The barrows are cold even in the middle of the day, which you think is better than the hot-meat reek that hung over them when David Banicki reigned here. You and Elton destroyed the fomor's crude dam, allowing the water to flow freely again, and now a shimmering river winds among the hillocks and standing stones, but a brief investigation of the main barrow reveals how much remains to be done. Elton must have taken away the corpses of David Banicki and Jasper Heaney, but the disturbed dead are everywhere. You return some to their niches, then move that beaten copper mirror away from a hole in the barrow where water is getting in. But even if you shifted into your glabro form, you could work for months without making progress.
No, you need a specialist. Though many tribes are associated with the dead, including the Silent Striders and the Ghost Council, Elton says the Silver Fangs watched over the ancestors at Broad Brook. You need to bring one back here to start healing the ancestral spirits that dwell in this defiled landscape. Until then, this is simply a land of death.
As you wake up one morning, step outside to take the air, and try to see the spirit world, you enjoy a pleasant surprise: it's warm. Not "beautiful spring day" warm, but sunrise has banished the bitter cold of the last few months. Maybe it's time to talk to Daphne Clear about getting back to work.
I've waited long enough. I email Daphne Clear at GRC Media and tell her that Elton and I have work to do.
I pay to have someone fix my heat before I freeze.
I go meet Roscoe Thanh.
I reacquaint myself with Hobland Nash.
I introduce myself to Lucinda Palys-Nash.
I return to the stretch of urban blight where I spilled out after looking for the caern. Maybe I can find something there.
I check my phone.
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