Talon kissed his wife who smiled and leaned on her broom outside the open door where the air was fresher.

　　I`ll be fine. Take the others,` she said. Anyone would assume she was taking a break from sweeping and no one might complain his father`s body was unattended

　　Talon`s mother`s things were sorted and there had been no more surprises. It was fadi to hoard metal so he would take the spearhead quietly to the hearther, Devon, the only hearther he actually liked, and tell him the truth; they had found it among his father`s possessions, a forgotten thing. Hopefully it would be melted without fuss and Elder Jode would not get something else to huff about. The procession was at dusk, then this would be over and they could finally return to their lives. Talon would be glad. They had sat through several vigils now, and he wondered if maybe that was the purpose of them.

　　The centre of the village was a wide space near the bank of Midstream. Ale-ki, the great tree, overlooked the space from one side, while the council building loomed at the other. Like the huts it was stone walled, but the roof timbers were lined with thin layers of split stone. Behind the carved pillars at the main door lay a series of rooms that stretched back further than any hut. He had never seen the thin stone on the roof in any other part of the village.

　　Villagers had to keep busy, there was always work to do, but gathering under the striped shade of the banefruit trees in the village square during the hottest part of the day was a chance to slow down and talk while goods were exchanged.

　　It`s him,` came Halo`s voice with a squeeze on Talon`s hand. Talon knew who Halo meant and saw him a moment later. Long grey hair and beard hung in vine like tangles. His skin looked oily and the skirt he wore was thin and grubby.

　　The volume of chatter dropped out of respect for Talon`s grieving family - but now turned to silence as all village eyes turned on the outsider.

　　The old man was grunting as he walked. There was no limp as such, just the stiff gait of old age. He was broad, muscles like old coiled rope pushed inside his thin skin. He didn`t bother to look up, no one would get in his way.

　　Orolo said he was here yesterday too,` Sosa whispered. Her friend was back at market again today. What does he want now?`

　　Talon drew his children away.

　　Have you ever talked to him, Pawe?` Halo asked.

　　Why would you want to?` Sosa said, her lip wrinkled slightly with disgust. He`s a horrible old man. Orolo said&`

　　Be quiet!` Talon was allowing them to stay, but children could be far too indiscreet. He glanced at his mother, but she was paying the visitor no attention.

　　Who is he, Pawe?` Halo fidgeted to see.

　　I don`t know, but that doesn`t matter&`

　　Halo bounced away. Grammawe,` he pulled on her arm. Do you see that man? Do you know who he is? Have you ever talked to him? Do you know&`

　　Halo, stop with the endless questions, your grammawe&`

　　That`s Gris, dear. You mustn`t talk to him. You mustn`t talk about him. If Elder Jode catches you, he`ll say it`s fadi. He`d say anything to do with Gris is fadi, but that man`s an idiot.`

　　Mother!` Talon grabbed Halo to stop his gabbling. When Talon was young, his father had warned him to stay away from the old man no matter what happened. When he asked why, his father slapped him on the ear. His friends had been told the same. He never recalled anyone saying why. Yet here he was, with children of his own, passing on the myth of Gris.

　　Never try to talk to him, you understand me?` He tightened his grip.

　　Ow, Pawe, you`re-` his son squirmed.

　　Halo. Do you understand me?`

　　Yes, Pawe, please let go.`

　　Talon loosed his fingers but kept both children close and one eye on his mother. Sosa was sixteen now and he could feel the muscles in her. Halo still tried to wriggle free.

　　Stop it. Now.` He released his daughter and knelt down, holding the boy firmly by the shoulders so Halo had no choice but to stare into his face. Gris is a dangerous man. You never ever have anything to do with him. You never speak to him. You never get in his way. Do you understand me, Halo?`

　　This time the boy looked suitably frightened and nodded. He`d never shown any real interest in Gris before, and had heard this speech dozens of times, but the funeral and finding that damned spear had got both children worked up.

　　Satisfied he had made his point, Talon rose and turned. Come on, let`s&` he was cut off by a screech. Orolo, the weaver`s daughter, was sprawled in the drying mud where Gris had flung her.

