The Secret Key of Pythagorum by Michele Angello

Author:Michele Angello [Michele Angello]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Published: 2018-11-05T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

“By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.”

-William Shakespeare, Macbeth

As Savaric walked down the road in his invisible state, he realized a few things. One, he had made very little progress on his journey over the past few days, even less over the past few weeks, which had been taken up by rescuing Elias. Two, he made much more progress, much more safely, with the cloak on and without Elias tagging along. Which presented a problem: should he take the opportunity of the separation to leave him behind, or keep his promise and let Elias join him on his quest? Not an easy question to answer, and the thoughts dogged him all day.

The hours stretched on as he walked down the southern road, which was smooth but winding, passing through the forest and then out in the open, past small farms and cottages. Savaric took advantage of the cloak at midday to snitch a bit of a farmer’s lunch—an apple and chunks of cheese that had been left on the table unattended. When added to his bit of bread it made a welcome change to his store of packable traveler’s fare.

All the while, he kept looking at the trees on each side of the road, looking for something that made an ordinary tree into a witch tree. He really didn’t know what to expect—was it a place where witches met or lived? As the day wore on he became more and more nervous, knowing that the spot must be getting closer.

In the late afternoon, he rounded a corner and for two reasons instantly knew that he had found the tree. For one, the great oak stretched its limbs high into the sky twice as tall as any of the surrounding trees. The gnarled ancient trunk was strangely shaped. As he drew closer, Savaric could make out what looked like the face and body of a witch that had flown into the tree and got trapped there. Knotted bark covered the surprised look on her face and her gaping mouth. A small branch of the tree that had broken off was just at the right height for her broomstick. And two, curled up at the base of the tree, fast asleep, lay Elias.

Savaric stopped a distance away from the witch tree and sat down on the side of the road. The question that had nagged him all day must be answered. He had the opportunity to sneak around Elias and make his way alone to the cave. He would travel faster and safer. Or he could keep his word and let him come with him. What would Elias do if he left him there alone? Suddenly Savaric realized that he really knew nothing about Elias—nothing about his family or where he came from, or even why he traveled alone.

Overwhelmed with guilt, he realized that Elias could be an orphan and have nowhere to go. The least he could do was find out and send him to the place where he belonged.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.