Page 86 of Earthbound

‘Why do the obeah that live here have no light within them?’ Lettle asked.

Afa frowned as though he didn’t understand, but then comprehension rippled across his brow. ‘They have no souls.’

‘Why not?’

‘I may have the power of a god, but I am not a god. I cannot give souls to the things I make.’

Lettle looked at Ajax in the tree above her. He shone just as bright in magesight as he usually did.

‘But Ajax has a soul.’

‘He does,’ Afa said. He cradled the grimoire to his chest as though it were a babe.

‘This was never meant to touch elf or fae hands, you know.’

‘Then why write it?’

He answered her with a question. ‘Why is it that you call it a grimoire?’

‘It was what Najma called it.’

‘The prince whose obeah found it?’

‘Yes.’

He stroked the leather then set it on the ground between them. ‘It was never a grimoire. It has spells, yes, but it was not intended for anyone’s eyes but my own. You see, it is a diary.’

‘A diary?’

‘Or perhaps a map to find myself.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Lettle said.

‘Everything you need to know is bound into the pages.’

‘I told you I do not speak the human language.’

‘No one does. Not any more. So I must read it to you,’ he said. There was something in his tone that made Lettle want to say no. But this was why they were here, wasn’t it? For answers?

He opened the first page and ran his hands over the ink. He sighed, concaving inwards with a deep weariness. When he looked up at her she expected his gaze to be as mournful as his breath, but instead it burned with anger.

‘When I started writing this, I had hoped it would be my salvation…’ his voice petered off into a whisper, all rage spent in a few words.

Then he flicked through the book until he found the page he was looking for. ‘You must forgive my rendition. Words and language have changed somewhat over the years; I may stutter as I translate some of the meaning.’

Ever proud.

His voice deepened as he spoke, the years settling into place and his face changed once more.

Lettle shivered.

Here was an ancient being as old as the earth.

Chapter Seventeen

Afa

Lettle thinks she is untrusting, but she is not, Afa thought as he opened the diary. It had been many years since he had completed its pages, but his story was not yet over.