14. Witchling

Kinch wakes on a crude pallet in Deadlegs’s inverted sanctuary, guided by a smudge-wasp through twisting tunnels back to the upside-down grove. He adjusts to the flip of gravity and finds Galva riding an animated wicker horse, moving with the grace and grief of a Spanth bereft of real horses since the goblin wars.

Deadlegs limits their joy, noting the construct has only an hour’s power and drains faster with burdens. On command, the horse folds into an ash staff with a carved head—tactical gold, but rare and costly magic. Deadlegs pointedly instructs Galva to use it well and to use Norrigal well, hinting at kinship and obligation.

They are lavishly fed by unseen means; trees and constructs have harvested game for the table. Kinch notes Deadlegs’s power and independence from the Magickers Guild. Norrigal, tattoo-eyed and unsettlingly perceptive, explains the hunt and spars lightly with Kinch.

Deadlegs gifts Kinch a rune-etched sacrificial knife and presses a lesson: he must offer blood to Solgrannon for strength in trials ahead. Kinch slaughters a rabbit at the altar; the twitching carcass becomes a great gray wolf that licks him, sealing the blessing. Deadlegs marks Kinch, herself, and Norrigal with blood.

Planning their westward journey, Deadlegs announces Norrigal will accompany Galva. She invades Kinch’s thoughts, confirming his loyalty to Galva and teasing his attraction to Norrigal. Deadlegs then delivers her warning: the Magickers Guild is weak, debtor-ridden, and bent by the Takers; many true witches refuse it. She suggests the Takers’ reach may span other guilds, and cautions that if Kinch’s orders ever pit him against Galva and Norrigal, she will oppose him. Kinch pledges peaceful parting if paths diverge; Deadlegs offers her blessing—and a final reminder that his choices will define the conflict to come.