51

“Thank you.” The man without eyelids had passed Conor the watch, and manners mandated his gratitude before his mind had a chance to mark the man unworthy of appreciation and shutter his lips. Too late. He stood gazing at the watch for a short while, looking as one does at a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, checking it from every angle. He slid it over his hand onto his wrist. He sealed the clasp, and it clamped gently into place. Conor noted how, in a few days, perhaps sooner, the attention it warranted now would be lost to familiarity. He turned back to the man, who was facing away from him. The boy saw then just how tall he was, and took in more of his body, since he was so often seemingly just a pair of cold, unblinking eyes to him. He saw the wisps of his thin, grey hair pulled back across the pale head. The dark, well-fitted jacket wrapped around his broad shoulders. He had the shape of a man who had done a lot of heavy lifting a long time ago. He bade Conor and Ella walk with him in the emerging light as they moved away from the fire and towards the edge of Glyder Fawr and onwards toward a set of sharp rocks set out like a dragon's back. He spoke again.

“Some call it ‘orenda’ - that which gives everything life. The young are born full. Through your life, you either retain that fullness, or you give it up. The ones that die are the empties. All manner of circumstances lead to this emptying. The old sacrifice the young for precisely this, to thieve their fullness and consume it. It is how they remain in the world. Abraham ascends Moriah, preparing his son Isaac as an offering. The Lord intervenes and provides a Ram to sacrifice, and we close the book and look away. But there are those who have offered their Isaac’s. There are many. Many empties offer up the full to consume them entirely. So we take Abraham instead, we lead him up, bind him hand and foot and plunge the dagger. And why not? You can do what you like with the empties. All they do is eat. Eat to fill their swollen bellies, all the world would not satisfy them. The empties are always hungry. It is the full-old that you should fear.”

Conor felt ill. The man continued.

“The empties consumed the three sisters. Took them in and devoured them. They dig their faces in and feast. The empties are grotesque creatures, Conor. They don’t mind scraps, mould or rot. I will not accept your offering yet. First you must choose your empty.“