Halfstone: A Tale of the Narathlands Read Free Page B

its master is. We should ask Father
today. Hopefully he’ll be more eager to talk than he was last night.”
    Aldrick nodded. “We’ll get the whole story. There has to be some
half-reasonable explanation for all this.”
    “There always is.”
    They left the ka-zchen’s rocky grave. No longer in a hurry, Aldrick
took time to acknowledge the beauty the morning had brought to the land.
Everything looked fresh and awake. The air smelt of damp earth and grass. In
the heights of the forest, moss birds sang their gentle songs in union. A few
wisps of mist lingered in the sky but did not block the sun’s light from
greeting the lower coastal land. Every field, brush and knoll between them and
the ocean flaunted the tepid colours of autumn. The ocean itself was a restful
turquoise. Behind the house Phelvara was throwing breadcrumbs to enthusiastic
sparrows, and out the front Bree rode around on a pretend pony that Braem had
fashioned for her from a lancewood stick and an old straw pillow. Braem was
probably down in a lower field herding sheep to fresh pasture. Everything was
as it should be, save for the creature’s corpse behind them. It remained out of
place in some ineffably strange and ominous way. Perhaps it was the magic it
bore with it. Aldrick considered this until Kaal interrupted his thoughts.
    “Do you want to come with me to Rain today?” he asked. “I’m taking
the cart. We need to sell some things at the market. You could just relax and
enjoy the ride. I’m sure you are fit for it.”
    “I’ll come along,” said Aldrick. A trip to the village would be
nice. He feared that if he stayed Phelvara would insist he remain indoors under
her over-nurturing watch. Suddenly he remembered something and stopped walking.
“When do you plan on leaving?”
    “Soon, I want to be there by noon.”
    “All right, but first let me fetch some things I dropped in the
forest yesterday. As you might imagine, I was in quite a hurry.”
    Kaal chuckled. “I’m sure you were,” he said. “I’ll ready the
horses and see you back here soon.” He continued on.
    “See you.” Aldrick changed his course and made his way across the
bridge and up into the forest. He found it to be once more its calm, peaceful
self. Only moss birds and the odd few little mammals lingered within the trees.
His possessions were easily retrievable. The ka-zchen had kindly made a clear
pathway through the undergrowth while chasing him and he could now follow it
back toward the clearing and pick them up as he went. For a moment he considered
that they may be able to track where the ka-zchen had come from, but concluded
that it would be a foolish endeavour. Its prints would undoubtedly lead far
beyond the forest and eventually fade from the earth. He still sought answers,
though. Who was its master and why had it been sent here? He would ask Braem
all of this in the evening after returning from Rain. Bothering Phelvara about
it now would not be wise.
     
     
    Before leaving for Rain, Aldrick had a hasty breakfast and dressed
in some more presentable clothes—fine cloth pants and a tunic. He chose to wear
sandals as he wasn’t wearing socks anyway. Kaal wore similar clothes but had
chosen a dyed black leather vest. Aldrick had noticed his brother always wore black
to the village and guessed this was because he thought it attracted the women
folk. Admittedly, Kaal was always two steps ahead of him when it came to courting
women. It must be his clothing.
    After Aldrick had successfully avoided Phelvara and said goodbye
to Bree, the two of them set off down their road. It took a little time to
reach the base of the mountains. The road wound its way back and forth down the
slope to reduce its steepness, and there were half a dozen gates to be opened
along the way. However, at level ground it met the coastal road between
Farguard and Rain and they were free to be on their way. Aldrick sat on the
back of the cart, accompanied by some sacks of grain, garden