Halfstone: A Tale of the Narathlands Read Free Page A

Below them, wide eyes hid behind tufts of
black hair. Their orange flare had faded and they were now a vacant grey. It
smelt foul—like an aged, damp dog, only twice as potent.
    After some time Kaal broke their silence. “It’s… big,” he
murmured.
    Aldrick nodded, not taking his eyes off it.
    Throughout their lives, he and Kaal had done much together. They
were very close. But surviving the ka-zchen was something Aldrick had achieved
on his own. Although his mind was unspoken, Aldrick knew Kaal was impressed by
this. He in turn was quietly thankful. This moment they shared together now,
awestruck by the deathly sight before them.
    There was more than the appearance of the ka-zchen on Aldrick’s
mind, however. He wanted answers to lingering questions—who had sent it and
why? Braem and Phelvara had acted oddly last night, blindly refusing to offer
any insight beyond the magical nature of the brand… the brand! Suddenly
remembering this, Aldrick stepped closer to look for it. It wasn’t hard to
find. Near the centre of the beast’s chest was a small area where its hair was
shaven. On the exposed skin was a dark blue butterfly outlined in gold. Magic
had made this! It was unlike any marking Aldrick had seen before. It appeared
as a coloured tattoo, only the colouring was uncanny; it was brilliantly rich
and glinted ever so slightly, almost like the powder on the wings of a real
butterfly. It was as if the brand had appeared there without the craft of any
tool. Could it really be that a wizard wished him dead? The thought was crazy.
    Kaal’s eyes were on him. “You know, last night that brand was the
first thing Father looked for when we came here. He didn’t even stop to make
sure the beast was dead, just went straight to that, like he expected it to
have a master.” Kaal hesitated briefly, then continued. “And he said something
to me, Aldrick… he said they have found you.”
    Aldrick stared at him.
    “They?” he repeated to himself. “This is crazy. What would anyone
want with me? I’m kind of, well, ordinary and boring, aren’t I?”
    “I thought so,” replied Kaal jokingly, then his tone became serious
once more. “I was thinking—maybe it has something to do with your past, with
your parents or something.”
    “My parents?” Aldrick was taken aback. “My parents are here.” He
knew well that Braem and Phelvara had taken him in as an infant, but this was
fairly common in these parts. People were kind and supportive and very few orphaned
children remained so for long. He rarely mused on his lineage. Ever since he
could remember he had been a son to the Fletchers.
    “Yes, I know—we are your family,” said Kaal politely. “But it’s
worth considering, right? I mean, can you think of a better explanation for why
something like this,” he gestured toward the ka-zchen, “would find itself at
our doorstep?”
    Aldrick couldn’t. They were a simple, good-faring family who lived
away from the busyness and troubles of the surrounding world. If what Kaal
suggested was true, he found no sense in it.
    “Surely my real parents were also ordinary and boring. Why would
someone who had a quarrel with them want me dead all these years later?” Though
sceptical, he couldn’t deny that some part of him was warming to the idea that
his origin story might bear some unspoken significance. He had no desire to be
hunted, but the thought that he was somehow entwined with a world where magic
existed was enticing.
    Kaal shrugged.
    “Time will tell us all,” he said. “Perhaps Father was wrong and it
was simply a stray and you happened to meet it up there.” He peered up the
cliff. “Hell, that’s a long fall.”
    “Most likely,” Aldrick said, also looking up. “Even if it did have
a master, it wasn’t necessarily under orders when I came across it, right? It
probably came at me because I made it mad—shooting at it… looks like I managed
to completely miss.”
    Kaal frowned. “Still, I wonder who