Adventure of Butch 1

The Horned Beast releases the Hooded Figure and throws its head back, white light burning in its eyes. The ground groans under all three of them, and the standing stones begin to turn.

Butch feels the crossroads rise and split. Fresh cracks race past his boots as the old ring twists into a jagged arch, each stone flashing with the same pale blaze as the memory shard.

The Hooded Figure straightens, no longer pinned, and lifts one hand toward the light. Their shadow tears loose at the feet and stretches toward the new gate like a living stain.

The Horned Beast braces against the shifting earth, claws sunk deep, as if it is fighting to hold the crossroads together long enough for Butch to choose.

Butch seizes the Hooded Figure by the collar and hauls them off balance. The arch-light grabs at both of them, turning the air thin and sharp as a blade.

Butch drags them forward. Their shadow rips loose from the stones and flattens under the white seam as the pair cross the threshold together.

Behind them, the crossroads tightens like a fist. The jagged arch holds, but the moor is gone, replaced by a cold passage of pale stone and breathless dark.

A distant door of light waits ahead, while the memory shard in Butch's grasp gives one hard pulse, as if something beyond it has noticed his hand.