The Road: Part 2

“What’s that…” her eyes dart toward the hedge, now thrushless and silent. “…A glint? A glimmer?”. All she sees are the dense shrubs and trees off in the distance, but surely…

“I could’ve swore I just saw…”. With reassuring curiosity, Elandriel walks toward the hedge, inspecting closely as she moves. Something has caught her eye, but the dark of night and shadows of trees obscure even her naturally keen vision at this distance. Nearing the spot that drew her interest, questioning whether it was something real or imagined, she scans the hedge with better clarity. The resin scented air thickens with an ominous and mysterious aura. Ancient prickles of ward lines glow dimly in the damp soil. Then her eyes lock on a contrasting shape hidden beneath the shrubs.  With careful caution, she reaches in and picks up the object. “A…book?” she thinks, turning it over, examining its design. Strange symbols are intricately engraved on the outer covering, none of which she recognizes. “What kind of book is this? Why would something like this be here?”.

 Struggling to open it, she finds that it is sealed somehow. There aren’t any visible bindings, clasps or locks keeping it shut. “It must be a magical seal of some sort.” With sudden awareness, she scans the verge and the road for any clues of its origins: A person, a thing, wreckage, a campsite—anything. No one in sight. Nothing to suggest how it came to rest beneath these bushes. No signs of disturbance, as if it was carefully placed here. But by whom? And for what purpose?

A thrill reverberates throughout her whole being. Giddy with excitement, the heavy introspection of moments ago all but falls away. “The Coven would be greatly interested in this,” she thinks. “Who knows what secrets it may yet hold? The favor I might gain? Enough to surpass even my eldest sister, surely! I must return and deliver this with great haste!”

Eyes wide and heart fluttering, quick-footed Elandriel dashes back towards the village. The pale dust of moonstone bricks lift in trailing streamers beneath her boots, she nears the first bridge, where moon lanterns cast cold blue halos along the archway, turning the river below to inked fire.

Halfway across, the mysterious book shudders violently in her arms. “What’s this?!” taken by surprise, she clutches it tightly with both arms and keeps running. Almost making it across, the book wrenches free of her clutches with force, whirling upwards and over the bridge rail.

“NOOO!” Elandriel screams desperately. She leaps after the book as it begins the descend toward the river, except…