The rider's name was Halden, and he hadn't stopped shaking since he'd arrived, though the morning had turned warm enough that cold wasn't the reason.
"Tell me again," Rennick said, gesturing for him to sit near the well while the council gathered around. "Slowly this time."
Halden nodded, wrapping both hands around the cup of water someone had offered him. "The farmhand's name is Ellis. He works the southern fields near the old millhouse. Two nights ago, something came up from the ground near the well, same as what the boy described from the eastern village. It was cold, small and shaped like nothing exactly, more like a shadow with edges."
"And he touched it," Gad said.
"He said it looked like it was reaching for something. Curiosity got the better of him." Halden's hands tightened ar
