by K A Faul
The deer and rabbits she took down tasted and looked similar enough to what she encountered on Earth, and she didn’t dare go after some of the other animals, exotic or otherwise. Sometimes it was best to stick to what a wolf knew.
Mina might not believe in the True Breed’s genocidal vision of returning the Earth to its supposed proper balance, but every step she took as a wolf called to millennia of instinct that wouldn’t be satisfied by Golden Burger drive-through food.
Her inability to communicate with any of her prey made the process of hunting less unsettling, though Mina still apologized to each of her kills.
The wolf peered up at the night sky through the canopy. The stars were wrong. The constellations unfamiliar. That, more than the occasional four-winged bird or glowing moss, reinforced that she was now on an alien world.
Mina rested her head on her paws. Alien world, or not, she had another long day of travel ahead of her. She closed her eyes.
Mina couldn’t see the fae man’s face. His back was turned to her. Other than the pointed ears and height, she wouldn’t otherwise know he was a fae. When she concentrated, she realized she couldn’t even see any real details. The man wasn’t naked, but she couldn’t really make out his clothes. An impression, really, more than a man. Still, a regal air hung around him. That much, she knew.
Glad to see my dreams are still the same.
A soft but cold hand stroked her cheek, and Mina jerked back. When she turned, no one was there.
“Wonderful, simply wonderful,” a woman’s voice said.
“Who are you?”
“You’ll see, my little bitch. You’ll see. Now that you’re here, I can almost taste you. I thought you might defy me, but instead, you’re setting things in motion.”
“You’re not real. You’re just a figment of my imagination.”
The following whisper came right behind her ear. “Believe whatever you want.”
Mina snapped awake, her heart trying to explode out of her chest. She rose, her hackles rising, snarling and looking around for any faeries.
It was just a dumb dream. She’d had countless of them. They didn’t mean anything other than unresolved issues in her subconscious. That had to be the truth.
That’s what Mina wanted to cling to for comfort, but she couldn’t be sure anymore. Even if she couldn’t speak with animals in Esper, her ability raised questions about the limits of werewolf experience.
It would be easy to blame it on something in the water, berries, or the fish she’d taken from a stream earlier, but she’d not been drugged for most of her dreams about faeries.
Yeah, I’m screwed if a bunch of faeries show up.
Mina let out a low growl. She was one day away from her ticket back to Earth and two days away from completing her Rite of Passage. Worrying about mysterious dream threats she couldn’t do anything about wouldn’t help her.
It’s probably not real. I just have an overactive imagination.
The next day of travel didn’t lead to anything more eventful than rabbits so large, they looked like they should be putting on waistcoats and leading Alice down a rabbit hole. Mina decided not to go after any of them.
She padded into the small clearing where Thomas told her she should be able to find the mushrooms she needed to return through the portal. Her hackles rose as a mist descended upon the clearing after a few steps inside.
Yeah, not suspicious at all.
Mina raised her head, sniffing at the air for any strange scents. Nothing stood out compared to any of the smells she’d encountered since her arrival on Esper.
The ground shook as something huge thudded against the ground, the steps booming. The mist thickened, and Mina let out a loud growl.
Hunters weren’t enough. There had to be a dragon or some crap like that, huh?
Another thunderous step shook the ground, and Mina spun toward the source behind her. The mist parted, and the wolf’s jaw dropped.
You have got to be kidding me. This isn’t fair.
A massive bipedal housecat stood tall in the forest, towering over the trees and glaring down at the her.
Megasnuffly didn’t look pleased.
Chapter 29
Yeah. This will be either the most awesome way to die or the most humiliating.
Mina imagined many ways her Rite might end in her bloody demise. Her most extreme scenarios involved manticores or crazed faerie women choking her to death, not facing a kaiju housecat.
This one’s even bigger than the one I had in my hallucination. Great. Maybe send me a few more Hunters instead.
