Read Shadowfell for Free Online Page B

who spoke looked something like a human girl of about my own age, but she stood no taller than a young child and was as delicately formed as a wildflower. Her gown flowed around her, drifting gossamer. Her hair was a shimmering fall of silver light. Her eyes were large, lustrous and wholly inimical. ‘I know what is in your mind, Red Cap, and I know who put it there.’ She shot a glare at the little woman in the green cape, who gazed steadily back at her, unperturbed. The silver girl turned to me. ‘Traveller, do not expect our aid. No matter what gifts you may set out for us, the time is long gone when the Good Folk involved themselves in the petty struggles of humankind. Your troubles are of your own making.’
    Fragile as she looked, her voice was strong as oak wood and chill as a stream under winter ice. It was pointless to protest that I had not expected any help, indeed had not dreamed they would come so close. It was useless to explain that I’d never have accepted an offer to have them accompany me, since that would have put them at the same risk I faced every day. She believed me some kind of enemy. Well, I was human and Keldec was human, so perhaps her animosity made sense. It hurt, all the same. In my mind was that sweet, magical day in Grandmother’s garden, and the two little folk with their basket of berries.
    ‘You’ll be moving on in the morning, then.’ It was one of the others that spoke, a creature in a dark glossy cape made all of feathers. Its tone was flat, but its sharp eyes examined me keenly. Its features held something of a man’s and something of a crow’s; they were disconcerting, and I tried not to stare.
    ‘I will, yes.’
    ‘A warning. Red Cap spoke of a fall, Maiden’s Tears. The fish are good, aye. But if you go that way, ’ware the urisk. He will call for help, you ken. Bitterly. Endlessly. Take no heed of that, for if you speak to him, he will follow you on your journey. He will dog your footsteps. He will never let go. A creature such as that is eaten up by loneliness.’
    ‘Thank you for the warning.’ Perhaps I would forego the fish.
    Long Fingers had moved out of the circle to investigate my decrepit foot gear. ‘Shoes,’ he observed. ‘Broken.’
    ‘Leave them!’ The silver girl spoke sharply and the creature shrank back. ‘Enough of this. Leave the shoes and leave the girl. She’s nobody. A wanderer, a vagrant. This was a misguided venture from the first.’
    ‘You make your judgement quickly, Silver.’ Though she spoke quietly, something in the voice of the green-cloaked woman stilled them all. It was as if she had made them draw a long breath together.
    ‘One look is enough.’ Silver – aptly named – had frost in her voice. ‘One word. If matters were as you believe, we would know. We would see it. It would be apparent in an instant. This girl can’t even mend her own shoes. How could she – ?’
    Suddenly I felt my weariness like a weight on my shoulders, and with it a flicker of anger. ‘I can mend them. All I need is some birch bark.’
    Someone hooted with laughter, as if such a notion were utterly ridiculous.
    ‘I said I’ll mend them!’ My voice was as brittle as a dry twig. ‘Thank you for your company and your good advice about fish and the urisk and so on. It’s obvious my presence is causing some dispute amongst you, so you’d best leave me to get on with things by myself. I’ll bid you goodnight.’ Let them take their debate about what I was or wasn’t somewhere else. It was plain enough that my company was unwelcome to them.
    There was a general twittering and whispering, but I caught no words in it. In the growing dark, the circle of eyes took on an eerie glint, as if they carried their own light within.
    At length the little woman in the green cloak spoke. ‘You’re not afraid on your own?’ she asked.
    ‘Of course I’m afraid.’ Sitting, I could look her straight in the eye. She seemed formidable, her small size doing