The old man’s cordial welcome leaves me unsettled. They’ve been expecting me? I approach him uneasily, watching the other villagers as they in turn watch me.

“I’m Inka,” I say to him, holding out my arm. We grasp forearms in Ironland fashion; his grip is firm, belying his frail appearance.

“Inka,” he says. He says it slowly, as if tasting my name. “I am Makari, and this—“ he gestures to the young man at his side—“is Nisus, my grandson. We welcome you.” He looks around at the villagers and makes a shooing gesture with his staff. “Go on, now, all of you. Give our new friend Inka some space. He will surely need to recover after his trip.”

“Thank you,” I say. “But I don’t understand—“

Makari’s smile shows several gaps where teeth have been lost, and he pats Nisus’ arm where the young man is supporting him. “Yes, yes, I’m certain you have many, many questions. We will answer them all, or will try, at least. Ha! But first, let’s get you settled.” He speaks then to Nisus. “Let’s take him back to my cabin; there is room there.”

“Yes, grandfather,” says Nisus, and he begins to slowly lead us back up the path between houses that he’d taken earlier.

As we walk, I catch Makari eying me sidelong. He smiles ruefully when I discover his scrutiny. “You are younger than I expected,” he says.

“I confess,” I say, “that I don’t understand how you could have known I was coming. No one has left my village for the Hinterlands in a very long time, and the last trader we had was headed south.”

Makari smiles secretly. “Come,” he said. “Let’s get you settled before we talk.”

Curious, but helpless to answer my own questions, I follow him and Nisus to a large cabin set a few houses back from the main street. I am surprised to see that it actually has multiple separate rooms inside; no structure in Timberwall is so partitioned.

When Makari gestures for me to take one of the private rooms, I object. “I couldn’t possibly,” I say. “I’m nobody important. Leave that room for someone else; I can just sleep beside the fire.”

Makari chuckles. “There is no one else right now, just you, and believe me, you are plenty important to us. Go on, get yourself settled. Then come back out and we will talk.”

I do so, though “getting settled” involves merely setting my pack down beside the straw pallet. When I come back out, Nisus is helping Makari into a sturdy wooden chair beside the fire.

Makari gestures to another chair, and I sit. “There,” he says. “Now, I will try to explain.” He turns to Nisus. “Go on,” he says to his grandson. “I’ll be fine here with Inka.” Nisus nods, and leaves the house.

“A strange man came through Raven Hill,” he begin. “This was about eight months ago, in the middle of the winter. The winter had found us ill prepared, though we hadn’t thought ourselves so. We learned that most of our supplies had spoiled somehow, and we were starving.”

I remember the last winter. “We got a lot of snow in the Havens, too,” I say. “The trader that usually comes through didn’t come until early spring, because of it.”

Makari nods. “Just so. But we were starving, as I said, and as the chieftain I spent many a sleepless night wondering how to keep the village alive. So imagine our surprise when, out of the deepest snowdrifts we’ve seen in years, suddenly comes this cloaked figure. Delkash, he called himself.

“Well, we of course told this Delkash that we had no hospitality to offer him, aside from a pallet by a fire, as our supplies had failed. He said that was no problem, and in fact said he might even be able to help us. All he asked in return, he said, was for us to record any legends we were familiar with—any stories or myths about this part of the Ironlands—until a stranger,“ he looks meaningfully at me, “should come from the south, bearing, he said, ‘a staff in one hand and an owl in the other’.”

“Surely owls are not so uncommon a companion,” I say. “I can’t imagine he meant me.”

“To be sure, owls are not so uncommon. There have been two other travelers in that time who also bore owls upon their shoulders, but they both came from the west. Only one of them carried a staff, though. Other travellers, too, have come from the south, but none with owls. No,” he says, holding up a hand to still my objection. “You are the one he foretold. He gave other clues—your leather clothing, your wolfskin cloak, the way you would enter the village and set down your pack while you looked around. We have no doubt.”

“But, why me?”

“That, he did not tell us. He only said that you would stay with us for a few days, and that you would know what to do with this.” He reaches down beside his chair and lifts a tightly bound scroll of loose papers. “We started with our own residents, and wrote down all the rumors and legends we recalled hearing, especially those with relevance to Raven Hill and its surroundings. Then, every time a traveller passed through the village we would interrogate them about what things they might have heard and what legends they might know, and added their accounts here, as well. These are yours now.” He hands me the scroll.

I hold it uncertainly. “Again, though—why me? I honestly have no idea what to do with this.”

Makari laughs. “Nor do we! But Delkash had power; he performed a ritual that restored our spoiled supplies, and saved us. Because of him, we had sufficient food to last the winter. We are inclined to trust what he said about you, as well.

“Stay with us for a few days, at least. Stay, and recover. Surely you need more supplies, and the journey from the south must have been grueling. Regain your strength. Read the papers. Maybe something will occur to you.”

I hold the scroll in my hand, and consider it. It is tied tightly with a leather cord, and the papers are of various sizes. Each leaf is obviously handmade, and rough in texture. Makari is right about one thing, I do need rest, and supplies. It certainly can’t hurt to stay a few days.

“Okay,” I say. “I’ll stay. But I’m traveling for a purpose, and cannot stay long. I have a Vow—“

“I’m sure you do,” he says. “And we would never think of holding you longer than you need. But—please,” he adds. “Keep an open mind. Ask questions. Look around. Maybe this cloaked stranger, this Delkash, was right about you, eh? Maybe you will know what to do with that bundle, after all.”