The Walker on the Old Way
- On the way home from Christmas shopping, Will decides to take a shortcut through Tramps' Alley.
- Will notices that animals don't want to come near him anymore, especially rooks (read: crows).
- He's been thinking a lot about what happened and wants to see just how much power he really has. Game on.
- Will sees a branch on the ground and decides to light it on fire with his mind. Boom—it goes up in smoke just from him thinking about it.
- Understandably, Will's thinking this is pretty cool… until the Walker grabs him from behind.
- The guy doesn't seem to like Will much and tells him to put out the fire—now.
- Meanwhile, Will wonders why the guy's so rude when they're on the same team. Aren't they supposed to hate the Dark (not each other)?
- The Walker has the next Sign and is supposed to give it to Will, but the guy's really reluctant. He's just not certain Will is really an Old One—after all, he could be a trick from the Dark.
- Will thinks this whole thing is ridiculous. The Walker saw the Rider try to fool Will yesterday, so it's clear they're fighting each other.
- Will demands that the Walker give him the Sign already—dude's not following the rules.
- Just then, Maggie Barnes arrives. She seems sweet enough as she makes small talk, but then she demands that Will give her the Sign—revealing that she knows he has it.
- At first Will is shocked. He wonders whether Maggie has always been one of the Dark, or if they stole her body somehow.
- Then Will realizes there's no time for this pondering, and before he knows it, Maggie is ready to steal the Sign.
- Suddenly (and luckily) Merriman shows up and tells Will—in a voice only he can hear—that he should go back to the road called Old Way.
- Will does so. Merriman then calls Maggie by another name, which somehow weakens her.
- It turns out the road is now called Tramps' Alley, but it was originally called Old Way and has magical powers. It also turns out that the Dark are defenseless against their real names. This is why they keep them very secret, and this is how Merriman weakened Maggie.
- Will feels super overwhelmed with all this new info, especially when Merriman tells him to pay attention to every single word he says. No pressure or anything…
- The Walker has been frozen in time by the spells, and Merriman explains to Will that this can happen to any of them if the right powers are at play. The Walker will be fine, though; he's just stuck for a little while.
- It dawns on Will that Merriman probably isn't the guy's real name. When he asks what his name really is, though, Merriman simply tells Will that he's learning already.
- In a flash, Merriman disappears and Will's brother comes to get him for dinner.