　　Sosa lunged back. We should-`

　　Talon grabbed her arm. No!`

　　Gris payed no attention to the girl, but was examining a sheet of faded indigo material. Orolo`s mother used inedible elberries to make the only dyed fabric in the village. No other food source could be wasted on dye, but the purple berries made people ill. The girl had foolishly tried to stop Gris from taking a sheet of the material from her pile. Gris tucked the fabric under his arm with a grunt, and walked away. Sosa broke free of her father and ran to her friend. Talon followed, but Orolo was more shocked than hurt.

　　Mmawe will kill me,` the young girl said.

　　No, she won`t,` said a woman in the gathering crowd.

　　But I was meant to swap it for-` then the tears came as the shock hit.

　　You know we`ll sort all that,` the woman said. Come on, let`s get you fixed up first.` There was a little blood from a graze on her knee, but nothing worse.

　　Back on her feet a little composure returned. Orolo hugged Sosa who was making to come with her. No, no, you`ve got enough to do. Thank you, Sosa.`

　　For a moment Talon toyed with letting her go, but Orolo was right. They had plenty to do themselves.

　　Sosa turned to her father, Can we&?

　　We`ve got a crop of tubers due, we will send some over to your mother.` Others made similar offers and the girl smiled, tearfully grateful. Talon folded Sosa into his side and squeezed both his children as they walked back.

　　Grampawe wouldn`t have let him take it,` Halo carped and Talon felt his mood darken.

　　Halo was just too young to understand, though he was certain Sosa still would have, even at this age. Kala mothered the boy too much.

　　He would have fought him off with his spear!` Halo darted out, grabbed a stick and began fighting off imaginary old men. Talon worried that this kind of thinking could lead to foolish actions.

　　He let it go. The boy was dealing with the funeral, and Talon had to remind himself it was his first. Sosa chased the boy and turned into a monster, hands raised above her head and gave a growl.

　　Halo screamed, and ran laughing while jabbing at his sister with the stick. Talon thought of what they had to do later that day, and of the Elder`s visit to his father`s hut. He called the children back with a sharp word. Sosa came back obediently, Halo slumped over, chucking his stick at the floor.

　　Not today. Tomorrow, play and make noise. Not today.` Then he felt angry with himself for flushing the laughter away. He looked back over his shoulder, but the old man was long gone.

　　Why were they afraid of Gris? Why did they let him come and take whatever he wanted? Maybe that spear was a weapon and it was a mistake to melt it. Perhaps next time&

　　These thoughts were poison. Lead by example, Elder Jode had said. He should not entertain silly ideas.

　　Children dreamed and their imaginations led to things that would get them killed. That was why it was better to quash such thoughts before they grew. It was for their own good in the end.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

　　#

　　Talon cut several lengths of thick kelgrass and used the cane to make a bier strung together with twine. They transferred his father to it and Kala covered the body in the bright orange flowers she had picked and prepared. There was a string for each of them too which Kala draped around their necks.

　　The Elders gathered outside and those who would help Talon carry the body came into the hut. Kala and Sosa had insisted on helping and Talon had convinced Halo although his shoulders were really too low. Rem from the fields and his sister Arella, the broad hearther, Devon who had the opposite problem to Halo, and finally chief fisherwoman and boat-builder Korassi made up the eight bearers. They processed in near silence from the hut. Villagers lined the way past Highstream to the edge of the village clearing and then down the funeral path. The path led through the thick scrub that separated the village from the forest to a small space that was as close to the darktrees as anyone would normally get. The canopy of the darktrees sat far higher than anything that grew in the village. Little sunlight made it to the floor of the forest and it was not possible to see deeper into the trees than the depth of a few trunks before it faded to complete darkness. Talon shuddered to look at it.

　　The air here felt warmer and damper, like the hot breath of the forest on their skin. Something clicked in the undergrowth, and rustled one of the reed bushes. They froze. It was late in the day, but it was not night yet. Despite this, the forest creatures were in fine voice. The bodaki were deep in the trees, far from any light, yet still they were louder here than anywhere in the village. There should be nothing dangerous here, not yet. Talon watched the bushes as they pressed on.

　　If something moves, you run. All of you, you hear me?` He looked first at his children, but swept his eyes across them all. He didn`t want the death of a friend on his conscience either.

　　They made it to the centre of the clearing. Talon ignored the other scattered bones. Some were whole, some broken, but all were rearranged far from the shape in which they had been set down. He tried not to think about what would become of his father`s body out here.

　　This is fine.` They placed the bier down. Thank you, all of you. Now go back.`

　　But we want to stay and help.` Sosa sounded upset.

