Four months after the Indian raid...
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Sylvester's eyes snapped open, though he wasn't sure why. He was laying on his back on the floor of his family's shod house, his younger brother Daniel sleeping on the other side of the hearth in his own pile of blankets. When he'd gone to bed, Pa had been sitting at the table looking over his plans for the new town's layout. He'd had the designs done a couple weeks after the attack, and only yesterday the finishing touches had been put in and the town been declared restored, but Pa had been the only one who had actually seen the plans while everyone else took orders from him. New buildings had been raised, a couple of monuments to the fallen, even a couple of small parks in the Caern heart. Supposedly, everything was going to be easier now.
So why did Sylvester like there was something profoundly wrong out there tonight?
He got up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Looking over at the table he saw Pa's whiskey bottle, and a second tipped over on its side. Both empty. With a start, he noticed the sheets of paper on the table. Pa had left the plans out. Maybe some snoopin' would settle his nerves. He got up, sitting down at the table and looking over the plans.
The new town's design was strange. It was laid out in three roughly circular sections, and much larger than the original town had been. In many cases, the actual buildings hadn't even been finished, just the foundations laid or dug out. There was a strange symetry to the whole thing, and Sylvester could almost see some kind of meaning to it all...
"You're up awful late."
Sylvester jumped, startled at his Ma's voice. She laughed quietly, mussing his hair as she leaned against the table. He hadn't even heard her get up. She looked down at him studying the blueprints, a curious expression on her face.
"What're you up to, Sweetie? You never took any interest in writing before you were a mighty Garou warrior. Is my Sly now a poet king? Ready to bring civilization and law to the Wyld world?"
Her mouth quirked into a smile. Sylvester grinned back, rubbing his eyes.
"I reckon, if Pa had his way. He been talkin' like I's gonna win him the whole Injun Territory. I jest couldn't sleep. Something feels off tonight. Where's Pa?"
Ma rubbed his shoulder gently, scratching with her nails.
"Your Pa's seeing to some ritual tonight to rededicate the Caern. He'll be out all night."
Her eyes finally drift down to the papers scattered on the table, lazilly looking them over.
Then her eyes snap into focus as she grabs the sheet Sylvester had been looking at, studying the layout. Sylvester stood up, looking towards the windows for intruders.
"What's wrong? You hear somethin' outside?"
She snapped her eyes back on him, trying to put a calm face on.
"It's nothing. I'm going to see your Pa and make sure he has everything for his ritual. You stay here with Daniel and wait for me. I'll be back before morning."
Before Sylvester could raise any objections, she had thrown on a coat and her boots and headed out the door, grabbing the plough horse and riding her bareback towards town at a gallop. Sylvester watched her ride off, confused and worried. He heard a scuffling behind him, and saw Daniel leaning up, rubbing his eyes.
"What's goin' on, Sylvester? Why'd Ma run off?"
Sylvester ran across the small room to the table, grabbing the sheet and shoving it into his brother's chest.
"You know yer letters and Runes too. Is there anything on here what don't look right? Anything scary?"
Confused and still half asleep, Daniel inspected the sheet by the fading embers of the evening fire. There was no moon out tonight.
"There ain't no letters on here except some measurements and such. Nothing I can see... wait. The town.. it almost looks like it's a set of glyphs! Ya, I can make out three glyphs here. Gimme a minute and I'll grab my Almanac."
Daniel slowly got up, heading for the trunk that held all their books while Sylvester got his rifle down from the mantle. He probably wouldn't need it, since he could now transform at will, but it made him feel better.
Sitting down at the table, Daniel leafed through the Almanac, muttering to himself for a few minutes. Getting impatient, Sylvester stomped over, peering over his brother's shoulder.
"Well? What is it?"
Daniel shook his head, looking confused.
"It don't make sense, Sylvester. They's runes, the streets and buildings is laid out to make a set of three Runes, and structured to make it like they's all one idea. But it don't make sense. The runes mean 'Death, Concealment, Regeneration'. Then at the heart of the town, right on the Caern heart where the monument for the battle was put. Remember that garden Pa had planted there? The flower beds is laid out as another rune. This rune don't have any specific meaning though. I don't know what it is. But if I had to guess, it's somethin' to do with the spriits. It looks like something to draw spriits in."
Just then, the ground shook under their feet, giving one almighty lurch to the west; away from the town. The two brothers shared a look, then scrambled for the door, running around to the back of the house to stare towards the town hidden by a low hill. The town its self couldn't be seen, but rising up from where the town was the boys could see pillars of red light jutting up into the night sky, tendrils of energy sliding up and down them in purple sparks. Even from here, Sylvester could feel waves of power emanating from the town. It hit him in a wave, and he doubled over, heaving into the grass as he felt his body rebel against the foul energies. Daniel seemed less affected, just staring off towards the spires of power, crossing himself with his fingers.
"What the Hell is that?"
Sylvester wiped his face off, glaring at at the sickening power. Setting his jaw, he started jogging towards the town, gun slung over his shoulder.
"Nothing good, I tell ya that right now. Come on, I reckon somethin' went wrong with Pa's Rite. We gotta help!"
The brothers ran off into the dark, heading into they knew not what, but knowing that whatever they found, their Pa would be in the middle of it.
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