The silent stares of the villagers bore down on Alaric as he and the others passed on horseback down the main road toward the site of one of the Creature's most recent crimes.
Some people watched from behind shop windows with eyes carved from stone. Some had stopped whatever they were doing to judge from the side of the road.
They all made him feel like a failure.
Searching amongst the faces for something, anything other than distrust, Alaric made eye contact with a woman standing in the doorway of a shop. She looked away and purposefully closed her door. Alaric turned his gaze back to the road and kept it there.
After settling Mallin in for a real rest, he and Lysander had come straight here to meet Kit and Willow, who were waiting for them just outside the village gates. Sonia was there as well, to stand in Nicasi's place while they locked away all traces of the Creature's touch behind their magic until they figured out what to do with it once Rowan and Wren returned.
