Page 38 of The Arcane God

“My name is Ty,” he said, his mouth moving slowly still. “I’m from the other side of the Chasm Mountains.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “I assumed as much, given your strange appearance, but…” She studied him. “Ty, you said?”

Ty nodded before resting his head back against the tree’s root base.

She furrowed her brow at that, as if his name was curious to her. “Why have you traveled so far from your home, Ty?” she asked suspiciously.

Ty debated what he should tell her. Should he reveal the existence of his companions? What if she and her people were hostile? He didn’t want to reveal to them that there were more strangers from the other side of the Chasm Mountains and have her or others go after them. But…

Wasn’t this the whole reason they’d come? To find these people, befriend them, and seek their help? He needed to start things out on a good foot if he hoped for that and, more importantly, he needed to find Turner and Ena himself—and without his horse or any supplies, he’d likely need this woman’s help to do that.

“I was traveling with two companions, a woman and a man. We have come to find a group of people.”

“What kind of people?” she asked again, suspiciously.

“Ones that worship a being called Omnis,” he said.

If he expected her to have a big reaction to that, she didn’t. She continued to stare at him, as if trying to figure him out. “And why are you looking for those people?” she asked.

“Because…we need their help.”

“What kind of help?”

“Just…” Ty began, wondering where to begin and how much to reveal. “It’s a long story, but…” He really did not want to play this card, but he knew it would expedite the process considerably, so he decided to grin and bear it. “There’s a woman with them. A witch. I—I need to speak with her.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed on him further, if that was even possible. “Why must you speak with her?”

“Because,” Ty said harshly, a bit pissed at this woman’s continued suspicion of him. “She’s my mother.”

The woman had no response to that, but she did continue to stare at Ty like he was a curiosity, tilting her head slightly like a hellhound trying to understand human speech.

Without a word, she reached up and undid one of the furs wrapped around her shoulders and neck. The one that had covered her lower face, so Ty was able to see her more clearly.

Her face was feminine and pretty, though with a harsh edge to it that made her slightly intimidating, especially when coupled with her slightly animalistic and strange-colored eyes. She had straight, jet-black hair, and her skin…it was deathly pale—even paler than Ena’s.

She lowered the fur over top of his body, and the warmth of it instantly added to his body’s slow progression back to a normal temperature. He nearly sighed with the pleasurable relief of it.

“I’ll take the offering as a sign that you believe me,” he said, his teeth chattering once more.

She didn’t say anything, just continued to stare at him.

“I promise, if you mean us no harm, we mean you no harm either.”

She seemed to accept that and stood up again to break a few more branches and throw them on the fire. “I believe you,” she said simply as she worked. “Besides, if you did mean me harm, know that I could put an arrow through your skull in three seconds.”

Ty eyed the bow and quiver of arrows strapped to her back, and decided he believed her. She definitely had the air of someone who knew how to kill.

The two of them sat in silence for a while as the movement came back to Ty’s body. The woman offered him a drink from one of her waterskins—she had two for some reason—and some dried meat she carried in a small pack attached to her waist. It wasn’t much food—Ty figured their village must be close if she didn’t have many provisions. And he was curious about where her village was, but there was a much more important task first.

“My companions,” he said as he began eating. “Have you seen any sign of them? I was separated from them when we were crossing the river.”

The woman shook her head but otherwise remained silent.

“I need to find them,” Ty said, some of the desperation he felt slipping into his voice. “I need to go back to where I was lost.”

“You traveled through the canyon,” she said simply.

“The what?”