Chapter Three:
The sounds of singing birds filled the background when Kai coughed himself awake. His face, caked in mud, had been plastered to the bank, the sticky goop holding his clothing in an embrace stiff as a board.
His stumbling about the darkness had been futile. He didn’t find Doctor Seeme nor the cart. The sound of horses running up and down the path had caused him to hide in terror more than once. Each time he threw himself in the mud, the more covered he became. The darkness that saved him nearly killed him when he lost his footing and slipped back into the sucking goop more than once.
Between his thumb and fingers, he worried a small stone he’d found in the sludge. While walking, he concentrated all his fears into this stone, charging it with magic. If he was attacked, ther