　　There was nothing in the ritual about Talon being alone, but something was shuffling out there amongst the great trunks of the darktree forest. He wanted his family where he didn`t have to worry about them. He also had a better chance of survival if it came to running and he didn`t have to scoop Halo up.

　　Take your brother back for me, keep him safe.`

　　The village was a short walk away, but the stripes of light between the leaves of the banefruit trees felt horribly distant now. There was a safety in that glow. Out here there was only the blackness and the things that waited for the shrinking of the light.

　　Kala ushered the bearers away, but Sosa lingered.

　　Sosa, you too.` Talon said.

　　Listen.` She was looking out at the darktrees, so tall above them, now they were so close. Do you hear?`

　　Sosa, you need to go.`

　　She shuddered. Sorry, Pawe. It`s just& I don`t like it.`

　　It`s okay. It`s just louder here. You`re not used to being so close to the forest. You can go back. You need to distract Halo for me so he doesn`t get scared.`

　　It`s not louder, though.` She was right, the forest had gone quiet. The birds, the insects, even the shrieks of the bodaki had ceased. Talon tried to ignore the weight of unease that settled over him. What was out there that could cause the bodaki to quieten? It didn`t matter, there was a job to do.

　　It`s okay.` He waited until she was safely away then slit through the shroud with his knife. Such a waste of material. Lifting it carefully, he avoided cutting his father`s face or chest as he slit the wrappings from his waist to the top of his head and peeled it back. Insects filled the air around him.

　　The smell had been bad, but the wrappings had done more than he`d thought to keep it in. Talon gagged, glad that there was no one who could see him now. Turning his head away he took a breath. The forest air still smelled heavy and now tainted with the sweet sickliness of putrification. He arranged the flowers Kala had prepared around his father, laying them on his father`s chest either side of the open shroud and around the edges of his face, careful not to obstruct too much of the flesh he had just uncovered.

　　Finally he stood, took off his own garland and placed that too.

　　I`ll miss you, Pawe.` Then he stood and silently wept.

　　This was the other reason he had sent them away. He might not get another chance to be alone with his sorrow.

　　The greenery near him rustled again.

　　A rodent, maybe, he thought. It wasn`t yet dark enough for bodaki. He wiped at his eyes, angry with this intrusion on his private grief.

　　It clattered through the undergrowth, too many small feet pattered on the dried earth. Talon span, searching the vegetation, but everything was blurred. He pulled the knife, ready to slash at any attacking shapes. The noise stopped, but the ground near him was softer. Maybe it was still coming, but silently. He stared beyond the trembling blade, fingers rigid around the handle.

　　Nothing came.

　　Talon realised his foolishness. If something had come, he was too tense to react anyway.

　　He touched his father`s face one last time.

　　Something rattled the undergrowth again. Could it be bodaki? Perhaps dark was coming? Was it later than he thought? He swallowed, composed himself, and turned forcing his legs to walk not run. More tears stole away his vision with every step. The rarely walked path was crossed with vines and littered with twines that twisted into each other and reached upward. Talon`s foot caught and the tangle brought him to his knees. He rubbed his eyes trying to regain some sight, his face burned with anger and shame. There was a shout from the others who watched at the village edge. His anger dissolved into panic as the undergrowth about him begin to shudder. He could hear the thing clicking, like bony needle points on stone and imagined them scuttling up the back of his leg. Talon threw himself forwards to tear free of his binding, rose inelegantly to his feet and crashed through the vegetation, kicking hard with every step to break anything else that might snag him.

　　Only twenty yards to go. His head told him to slow, but the fear and panic drove him on too fast. He knew if he fell, he would hit the ground hard this time.

　　Almost there.

　　One foot jammed painfully under an unyielding root and refused to lift. Hot pain sprang up his ankle and then the floor hit him hard enough to take away all his air. He lay stunned until Kala`s voice cut through and he forced himself to move, lungs too frozen to fill. He pulled himself forwards, but could not help looking back.

　　Talon!`

　　Pawe!`

　　Nothing was coming from the undergrowth to kill him. He stopped, feeling foolish, and turned back to the waiting crowd.

　　Pawe, look!` Sosa was pointing back into the trees. It was no monster, at least not of the sort he was imagining.

