The Aldergeist Witch by J R Snyder

Author:J R Snyder [Snyder, J R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-07T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

To the Passage

Asher awoke the next morning, a cold frost coating the ground outside the witch’s hut. She had warmed a mash of oats for breakfast while he confirmed the directions needed to reach the Passage.

A half hour later he was standing in the forest clearing in front of the witch’s hut, one hand on his staff and the other holding Aethon aloft on his leather bracer. A crisp breeze blew through the forest, stirring up leaves and billowing his cloak. He shivered, wishing he was still inside eating his oats with a cup of hot tea. Beatrice gave him a final wave from the kitchen window, which he returned with a nod, and then he was off.

Asher followed the directions that she had laid out for him, following a faint path first to the south and then turning westward as time went on. Just as the day before, the forest was silent, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. With each step the dead leaves beneath his boots cracked as he worked his way farther and farther into the forest. He found himself wishing that Imra was there with him, keeping up the idle chatter to dispel the silence.

“Do you think Imra found her way to the Passage?” Asher mused to Aethon as they crested a small hill.

From the top of the hill, Asher could see a dark clearing shrouded by giant oak trees about half a league away. According to the notes from Beatrice, that was the location of the Passage, and he could make it there in another half an hour of walking. He would have to be careful as he approached the Passage; as Beatrice had mentioned the previous night, during this time of year the veil between worlds was particularly thin and he could find himself suddenly facing any number of strange beasts or magic.

For the greater part of an hour he walked before finally reaching the edge of the clearing. The forest had gotten denser and darker, the ancient trees here blocking the weak autumn sunlight from reaching the forest floor. The colossal oak trees he had seen from the hill now sat in front of him like sentinels, guarding the gates to the afterlife. Beyond the trees he could hear the sound of soft footsteps crunching quietly upon the leaves.

“Keep an eye out from above, will you?” he whispered to Aethon, who clicked her beak once in response and then leapt off his arm with a beat of her wings, soaring high into the air. With some trepidation he watched her fly toward the high branches of the oaks before her dark shape disappeared among the boughs. Steeling his resolve, he tightened his grip on his staff before walking to a gap between two trees.

The clearing on the other side stank with the musty smell of decay, reminding Asher of the beach during low tide. The grass was darkened as if it had been scorched, and there were rings of vibrant red mushrooms growing up from the swampy ground.

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