The Well of Tears by R. G. Thomas

Author:R. G. Thomas [Thomas, R. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ya
ISBN: 978-1-63476-885-6
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2016-06-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter TEN

THADDEUS TOOK Teofil’s hand as they followed Dulindir along the overgrown main road of the abandoned village. He stepped around a baby carriage, long ago claimed by dark and twisted vines, and set his gaze on the mass grave they needed to cross in order to get to the Well of Tears. Now, one hundred years later, vines with broad, dark leaves and red spots had taken root in the poisoned soil.

“What was that?” Astrid asked, coming to a sudden stop in front of Thaddeus.

Dulindir frowned. “Did you hear something?”

Astrid looked right and left, her gaze moving slowly along the full length of the grave. “I thought I heard something move.”

“I haven’t heard anything,” Fetter said. “Come on, let’s keep on while we still have the light.”

Thaddeus watched Fetter stride up to the grave and stop. The vines had twisted together and lay at his feet in a clump, leaves looking black in the low light. Fetter lifted his foot to place it on the grave, then stopped and looked back at them.

“Aren’t you coming?” Fetter asked.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Thaddeus whispered.

“Me too,” Teofil whispered back. “But we don’t have a choice, do we?”

Thaddeus shook his head. “No, we don’t.”

The four of them walked up and stood in a line to either side of Fetter. They all looked down at the closely packed vines.

“Try not to break the branches,” Dulindir suggested. “Just nestle your foot inside them, like this.”

He used his foot to nudge aside a few of the vines and slipped it beneath them until he met solid ground, then did the same with his other foot.

“Just move slowly and be cautious,” he said.

“Elves,” Teofil muttered. “They walk lighter than any other being, and expect everyone else to do the same.”

Thaddeus released Teofil’s hand and took a breath as he stared down at the vines. With slow movements he carefully placed his foot in among the vines. The reaction was instant, and before he knew what had happened, a vine had wrapped tight around his ankle and yanked him off his feet. He cried out as the vine lifted him into the air, five, ten, twenty feet up. The wound on his leg pulled and stretched as he swung back and forth above the ground. His backpack slid off and fell to the ground away from the grave and the reach of the vines. The others were similarly grabbed and hoisted off their feet, the vines waving them about as more of the plant’s creepers rose from the ground. A second vine grabbed Thaddeus by the wrist and tugged his arm so violently he cried out.

“Be still!” Teofil shouted. “Don’t struggle!”

“They’re around my throat!” Astrid shouted. Thaddeus twisted around until he could see her clawing at a vine that steadily tightened around her neck. “It’s choking me!”

“They’re angry,” Teofil said. “Relax. They’re angry from having grown in this poisonous soil for all these years. Let me try something.”

“Hurry,” Astrid said with a wheeze. “Hard to breathe.

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