The Witch's Patron

Chapter 24

Something about Fernweh was different tonight. Noori wasn't sure what that something was, but an uneasiness had settled deep in her bones. Crossing her arms tightly across her chest, she scanned the darkened streets and listened for any sign of a threat. Even for nighttime, the city was far too quiet. The unnatural silence sent goosebumps racing across her skin.

I just have to get to the pub, Noori thought as she set off running. I'll feel better once I'm inside with the Captain.

She didn't encounter a single soul along the way, not even a rat scurrying between the alleys. The only sounds were the thudding of her boots and the huffing of her breath. There was a chill in the air that bit at Noori's cheeks while she ran, and she wondered if this dip in temperature was enough to send everyone back indoors. Not that she could blame them; she'd rather be curled up by the fire, too.

Noori's lungs burned by the time she rounded the corner and sprinted onto the pub's street. As much as she wanted to slow down and catch her breath, she pushed on at her brisk pace. The less time she spent out in the open, the better. She was so caught up in the fantasy of a warm and cozy table at the back of the room that she didn't realize she'd passed the pub until she found herself at the opening of the alley where she and Toddrick had argued. Confused, Noori skidded to a stopped and whirled around. Bright and boisterous, the pub should have been impossible to miss.

When her eyes spotted the pub's hanging wooden sign shrouded in darkness, Noori's heart sank. The lamp above the door was out, as were the lights inside. There was no music or shouts or laughter. The place was quiet as a graveyard. Desperate, Noori tried the door anyway. She turned the handle and jostled it roughly to no avail.

"Great," she hissed. "Now what do I do?" The question was rhetorical of course. Until Captain Denali arrived there was only one thing Noori could do, and that was wait. She pressed her back up against the door so she would be less exposed to the night and watched for movement in the shadows.

Time trudged by at an agonizingly slow pace, dragging its heels for so long that Noori's nerves eventually numbed and her fear gave way to frustration. She didn't appreciate being left waiting out in the cold. But her irritation quickly turned to concern. After all, Denali was a woman of her word, and it wasn't like her to be late. As Noori lifted her eyes to where the moon was cresting the buildings around her, she knew in her heart that something was wrong.

Acting on nothing more than adrenaline and instinct, Noori was halfway to the harbor before she remembered that she wasn't welcome there.

"Let Lourda call the authorities if he doesn't want me there," she said aloud. Her voice carried in the suffocating quiet. "I need to know that the Captain is alright."

The silence seemed to extend to the harbor, where she found the docks deserted and the lamps unlit. In fact, the only light that Noori could see seemed to be coming from her home at the end of the boardwalk. The sight of it made her heart clench. Worried as she was about the Captain, she needed to know that her father was safe too.

Moving as quietly as she could, Noori hurried up the boardwalk. She was only a handful of paces from the door when her foot snagged on something. Startled, she toppled forward, crashing painfully into the wooden planks below. Noori cried out, wincing with renewed agony as yesterday's pain flared against the impact of her fall. Gingerly she felt her forehead; blood oozed from a gash just above her brow.

Noori looked back to see what had caused her fall. Her blood ran cold at the sight of a black, slithering vine covered in thorns creeping up between the boards.

"What the—" she choked. From where she lay sprawled on the boardwalk she watched in icy terror as more and more vines appeared, slithering up the support posts and up from under the planks like an army of silent snakes. Her nightmares had come to life.