Inktober Day 10: Fortune

 Chapter Eight

It was easier to find the way up the second time, and Wendell was much more adept at scaling the hill than she had been. When they arrived back at the site with the toad statues, Magda watched as Wendell calmly picked his way through the strange assortment, noting some statues with a slight tilt of the head, sometimes an accompanying hum of understanding.

“So,” she began slowly. “You know what these are?”

He was crouching by one of the smaller ones when he turned to her. “Unfortunately, yes.” He stood and made his way over to one of the calm, solemn looking ones. “This one gives you wisdom.” He walked over to a particularly ugly looking one. “This one, judgment.” He paused a moment before looking at her again. “People used to come here to seek their fortune, predict their futures, make offerings. That sort of thing.”

“Used to come?”

“Yes,” he said. “It is not done so anymore. At least not in decent company. I was not aware that this land still had any of these sites remaining. Places such as this were eradicated in your father’s land a hundred years ago, when those demon-worshippers were driven out.” He continued to walk around the collection and paused at the large horned shrine, which had given Magda such a fright.

“Demon...” Magda said it slowly, quietly. She did not know how to feel. Scared of these statues? Glad they were not in her kingdom? Intrigued that they used to be? “Who is this...demon?”

Wendell looked at the ground for a long moment before he spoke again. “Some things are better left in the past.”