Whispers by the Fire

The fire was small, an orange light in the dark. The air was cold. Bob opened his eyes.

He was on the ground with a rock behind him. The fire was in front of him, making a soft, crackling sound. He was warm.

Two people were talking. Traveller. And the new girl, Lum. Their voices were quiet and low, like the whispering wind on the mountain.

Bob did not move. He kept his eyes a little open and watched them. Lum sat by a rock, wearing Bob's grey cloak. Traveller stood like a white statue in the dark.

"Who are the Forlorn?" Traveller's voice asked.

Bob knew that word. Forlorn. The people on the mountain.

Lum looked at her shoulder, the place with no arm. "Hunters," she said. Her voice was like a dry leaf. "They take... pieces."

Traveller poked the fire with a stick, sending sparks up into the night. "And you are a piece?"

"I am The Vessel," Lum said.

Bob did not know that word. Vessel. It was a strange sound.

"They want a key," Lum continued. "An old memory. From Lady Veilon."

Bob knew that name. Veilon. The pretty woman. The warm feeling.

Traveller was very still. "What does Bob have to do with this?" they asked. "He is just a boy."

Lum looked at Bob. Her gaze saw him. Bob closed his eyes a little more, pretending to be asleep.

"He is not just a boy," Lum's voice was a soft whisper. "The blessing of the Lady is in him. It is him." She was quiet for a long time. "The Forlorn hunt lost things. Veilon is the most lost name of all."

Lum looked at Bob again. "He is a relic," she said. "The most lost thing."

Bob did not understand 'relic'. But he felt the words. They were heavy. Like the compass. Like the stone Traveller threw from the cliff.

Traveller turned, their white robe moving in the dark. They looked at Bob. "They will not get him," Traveller said. The voice was not a whisper now. It was hard, like a stone.

Lum nodded, a small, slow movement. "That is why," she said, "I follow him."

The fire crackled. The voices stopped. The quiet was back, but it was a different kind of quiet. Bob felt two pairs of eyes on him, watching him sleep.

The heavy words made him sleepy. He pulled his glowing mushroom closer and went back to sleep for real.