Adventure of Parker 1

Parker braces at the threshold, shoulder and boot against the barred door. Outside, the ghosts thud and hiss through the mist, testing the seams of the lodge. Inside, Oryn stands at the room’s center, drawing a shaking breath before he resumes his chant.

The old ward-thread glimmers above the altar stone. Oryn twists in a brighter line of spellwork, and the air tightens around it, like a knot being pulled closed. The door buckles once under the pressure from beyond.

A hooded figure is suddenly visible in the far corner, half-hidden by hanging shadow and drifting candle smoke. Parker cannot tell how long they have been there. Oryn falters, but keeps the chant alive.

The ghosts slam the door again, harder. Parker’s grip holds. Oryn answers the taunt with a steadying note, and the ward-thread brightens, inching toward repair even as the saboteur’s voice keeps pressing at the cracks.

Parker breaks from the door and drives straight for the corner, boots skidding over the boards. The hooded figure whips toward him as he closes the distance.

Parker catches the figure by the front of the cloak and hauls them out of the shadows. The candle smoke parts, and the hood tilts back under his grip.

Oryn does not stop chanting. The ward-thread above the altar flares brighter, and the pressure at the door stutters.

The ghosts outside recoil in a ragged surge, their thudding hands slipping from the bar as the lodge stops shaking.

In Parker’s fist, the cloak bunches tight around a face half-seen in the candlelight, and the struggle freezes into a single sharp choice, resist or answer.