An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
The old woman sucked on her toothless gums. ‘You know, us all being cooped up inside here, reminds me of the olden days, back when Thread fell. Everyone had to shelter under stone as we are now; beasts and folk alike.’
‘Was that when you were little?’ Jevikel asked. She seemed ancient to him.
Granny laughed, the wrinkles on her face growing deeper as she showed her toothless gums. ‘Oh no, lad. It was much longer ago than that. Why, even when my own granny was just a little girl, no one had seen Thread for hundreds of Turns.’
‘What is Thread, anyway?’ Jevikel wanted to know. His natural curiosity always led him to ask more questions, even when father glared in that way he had, showing he disapproved.
‘Thread!’ she exclaimed. ‘It fell from the sky, eating everything it touched.’
‘Herdbeasts?’ he’d asked.
‘Oh, yes, if they were left outside. People too…’
‘It ate people?’ That sounded gruesome, but like many boys of his age, Jevikel was fascinated by grisly sights. Hot blood steaming in the winter air when one of the beasts was slaughtered; a carcass, half-eaten by tunnel snakes. Thread sounded even more horrible. ‘How? Did it have teeth?’
She shook her head. ‘No. It dissolved them away, like they were dropped in agenothree. All that was left was anything metal they might have been wearing.’ She dropped her voice, leaning closer. ‘I did hear a story once about two children. A brother and a sister, just like you are. They went out playing on the hillside. Their mother had warned them not to stray too far because Thread was due that day, but they’d forgotten, as children do.’ She stared at the rocky ceiling above, putting on an expression of surprise. ‘All of a sudden, they looked up and saw the blue sky had turned to dull grey. Something was falling, but it wasn’t rain.’
‘Was it Thread?’ he asked.
Granny nodded. ‘They started to run for home, but it was sweeping down fast. Even a grown man couldn’t hope to outrun it, let alone two small children. Everywhere it landed, grass and plants shrivelled and died. They were almost in sight of the Hold when it caught them…’ She paused for effect. ‘And it ate every bit of them, in a matter of moments.’
Jevikel felt a shiver run down his spine. It was almost as if he could feel Thread touching his neck. Then he realised it was Kemi, trailing a piece of yarn over his bare skin. He batted it away. ‘Get off!’
‘Got you there,’ she laughed.
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