Chapter 3
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Kylie walked with her coat slung over her shoulder. Winter was approaching, and in mid-day a refreshing chill hung in the air. The pleasantly sweet smell of the trees and the beautiful colors of the leaves had not lost their comforting presence. But the longer they travelled, the more bare the trees became, and the colors faded on the leaves that remained.

This trip was not well-planned. Neither of them had brought food or water; they often had to stop so Asalya could hunt and Kylie and Naomi could gather. But Kylie excelled in the woods, so she liked to think. She knew exactly which plants to eat and which to avoid, and fortunately there were still plenty of the region’s wild yellow gourds growing on vines around the roots of trees. Kylie loaded her bag with them. Naomi seemed to have gathered quite a bit of them as well, after Kylie began to. Kylie often caught Naomi glancing back at them. Apparently it wasn’t against her Order’s rules to pick up survival tricks from your pursuers.

There was just as much waiting as there was walking. It wasn’t easy trying to stay a fair distance behind someone Kylie was faster than. She would rest on a tree branch or a log, waiting for Naomi to climb a steep hill or maneuver around some cliff. Sometimes she regretted giving Naomi the map. But she supposed if they had taken the lead, and Naomi had just happened to need to follow them to get to Crescentia, they’d waste as much time waiting for her to catch up.

It became less and less likely that Kylie would lose sight of Naomi, though the distance between them never really shrank. The bits of brush and tall grass simply grew further apart and smaller in size. The plants were going dormant for the winter, and with less brush in between them and Naomi, she stayed consistently in their sight. And they stayed in hers - at least when she turned around.

Then, near noon on their fourth day, Naomi suddenly turned west. Kylie’s confusion didn’t last long. She heard a soft, sustained noise in the distance. A few more steps and she could hear it louder - the sound of running water. Lots of it. It didn’t take long for her to see the river. She peered across it. Its cool moisture pooled into little droplets in her hair.

The other side was in sight, and while it wouldn’t be the easiest swim, it would be manageable. Kylie snapped a twig off of a tree and threw it as hard as she could. It moved down the river slowly but steadily. The current wouldn’t push them very much. Naomi, however, must have decided it’d be too difficult to cross. She’d walked further down the river bank.

For the first time since she began following her, Kylie spoke to Naomi. She shouted, “Do you not know how to swim?”

Kylie wasn’t expecting a response, but she received one. Naomi shouted back, “I can swim fine, thank you! But the water’s going to be freezing cold, and I’d like to avoid that! I’m sorry I don’t have fur to keep me warm like you do!”

“I barely do!” Kylie swished her tail around to show her.

“Then just hug your giant dog for warmth!”

Asalya lowered her head and growled.

Kylie shouted back. “She hates being called that!”

Naomi nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry, Asalya!”

Asalya raised her head back up and let out a single appreciative bark. Kylie pet her head. “You’re so fickle.”

“I’m going to try and find some other way around!” Naomi continued to shout.

Kylie’s throat was getting sore. She stepped forward so they could hopefully meet and talk like normal. But as soon as she did, Naomi stepped back. Kylie let out a low groan. She didn’t mind this trip, but the pretense of it, even if she had created that pretense, was wearing her patience thin. For a moment she thought about turning around and returning home. But then, how could she justify disappearing in the first place? Besides, Naomi was speaking to her now. That was something.

“It’s not like there’s going to be a bridge or anything,” Kylie yelled.

“I know. This river isn’t even on the map. I’m just looking to see if it gets more narrow down this way.”

“You’re going to get equally wet no matter how narrow it is.”

“But the map could get ruined if I let it fall in the water.”

That was actually a fair point. Kylie was tired of shouting, anyway. Naomi started walking again, so she and Asalya followed dutifully behind.

They walked for a while beside the river, sun sinking ever lower in the sky. Then Naomi suddenly ran towards something. She pulled the map out of her pocket and held it over her head. Kylie didn’t know what she was doing, and that had her concerned. She ran towards Naomi, Asalya following close behind. Naomi turned toward the river and jumped in. 

To Kylie’s surprise, she didn’t sink. But she stumbled and had to support herself with one hand. Her other hand held the map high above the river. She took another leap. The landing process repeated itself. Kylie finally got close enough to see the line of grey stones just barely sticking up above the water. The gaps between the peaks were far, but the rocks seemed to go all the way to the other side of the river.

“Naomi, wait for me! I can make it to the other side easily! If you give me the map it’s not going to fall in!” Kylie was closer to her than before, stopping beside the rocks mere yards from Naomi, but shouted louder to make sure she could be heard over the rushing water.

