The Seer by Rowan McAllister (reading comprehension books .TXT) 📕

night had fallen again on the second day, a knock came at the door. A wizened old woman, draped in rags, her hair a massive nest of tangles threaded through with vines and leaves, stood haloed in the moonlight when they opened the door. The family froze in fear at the sight of her, but Ael saw nothing beyond a chance for his love and rushed forward to bring the woman inside.

“She smelled like the bogs themselves, and Ael thought she might have something living inside that nest of hair, but he took her arm as if she were the most beautiful of court maidens and led her to Balin’s sickbed.

“‘Please, can you help him?’ he cried.

The woman ran a wrinkled, clawlike hand in a sweeping motion over Balin’s prone form, murmuring to herself in a tongue Ael did not recognize.

“‘I can, but it will take a great deal from the land. Why should I sacrifice so much for one man?’ she asked in a voice like the rustling of dead leaves.

“Nonplussed, the family grew angry. What could she mean? Of course a man’s life was worth so much more than any other creature or stretch of earth.

“‘I love him more than my own life,’ Ael cried. ‘Whatever you ask in return, I will give.’

“The old woman studied Ael for a long time, making Ael’s insides quake, but he didn’t turn away. She had one dark eye, black as midnight, and one pale and milky like the full moon. Ael thought he saw stars glittering in the darker one, but it might have only been a trick of the light.

“Eventually she released him from her gaze and stared out the window for a time. Then she smiled, revealing an even row of teeth somewhat sharper than Ael expected. They gleamed greenish yellow at him and a shiver ran down his spine.

“‘It waits out there for you,’ she said cryptically.

“‘What?’

“She shook her head. ‘Tell the others to leave us, and I will name you my price.’

“Despite the objections of the others, Ael was a prince, and when he bade them leave, they had no choice but to obey.

“No one knows all that Ael agreed to in that room, for he never spoke of it again, even to Balin. The only thing that is known of that night is that Ael had one of Balin’s cousins take him to the deepest heart of the boglands. Once there, the cousin watched in dismay as Ael tossed the magic sword into the murky waters, and it sank below the surface, never to be seen again.

“As if by some miracle, the next morning, Balin’s wound had nearly healed, and he was able to sit up in bed and speak with his family and his lover.

“The old hag stayed at the farm for three more nights. Each day Ael would collapse in his lover’s arms and sleep like the dead. Each night, despite any pleas from Balin or the family, Ael would follow the witch out into the dark and return, sweaty, pale, and exhausted.

“No matter how hard anyone entreated, Ael could not be brought to speak of it. But on the third morning, the swamp witch packed her bag of trinkets and charms and disappeared into the mists, leaving the two young lovers to rest and heal, wrapped in each other’s arms. Safe and happy together at last.

“They say the sword is still out there, that no one in all the intervening centuries has been able to find it, no matter how hard they searched. They say whatever magic the witch worked with Ael hides it, or that she may have even called forth a god to protect it, a god that still haunts the deep places, waiting to snack on the unwary or anyone brazen enough to trespass in search of the sword. No one knows for sure, and the boglanders refuse to tell.”

A heavy silence followed that last ominous pronouncement, and goose bumps flared along Daks’s arms… until Horse whinnied behind them, making everyone jump.

“Nonsense,” Daks blustered gruffly, shaking off the chill that had run along his spine. “Believe me, if there was a magic sword that powerful out there, someone would have hired a Sensitive to find it, or the Brotherhood would have used one of their Finders and confiscated it centuries ago.”

Ravi’s lip curled evilly as he shrugged. “I can only relate what the book said. Perhaps there is a god or something out there protecting it, waiting for the time when it’s needed.”

His amber eyes got a little dreamy, and Daks felt an answering tug in his chest… and lower. He scowled and turned his attention to the mist-shrouded darkness around them, opening his senses wide, searching for what felt like the thousandth time since entering this horrid place. Nothing but miles and miles of tangled, wet, rotting land met his senses. The hum of the place was eerie but harmless.

“If there were a god out there, or some other centuries-old bog monster Riftspawn, I’d be able to sense it,” he huffed.

Horse snorted, making him jump again, and Daks threw a glare over his shoulder. Sometimes he swore the damned horse was laughing at him.

“So what happened to them after? Ael and Balin?” Fara asked.

“The histories are hazy on anything beyond their time in the boglands,” Ravi replied with a somewhat self-conscious shrug, his dreamy expression fading. “The only thing they seem to agree on is that the prince and his love left Rassa together. Ael had stolen and lost his father’s famous magic sword for the sake of a single man, so obviously, the king sent men in search of him and wasn’t too pleased when they came back empty-handed. But Ael disappears from the histories after that, and only the other two princes, Rolf and Ero, are mentioned.” Ravi’s expression brightened as he turned to gaze out into the darkness again, and his voice turned wistful. “I like to think they found happiness and the peaceful, quiet life