The Temple of the Eastern Most Pillar
Ichabod followed into the temple along with the others, Horus, Yolanda, Medea, and December while Vhen lead the way. They milled around a bit, looking at the floor while they considered their situation.
"I take it that the meeting went well," Oriko came in, noticing their dejected expressions.
"So..." Ichabod wondered, looking at Vhen desperately, "About how screwed are we?"
"Well... they won't be able to replace me until they find a substitute they can all agree on."
"So a couple days?"
"Actually I'd say more like a year," she shrugged, "But, that's no reason to drag our heels," she turned to face him, "Where do we start?"
Ichabod paced the room in front of everyone, trying his best to organize his thoughts, and visibly squirming under Horus' gaze.
"Okay, so, there's four basic parts to any trap," Ichabod tried to push through, "The bait, the box, the snare, and clean-up."
"Question!" Laurie raised her hand.
"Yes?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't the box and the snare exactly the same thing making the two steps a complete redundancy?"
"The box is just actually a metaphor for the area that encompasses the trap itself and the snare is what closes it," Yolanda surmised quickly, then gestured to Ichabod, "Continue."
"Ahem...right, um, well..." he tapped his fingers together, "If you're any kind of hunter, then you know that a big part of it is all about understanding and anticipating your prey...and that's our first snag, we don't know enough about either of them to make an assumption..."
"She's our daughter!" Horus snapped, "We Know..."
"NO YOU DON'T!" Ichabod yelled losing control of himself for a moment, then turned to Medea, "What was this asshole's name again?"
"Horus Ignalia," she sneered back.
"Please...just...please..." he complained, rubbing his eyes.
"Abraham Scratch," the specter responded more softly.
"Great, yeah, that guy," Ichabod nodded, "His power is...altering reality, he creates an area that has no rules, a pocket of timeless space."
"SO?!" Horus shouted.
"He said he kept Caroline there for years, he didn't say decade, but...years, in a world created by a madman who wanted to break her spirit, so no, we can't know what to expect."
YOU ARE READING
Ichabod Crowley series 3 The Thorn Tree
KorkuPeople tend to find ritual, rhythm in their lives, a routine by which to dictate their daily lives. As an exorcist, Ichabod finds this concept fairly alien, but pleasant none the less, a home, a steady job, even a family to look after. Even if nothi...
