enough for the guards to pursue him?

A couple hundred paces later, he stumbled again. He needed sleep. Hoping the distance from roads and trails was protection enough, he crawled into a sheltered nook where a fallen tree had come to rest on a boulder and curled up with his satchel for a pillow.

***

He woke up to sunlight filtering through branches, hungry and with a dull ache all through his body. He blinked the sleep and momentary confusion from his eyes and crawled out from his hiding place.

Mudballs! he hissed in pain when something snagged at his hair.

He untangled himself and stretched his sore limbs to an echo of past agony. Pushing the memories away, he shook dirt and twigs from his clothes and retied his hair in a tight knot. The previous night’s urgency took hold of him again. He ate half a flatbread while picking his way through the trees, farther from Yarrowhill with every step. At this time of year, the forest would provide when the flatbreads ran out, but he could not hide out here forever. He needed a plan.

Lei was mulling over his options when he came across a boon from Father Earth – a hazel tree. He gathered a couple handfuls of nuts and found a bough to use as walking stick. Late in the afternoon, he spotted a tall tree, a sentinel broadleaf in ever-denser evergreen growth. It proved harder to climb than the walnut tree in Helennah’s back garden, but he pulled himself up to where the canopy thinned.

He had climbed a southern slope. Far to the east, the valley of Soltrun snaked deeper into the Salt Mountains. During hot summers, the river was shallow and muddy, barely allowing the rafts from Pinebrook to travel downstream. In rainy seasons, temporary affluents swelled it, sometimes carving deep ridges into the hillsides. From Yarrowhill, it took about three days to reach Pinebrook, and then about five more until Salcott, an isolated mining outpost. That was the road along which merchants and news traveled, the direction Lei wanted to avoid. His chosen path took him northwest instead, crossing the wilderness for several more days.

The light was turning red and golden when he reached a rivulet. After drinking his fill, he sat down to finish his flatbread. He probed gently at the thoughts he had avoided, as if poking a bruise to see how much it still hurt. He did not know how to bear the burden of being alone. A plan had started to form in his mind, but he needed to talk to Kevv’ach.

The Night Demon never spoke of his distant past – partially out of reluctance, partially due to eroded memories. The Parents’ magic tied him to the lith outside Yarrowhill. He had struggled against the tether for countless cycles to no avail, until he resigned himself to his boundaries without testing them anymore. Worry gnawed at Lei that Kevv’ach would not be able to travel to find him after the previous night’s exhaustion.

As dusk fell, he made use of the remaining light to find shelter. Once again, the Parents smiled upon him. Close to a little stream, he discovered an old pine with an inviting hollow between its roots. He loosened his bandages and snuggled in, wrapped in his cloak. He nibbled at a flatbread and murmured heartfelt thanks to the Parents for their protection so far.

Good evening, Leiander.

Mudballs, Kevv! You gave me a scare.

I am sorry. I have been here a while, but you were silent.

I did not see you!

A rumbling chuckle came from the smoky shape.

Yes. That, and you were miles away in your mind.

A joke from you! Lei gasped. That’s rare! But I am so glad to see you. How… how are you feeling?

The smoke wisps coiled and uncoiled restlessly.

I am… fine. I barely feel the tug from the stone. Although I am still weak, I found you easily. I expected more resistance.

Kevv shifted, and the smoke morphed into a transparent human figure sitting cross-legged. Lei smiled. He appreciated the effort for his benefit. When the Night Demon was too drained to take human form, Lei found it a bit unsettling to talk to a disembodied voice.

You were deep in thought, Leiander. Do you want to share?

Lei picked up a stick and poked at the dirt.

I… I cannot go back. The words hung heavy between them with an air of finality. Small-town folks like to know the people who settle near them, and watch their comings and goings. I think a big city, where I can be just another face in the crowd, is safer for me. There must be all sorts of people in cities; no one would pay any heed to yet another traveler, I hope.

Do you know of such a place?

I have heard of them from merchants and puppeteers and traveling scholars. Yarrowhill lies between us and Twinbridge now, so that is out of the question. I would have liked to see Granford. Its buildings are made of red stone from the Rust Mountains, and grain fields and orchards surround it as far as the eye can see. A red city amid golden fields – it must be quite a sight.

Is that where you are headed?

Lei shook his head.

The Hearth there sent us the priestess who judged me. If there are more like her in Granford, it’s not safe. There is another city north of here, Deeplake. People say it lies on the shores of a lake so large you cannot see the other side.

You are going there as yourself, then?

Lei nodded, tracing lines and swirls in the dirt, but didn’t answer.

What will you do in the lake city?

I don’t know. Find a place to live and work.

A bakery?

Maybe. Lei smiled. More likely somewhere I can be a server or porter, I guess. For now, I want to be a safe distance from Yarrowhill and out of the wilderness by the first frost. No one ever writes about this part in adventure books – how to know where to go and what to do. I keep trying to make a plan, but all I can picture is being lost and alone in a foreign place.

You are not alone, though.

Will you be able to follow, Kevv? You say you don’t feel the pull of the lith so strongly. But what about tomorrow, and the night after, and all the ones that follow? Deeplake is many days away still… how far will you come? The words tumbled out of his mouth, his heart hammering to their rhythm. "Do you even want to come with me?" He swallowed back a sob.

Kevv crouched beside him, and a cool whirl of smoke ghosted over Lei’s tear-streaked cheek.

"I will not leave you,