Smoke came out the chimney on the top. A pole stretched up taller than the chimney. On it, a checkered blue-and-orange flag bearing a wheat symbol flapped in the brisk wind. An archway covered by a sheepskin led inside. Nath pushed through. “Hello?” There wasn’t much in the room. A rectangular table with long benches for chairs. Aside from the fire blazing, there was no life inside at all. Nath spoke again. “Hello?” The shuffle of sandals over the stone floor caught his ear. An old woman with long white hair and plain purple robes teetered out from behind the other side of the fireplace. She had a cane in one hand that clicked on the floor, and she held a horn to her ear. Her left eye was milky. “Do my eyes and ears deceive me? Is that Nath Dragon I hear?” “Marley?” He made his way over to her and took her wrinkled hands in his.