Naomi simply took another leap. The next rock was quite a bit larger, and she landed with no difficulty. A few jumps later and Naomi crossed half of the river. That was enough distance for Kylie to start crossing too. Asalya, however, apparently hadn’t understood the plan. She jumped in the river with a massive splash. Cold water flew into Kylie’s face. Kylie quickly wiped it away, her heart skipping as she searched the river for her friend. Thankfully, Asalya was right next to her, seemingly unbothered. Though the river was gradually carrying her further away, the wolf seemed content to paddle across. 

Naomi jumped again. Her heel landed on the next rock. And slid. The rock was slick with moss, and she jumped too far, losing her footing to the momentum. She skidded and fell towards the water. With all her strength and a soft cry, she threw the map up into the air, then crashed into the river below. 

Asalya changed direction and swam toward Naomi, but the wolf was further down the river and had to struggle against the current. Kylie saw that Asalya couldn’t make it. She jumped between the rocks with every bit of haste she could summon. The map unfolded in the air and fell slowly towards the water’s surface. 

Naomi’s head emerged from the water with a gasp. Kylie sighed with relief; it didn’t look like the fall had hurt her. After a moment to gain her bearings, Naomi began treading water. Kylie reached out for the falling map, but a light breeze was enough to carry it out of her reach.

The moment the map slipped past Kylie’s fingers, Naomi spotted it and swam to catch it. Kylie jumped in after it, careful not to create a splash that could get it wet. The icy cold river stung against her skin. She didn’t have time to be concerned about that. Kylie’s head emerged from the water just in time to see the map drift into Naomi’s hand. Part of the paper slumped into the water as she caught it, but she quickly lifted it back up. Then, with only one free arm, she swam towards the other side of the river. A minute or so later, she pulled herself onto land.

Kylie, stunned, simply let the water carry her. She hit against something large and soft. Asalya barked. Kylie wrapped her arm around her soaking wet friend.

“We weren’t much help there, huh, girl?” Kylie scratched the top of Asalya’s head.

Asalya gave a resigned grumble and continued swimming. Kylie began to as well.

“I got your map!” Naomi shouted to them, her face beaming. “I damaged it a little, but thankfully it’s only smeared south of anywhere we’re heading. I’m sorry in advance if you ever need it to go there, though.”

“No worries, my dad can get a new one next time he’s in Laryth!” Kylie shouted back. Water tried to get in her mouth as she spoke. She spat to push it back out.

“Okay. I have to go on ahead of you now, but I’m sure you hunters won’t have much trouble finding me.” Naomi waved and walked into the woods.

Asalya made it to land first, with Kylie close enough behind to get sprayed in the face by Asalya as she shook the water off her fur. Kylie got out of the water and shook herself to return the favor. Asalya didn’t react; Kylie’s small amount of fur didn’t hold enough water to bother her. And Kylie knew it. Kylie grumbled, sat down, and emptied the water from her boots. By the time they’d made it to the other side, Naomi was nowhere to be seen. She sniffed at the air but couldn’t detect her scent.

“I lost track of her. Did you?” asked Kylie.

Asalya barked in confirmation.

Kylie flopped on the ground, her arms spread out. The brittle, dying grass poked at her. “We’re not actually very good hunters, are we?”

Asalya growled. 

“Fair enough. I’ll speak for myself.”

But the growling continued. Asalya barked and bared her teeth. Kylie sat up, her ears perked and eyes wide, searching for whatever Asalya was afraid of. She saw it, and began growling as well. 

The creature was in the forest on the other side of the river, its glowing red eyes focused squarely on them. Kylie’s fur stood on end as the monster slunk from the woods and stood beside the river bed. The sunlight showed more of it than she had ever hoped to see. The bulk of its mass, seemingly made of pure shadow, oozed from the top of its head, through its face - where teeth and only teeth indicated a mouth should be - to the ground, where the drippings vanished into smoke with a hiss. The mere glimpse she’d caught of the creature before had failed to convey its size and weight. Each slow step left an imprint on the dirt and sent a ripple through the water. Even on all fours, it stood over twice Kylie’s height.

Kylie continued to growl. She spread her fingers apart, her nails ready to slash even though she feared slashing would do nothing against this shadow. Asalya kept growling at the beast. She began walking to the left. Kylie growled and walked to the right. The river may have prevented the wolves from circling, but the message was the same - come for one and we both attack.

It waited. Kylie didn’t know why. Perhaps it was preparing to leap across. It looked strong. She believed it could. 

The beast took one more step forward, then, for the first time, looked away from them. It stared down at the river and began to step again. Then pulled its leg back when it touched the water. It looked back to them. It kept facing them as it turned to the side and began walking, then running, alongside the river. Its red eyes stayed on them the whole time. Kylie felt its menacing gaze until it was out of sight.

