15. The Charcoal Makers

Kinch, Galva, and Norrigal leave the Snowless Wood, passing trees marked with planted bronze swords that signal the witch’s authority and the region’s potent magic. They follow the Salmon Road toward Pigdenay in tense silence, each weighing Norrigal’s confidence and concealed powers.

Near a riverside village, Kinch scouts smoke and finds a slain charcoal-making family beside their smoldering mound, evidence of a recent meal interrupted by violence. Massive and mixed tracks suggest Hornhead’s band. Galva confirms the sign, and Kinch, lured by the promise of a reward and justice for the murdered, judges their luck favorable and chooses pursuit.

The trail soon vanishes under magic, but Norrigal dons a wooden false nose to scent the enchantment—salt and leather from charmed sandals—guiding them west of the road toward Pigdenay. They make a cold camp; Norrigal kindles a heat-bearing acorn, but a mishap ignites Kinch’s blanket, forcing her to douse it with frost sand and compelling the group to relocate in the dark.

While moving by the river, Norrigal sketches an ear on her palm and overhears enemies maneuvering: a fast flanker to the right and heavier shapes behind—likely Hornhead among them. Galva sheds armor to move freely and readies her shield and blade as Kinch nocks an arrow in the dark.

A thin, smiling, straw-haired woman in deerskins emerges, asking for food and inching closer despite warnings, clearly a distraction while others close in. Kinch stalls her, Norrigal strains against the noise, and Galva holds position by the river. As the decoy refuses to halt and the rest of the band converges from the trees, the confrontation snaps into motion.