Someone Else's Kingdom, BOOK II - Scene XIII

"The shell is broken."

Though the words were seldom and strange, Luteeay understood the meaning. The embers of the fire were still burning, in the exact same place she'd started it, a moon or so ago; after she'd first torched the boat. Whether she'd kept the fire going by collecting wood or by some more otherworldly art was a moot point. Her dishevelled wind-sailed attire was at least dry now. But still, it nevertheless gave the air of distressed unreason. None of which concerned Luteeay, as he paused for a moment on the sparse words.

"Do you have any information about the girls ..and Julen?" he asked, hopeful for more, as he pulled his hood back up around his head. The cold salt air now threatening a heavier rain with its harsh bursts of ocean spray.

"The shell is broken, the word is spoken," came the refrain.

He looked at her familiar, but distant features, and momentarily felt a pang of concern for her state, but resisted any urge to ask further. He then nodded in gratitude for the words and turned to head back in the direction he'd came from. The long return journey as full of dread and concern as the journey there.

With the message expressed the sea-swept woman he'd came seeking was now free to take her message to other places upon the mainland..