It took several minutes after it was gone for the hair on Kylie’s ears to calm down. The wolves stopped growling. But the shaking nervousness in her chest hadn’t gone away.

“We have to find Naomi. Now.” Kylie took off into the woods and Asalya followed close behind.

The sky tinted orange as the sun began to set on the other side of the mountains. The air grew even more frigid. Kylie began to shiver. She swore she could feel the water in her clothes turning into ice. Night fell as Kylie and Asalya continued running through the woods, sometimes running straight ahead and sometimes fanning out. Kylie had no trouble seeing in the dark. But neither sight nor scent helped them find Naomi.

Eventually the bitter cold became too much to bear. The search would have to end for the night. Kylie pulled her flint from her pack and found a small clearing to make a fire. Asalya ran into the woods to hunt what food she could. It took her shivering hands several strikes, but Kylie soon got her kinding alight, and a proper bonfire roared moments later. She reveled in its warmth on her face, heating her to the point it nearly seared. She held her arms out above it and lay beside it, feeling her clothes stiffen as they dried. The shaking in her arms didn’t go away - it simply turned from shaking in cold to shaking in worry.

Asalya returned, her hunting evidently successful. Asalya’s presence calmed Kylie’s nerves a bit. But the wolf’s attention was elsewhere. While she came and sat next to Kylie and the fire, she kept looking to the west. To where they’d come from. 

Kylie pet Asalya behind the ears. “Do you miss home?”

Asalya whined, and Kylie began petting with both hands.

“I’m sorry, but we’ve still got a really long way to go. You can go home if you need to.”

Asalya leaned into the petting, bumped her nose on Kylie’s stomach, and rested her head on the wolf girl’s lap. Within moments, Asalya fell asleep. Kylie scratched behind her ears.

“Thank you.” Kylie understood how Asalya felt. She already missed running through the woods with the wolf pups. She missed her teacher, and her teacher’s partner, and the stories they sometimes told of their encounters with magical creatures. Right now, she really missed having shelter, a fireplace, clean clothes, and running water.

She was supposed to miss her dad. Didn’t she owe him that? So many other fathers would have never let her be herself. From what she had gathered, if her parents had been Naomi’s, she might have been cast out the moment she considered becoming cursed. Kylie had never felt a pain that great. A pain that others almost certainly had. So, she figured, what she felt must not have been real pain at all.

They heard a rustling in the forest behind them, and the two wolves turned towards it. Naomi was several feet back, shuffling and shivering. She held one arm to her chest, clutching a bundle of sticks tightly. Her other arm held her still-wet coat, which she only barely managed to keep off the ground. Her teeth chattered. At some point Kylie and Asalya must have passed by her. She looked miserably cold.

Naomi dropped the sticks in a pile. To Kylie’s surprise, Naomi turned and started walking towards the two of them. Kylie, for a moment, hoped she would actually join them.

The healer who had walked ahead of her for days now came so close to Kylie she could have reached out and grabbed her. Some part of Kylie wanted to do that, to stand up and give Naomi the hug she looked like she needed. But if she so much as touched Naomi, the darkness of Kylie’s curse might scare her again. So Kylie looked up at Naomi and stared at her as the cleric knelt by the fire, grabbed the not-flaming end of one burning branch, and stood up again.

“I’m stealing this.” Her trembling hand held the flaming twig away from them. “You’re not travelling with me, you’re still chasing me. I’m just stealing.”

“We can’t be the ones chasing you, you just found us.” Kylie’s ear twitched as she tried not to grin. She was happy to see Naomi, even though she knew she shouldn’t be. 

Naomi moved the branch towards her face. The light illuminated her wide eyes. “No. I found fire.”

She began walking back toward her pile of sticks.

“Being seen with me is a worse offense than stealing?” Kylie muttered, her finger tracing little circles in the dirt. She wasn’t sure if she sounded angry or sad, but didn’t know if she had the right to feel either.

Naomi stopped and looked to the ground. She turned her head only far enough to make sure that Kylie knew she was being addressed. “Yes.”

That hurt. Kylie opened her mouth to ask “why,” but said nothing. She tried again to say “sorry,” but refused to. So she simply waved her hand and stared once again at the fire. Behind her, Naomi lit a fire of her own and sat beside it.

“That monster’s coming.” Kylie prodded the fire with a stick, clearing away some ash to allow more air in. The fire rose in response. “Asalya and I saw it when we got out of the river.”

“Did it hurt you?” Naomi had to raise her voice to be heard across the distance from her fire to Kylie’s, yet somehow still sounded timid.

