Aethelgard: Rootbound
Book 1 · The Dying Roots
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Page 25 · Following the damage
Chapter 2 opens as Caelan descends from the overlook toward the distant plume. A hare flees the valley. Tracks from several kinds of animals overlap, all heading away from the same area. He kneels to compare them, his cheek still scratched.
CHAPTER 2. THE VERDANT QUILL. Caelan: Everything’s going the same way.
Page 26 · Another tracker
Among the fleeing animals' uneven tracks, Caelan finds human footprints going toward the disturbance. A fern moves on the bank nearby. He rises and addresses the unseen tracker, keeping his spear low.
Caelan: And someone’s following. Caelan: You can come out.
Page 27 · The Verdant Quill
Elara already has an arrow drawn when Caelan notices her on the raised bank. He recognizes the tracker. She lowers her bow as they establish that they know of each other through Sylva's Reach.
Elara: I was about to say that. Caelan: Elara? The tracker? Elara: Veyr. I've heard your name in the Reach.
Page 28 · What happened
Elara returns her arrow to the quiver and notices Caelan's scratched cheek. He describes the injured stag's antlers and the vapor escaping its body. They realize both have been following the disturbance.
Elara: What happened to your face? Caelan: A deer. Its antlers had grown into its head. Elara: Was there mist? Caelan: Coming out of it. Elara: I've been following animals running from the valley. Caelan: So have I.
Page 29 · Moving together
Caelan moves ahead through the forest while Elara studies the wind and ground. Her warning stops him before a crumbling bank. They continue together over the exposed stones.
Elara: Wait. Caelan: I saw it. Elara: Eventually.
Page 30 · The Root Vent
A natural opening beneath a huge root and broken stone seeps strange gas into the forest. A boulder marks the western entrance, a low ledge stands to the north, and a fallen log lies behind it. Caelan and Elara stay at the western edge, outside the vapor.
Elara: A root vent. Caelan: What is that? Elara: I don't know.
Page 31 · Hours of flight
Elara studies overlapping animal tracks and damaged paw impressions on the safe side of the clearing. They hear distressed animals beyond the roots. She readies her bow as Caelan turns toward the sound.
Elara: Older tracks under these. Hours of them. Caelan: Do you hear that? Elara: Yes.
Page 32 · Three wolves
Three lean wolves emerge from the eastern roots. They pant, stumble on inflamed paws and struggle to focus. Caelan stands below Elara's low ledge, with the western boulder behind him and an open stony channel in the foreground. They give the animals space.
Elara: Slowly. Give them room.
Page 33 · Crossing lines
The dark-backed wolf lunges at Caelan. He turns it aside with the spear shaft, but his movement crosses Elara's firing line. She holds her shot. A silver wolf circles toward the fallen log while a pale-chested wolf remains farther back.
Elara: You're in my line. Caelan: I'm a little busy. Elara: Then keep them below me.
Page 34 · A clear line
Caelan shifts toward the foreground and keeps the nearest wolf low with his spear. Elara gains a clear shot from the ledge. Her first arrow strikes the pale-chested wolf's right shoulder; it retreats toward the brush with the arrow still embedded.
Elara: There. Caelan: I see it.
Page 35 · The blind angle
The silver wolf comes at Elara from the log behind her. Caelan pivots and intercepts it with the wooden spear shaft, pushing it off the low ledge. Elara ducks and shifts along the ledge. The dark-backed wolf advances toward Caelan's exposed side.
Caelan: Behind you! Elara: Saw it late.
Page 36 · Against the boulder
The dark-backed wolf drives Caelan back to the western boulder. He struggles to keep the spear between them. Elara moves along the same ledge to find a clear angle, while the other two wolves remain farther east.
Elara: Caelan—hold! Caelan: Trying!
Page 37 · The precise arrow
Elara releases a precise arrow past Caelan into the attacking wolf. It falls at the boulder before reaching him, the arrow still in its chest. Caelan regains his footing, watching the two remaining wolves.
TWIP.
Page 38 · The last lunge
The silver wolf lunges from the right. Warned by Elara, Caelan braces his spear and strikes in self-defense. The wolf falls onto its side at the fern patch, still breathing. The wounded pale-chested wolf limps away through the open channel, and neither adventurer pursues it.
Elara: On your right! THK.
Page 39 · They weren't hunting
Elara kneels beside the dying silver wolf. Its paws and tissue are inflamed, its eyes struggle to focus, and it snaps weakly at the movement of a small twig. Caelan watches, keeping his spear safely lowered.
Elara: They weren't hunting us.
Page 40 · The hurting
Caelan asks what Elara means. Her answer changes how he sees the wolves. In a long silence, they watch the silver wolf's strained expression ease as its last breath fades.
Caelan: What? Elara: They were trying to make the hurting stop.
Page 41 · The Verdant Whisperer
Elara names someone who may understand what they found: Sylphina, the Verdant Whisperer, in the Ancient Glade. Caelan cleans the blood from his spear as they prepare to leave. Sylphina is not shown.
Elara: There's someone we should ask. Caelan: Who? Elara: Sylphina. The Verdant Whisperer. Elara: She's in the Ancient Glade.
Page 42 · Leaving together
Elara leads Caelan away along the western forest trail. His cheek remains scratched and his clothing dirty; his spear is intact and clean. Behind them, the mist continues spreading around the Root Vent. Chapter 2 ends.
Caelan: Then lead the way. Elara: Keep up.