　　The funeral clearing was a recess in the otherwise straight tree line where twilight gave way to the darkness. A figure emerged out of the trees, from the darkness, and stepped into the light. Talon could just make out a path behind it, though it was even less well defined than the funeral path

　　It`s Gris,` Halo whispered.

　　The grey haired figure looked up at the gathering, grunted as if annoyed by their presence, then ambled back into the darkness of the forest.

　　Something touched Talon`s shoulder and he jumped, but it was only Kala`s hand. She helped him and he limped back to village, one hand around her shoulder.

　　Are you hurt? What happened?`

　　Did you see it?` There was no sign of the thing in the undergrowth, or of Gris. Kala shook her head. He saw Sosa and Halo exchanged a glance. The bearers, and behind them the rest of the village, watched all this unfold. Talon felt his face burning once more.

　　Are you okay?` Kala whispered.

　　He nodded. Physically he was fine. He just wanted them all to go so he could say a last goodbye with Kala beside him and then forget the whole awful episode. Gradually the onlookers trickled away and Talon absorbed their condolences with what grace remained him. Elder Jode came last, renewing his sympathies, and offering thanks to the trees and the anki who protected the village. Finally alone with his family, Talon added his own thanks to the anki while Kala held the children close. He bade the anki protect and welcome his father. He should also speak with the anki of the fields who had always treated his father well. He respected all the anki of course, but he held a particular affinity for those who kept his fields.

　　Kala slid her hand into his and Sosa put her arm around his waist as they walked back. Halo pointedly walked on ahead. Kala called him back but Halo muttered something about seeing Grammawe and hurried off. Talon`s mother had not attended the funeral ceremony refusing to go anywhere until her husband returned from the fields to accompany her. Talon had given up trying to convince her that his father was unlikely to come back.

　　Halo glanced back. Maybe Talon projected it, but there was disappointment in Halo`s eyes. It cut him.

　　He`s just upset, and young.` Kala whispered, but Talon knew otherwise. A son expects certain things of a father and not to see them scurrying from some scuttling rodent like a coward.

　　Halo waited for them outside the hut where Grammawe sat. His momentary sulk forgotten, he was staring out at the rapidly darkening sky.

　　The smoke is back.` Halo pointed over the trees.

　　Sosa knocked his hand down. Don`t point! You might accidentally point at an anki, or an ancestor`s ki,` she said. Halo pulled a face.

　　So?`

　　Trust me, twiglet. Do you really want some lonely, bored ki to take an interest in you?`

　　Halo scowled but went back to watching where the ribbon of smoke glinted orange like the setting sun.

　　It isn`t anything to worry about,` Talon said. It`s always been there, long as I can remember.` It was only this last year that Halo had noticed it, but now it held him captivated every time it appeared.

　　What is it, Mmawe?` Halo asked, can you look it up in the record?`

　　Only the Elders are allowed to read the record,` said Sosa. Talon and Kala were proud of how quickly Sosa was picking up writing and she took her training as future chronicler very seriously. Kala gave her a wink and let her continue. Mmawe can`t even look back over sheets that she wrote herself.`

　　That`s stupid.` Halo said.

　　There was a fire a long time ago. The record was lost.` Kala explained. Since then, only the Elders can look at it. I don`t even know what they do with my sheets. They must be stored in the council chamber somewhere.`

　　It`s really far away,` Sosa mused, Is it another village? I thought we were the only one.`

　　I don`t know what it is,` Talon said, but it`s not a village. Not unless they only light one large cooking fire once every few months.`

　　How do you know?` Halo sounded belligerent. No one`s ever been, how does anyone know?`

　　The forest is so dangerous, Halo.` Talon kept his voice soft not wanting to argue with the boy. Nothing can live out there. How could there be other villages?`

　　Gris.` Halo whined. He came from the trees. He must live out there.`

　　I think he lives at the edge of the trees in a clearing where it`s safe, but away from everyone else.` Talon knew it was a lie more than a guess. The truth was no one knew where the old thief came from, but this was a reasonable assumption. It wasn`t possible that anyone, even Gris could walk the dark. It made Talon shudder just to imagine living close to it.

　　That night, the creature chased Talon from the clearing. In front of the whole village, in front of his family, he was helplessly tangled in vines and unable to escape. The creature became Gris, standing over him with a bronze tipped spear raised and& Talon awoke with a cry.

　　At first light he`d take the thing to the Hearths and find Devon, get him to quietly melt it down. Then that would be the end of it.