“No, we’re fine. It didn’t follow us across the river, and I’m guessing that it couldn’t. Maybe water hurts it like fire does? I don’t know.” Kylie looked again at Naomi, who was now moving her coat to her fire to dry it off. 

“Maybe,” Naomi replied.

“But either way, I don’t think Asalya and I can actually fight this thing.” Kylie pet the back of Asalya’s head again. “And I think at some point it’s gonna find a way around that river and get to you.”

“You don’t have to protect me. You’re not even supposed to. And I have magic, you know?” Naomi stood up, and a light flashed in the palm of her hands. “I can’t fight it but I’ve at least found ways to distract it. How do you think I made it to your village? I can do this all on my own.”

“But you shouldn’t have to.”

“Don’t admit it!” Naomi shouted. “Please, please, please don’t admit you’re here to help. Just come up with some excuse, some shred of plausible deniability.”

“Fine.” Kylie’s ears fell close to her head. “We’re going to Crescentia to warn them about the shadow beast.”

“Then why can’t you just go on ahead of me?”

“Because you’re the bait.”

Naomi sat back down in a huff, “What good is bait if you can’t stop it when it gets to me?”

This was getting frustrating. “You’re still leading that thing, and we have to keep an eye on you.”

“Why?” Naomi pressed.

“Because we don’t trust you.”

Naomi flinched. “Why not?”

“Because you showed up on our doorstep, made us rescue you, brought a monster to our forest, took advantage of our charity, threatened to take away some of the most important things in my life - some of the most important parts of me - then stole away into the night without telling anyone, and now you won’t even talk to me about it.” Kylie stopped. She could feel the sides of her mouth pulling wide, stretching in preparation to show her fangs. She couldn’t let herself do that to Naomi. Instead she turned back to the fire.

“Yeah. I guess that works.” The weight and stifling in Naomi’s voice tugged at Kylie. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Kylie said, her tail thumping slowly but rhythmically against the ground. “I get it; you’re in a bad situation. I shouldn’t be pressuring you. It’s just... I want you to be okay, whether you’re simply my bait or not.”

Naomi gave a heavy sigh, relieving only some of the pressure contained in her. “Why would you care about me?”

Kylie thought for a moment. She looked at the few leaves still hanging on the trees. “I like to think I can help protect Nighthills. And Rodehills, and the woods around them, at least a little. I can’t stand seeing things get hurt. I didn’t even like hurting the monster, but it had clearly attacked you and seemed like it was going to hurt me.”

“Is that why you don’t eat meat?” asked Naomi.

“Oh, you noticed!” Kylie’s ears perked up. “Not a lot of people do, and I swear there’s people in town who have invited me over for lamb like a hundred times. I think it’s because my teacher and the wolves are all carnivores. Like, I get that meat-eating is important for some people and creatures, even if I won’t do it. But, honestly, when I had meat as a kid it mostly just upset my tum.”

Naomi snorted and giggled.

Even knowing the joke was on her, Kylie laughed, too. Her tail wagged. “What’s so funny?”

Naomi covered her mouth and looked away, failing to hide her laughter. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just really did not expect you to say tum.”

Kylie stuck out her tongue at Naomi, and Naomi giggled even more at the childish gesture. 

Eventually the laughing died down. Naomi sighed again, “Hey Kylie, have you felt lonely on this trip?”

Kylie rubbed Asalya’s head. “Not really. There’s parts of home I miss, but I can’t say I’ve felt lonely.”

“Me neither.” Naomi tilted her head back and looked up at the night sky. With the distance between them, Kylie couldn’t see the subtleties of her facial expression, or determine her mood from tone of voice alone. Naomi was hurting, that much was clear, but hopefully the pain lessened bit by bit. She spoke without deliberation, simply letting words tumble out of her mouth with the rise and fall of her breath. “I must be bad at this.”

Kylie looked up to the sky as well. The tree canopy had virtually vanished, and now starlight peeked through in the gaps between bare branches. The crescent moon looked very distant and could only scarcely be seen between the peaks of two mountains. A little further east, thick clouds slowly drifted towards them.

“We should gather more wood and kindling.” Kylie turned back to Naomi. “We may also need to find shelter. I think it might rain tomorrow.”

“Or snow,” Naomi replied. A shiver, a memory of the chill of mere minutes ago, ran through her. “I’m going to try to sleep. I want to be rested and ready to get away from that thing as soon as I can.”

“Good idea.” Kylie folded her arms closer, snuggling tighter in her coat. Then she leaned against Asalya, feeling the warm fur and the rise and fall of the wolf’s side against her cheek. “Good night, Naomi.”

“Good night, Kylie.”

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