Chapter 23

The walk back to Avendell was, thankfully, uneventful. They managed to make it to the barrier without encountering any more of the Brethren. Osric hoped that might have meant they were in disarray after the death of Godfrey, and would no longer be a problem, but he knew that was wishful thinking. Jasper had made it clear that Farvale was just a small outpost for the Brethren, and Godfrey would only have been in charge of that one area, not their entire network.

Once they were through the Veil the stag-folk, who Rowan found fascinating, led them back to the heart of the forest. The entire way, Jasper couldn’t stop talking about the barrier and what it was like to pass through it. Even Grace, who seemed to not be shocked by anything, was amazed at the experience. The walk through the forest didn’t disappoint them either as they kept catching glimpses of shimmerlings, grovewalkers and briarwolves.

The real wonder started, however, when they reached the Concordant Grove. Jasper nearly fell to his knees when he walked into the cleared circle flanked by carved symbols of the gods that made up the Veilguard.

“I can feel Heathus’s presence here, filling me. It’s like he’s standing right beside me. It’s ... miraculous.”

“Strange,” Rowan said from next to him, frowning. “I see the symbol of Wyndra carved there, but I do not feel her presence.”

“Not all experience the grove in the same way,” the Sage said, walking out of the forest to join them. “You are welcome to meditate here and reach out to her.”

“I might,” Rowan said, clutching the pendant he wore around his neck, proclaiming his service.

“I’m sorry for my rudeness,” the Sage said, smiling. “Welcome to the forest. I was so happy to hear of your return I rushed here to greet you. I do not know how you fared out there; but we could feel some kind of change, a lightening of the Veil, even here, from what you did.”

“There was a creature in an old Calaphium temple that was ... damaging the Veil somehow. We defeated it and found the missing part of the document,” Osric said, stepping forward and holding out the torn piece of parchment they had recovered from the ancient temple.

The Sage took the parchment reverently. “Well done. Very well done. This will take some time to translate and decipher, weeks ... perhaps longer. The Calaphium language is complex and layered with meaning. This, above all the other pieces of their language we have seen, is critical that we get the translation completely accurate. We can take no chances that we might mistake a word here or a phrase there and cause harm instead of repairing the Veil.”

“I have some experience with Calaphium texts,” Jasper said. “Could I assist you in the translation?”

The Sage’s smile widened. “A fellow scholar of the Calaphium. I would be delighted to have your help. As for the rest of you, you have all earned a rest. Please, take this time to relax and recover from your trials. Also know that any who wish to leave are free to do so.”

All eyes turned to Grace, who’d made more than a few comments about doing the quest under duress, even after leaving the temple.

She gave an uncharacteristically shy shrug and said, “Nah, I think I’ll stick around. This has been fun. Besides, I got some good stuff off those dead cult guys.”

Osric hadn’t even seen her search the dead Brethrens’ bodies, but he didn’t doubt she was telling the truth. And yet, he almost felt like there was more there. Like she wanted to be here but didn’t want to tell them that.