Mina backed up a few steps, cursing Thomas in her mind for never having received any training on how to take down building-sized felines. Knowing five different edible berries in the forest didn’t seem all that important at all anymore.
Maybe I can climb him and scratch his eyes out or something.
Megasnuffly took a single step, the ground shaking. He let out huge roar.
How much damage would I have to do to his legs to take him down? Would taking out the hamstrings of a giant work? Then again, maybe he’s using magic to keep himself up.
Battling a building-sized cat didn’t strike Mina as the soundest tactical strategy. She wasn’t there to kick ass. She was there to find a mushroom.
Mina glanced behind her. The mist had vanished.
She darted toward the other side of the clearing, looking for any sign of the mushrooms. Plenty of bushes and shrubs, but no mushrooms.
Perfect. Just perfect.
It would be pointless to outrun the kaiju housecat without the mushrooms. Mina didn’t know any other way of getting back to Earth that didn’t involve an angel, and it wasn’t like she could clap her paws together and summon one.
The behemoth in front of her raised a foot. Mina sprinted to the side as the massive foot slammed down, only missing her by a foot.
She spun around, snarling and snapping at Megasnuffly, as if her tiny display of dominance was going to intimidate something that she would need tanks and missiles to take down.
The cat didn’t take another step, but it did continue glaring down at her.
What? Not going to give me a speech about my manners? I’m disappointed. Or did I actually manage to scare you? As if.
Mina crouched low to the ground, ready to pounce. She took several steps back. Her heart still galloped in her chest, but something gnawed at the edge of her mind. She was convinced she was missing something important. Perhaps it was a vain hope.
The seconds ticked away as the wolf waited for Megasnuffly to make his next move. As if he could read her mind, he let out another boneshaking roar and took a lumbering step forward.
Mina sprinted in the opposite direction. Getting squashed wouldn’t help her complete her Rite of Passage, and the stupid mushrooms weren’t even in the clearing like Thomas told her. Maybe if she escaped, the housecat would wander back to some huge desert he used as a litter box.
Wait. How the hell could something that big sneak up on me?
Mina stopped so fast she stumbled to the ground. She hopped back on her four legs and stared at the ground where the mammoth housecat stood earlier. She understood what her subconscious had been trying to tell her.
An animal that big should have been leaving deep footprints, or at least some footprints, but the clearing remained untouched. During her short time in Esper, she’d seen the tracks of more than a few animals not only much smaller than Megasnuffly, but smaller than her.
Magic? Maybe, but I don’t think so.
Mina loud out a loud growl and snapped at the kaiju housecat. He responded with a roar, but no movement.
So that’s what they mean by go big or go home.
The wolf charged straight toward Megasnuffly’s foot. Time to either get crushed or take down the ultimate of foes. She opened her jaw and pounced.
Someone let out a high-pitched yelp, and Mina blinked, realizing that the kaiju housecat had vanished, and some blue-skinned creature with p
ointed ears lay underneath one of her paws. Unlike Megasnuffly, the trembling creature was barely two feet tall, if that. Three pairs of delicate, iridescent gossamer wings extended from its back.
“Please don’t eat me,” the creature squeaked. It sounded like perfect English, if more than a little high-pitched.
Mina narrowed her eyes. This was the first creature she’d run into on Esper whom she could communicate with, and she doubted it was because of her abilities. Maybe it was a magical translation spell, or maybe it just happened to speak her language. The fact that it’d managed to fake a very specific image from her mind suggested something approaching telepathy.
Can you hear me? she sent.
The creature bobbed its head. “Yes. Your mind feels... complicated. You’re not a normal wolf, are you?”
Mina snorted and lifted a paw. Nope.
“That must be why you didn’t run away when I made the monster from your memories. I thought it was a very convincing illusion.”
It was never real to begin with. You want to see the truth? Just give me a few seconds.
Mina backed a yard away from the creature and then initiated the shift. She managed to keep her grunts and hisses to a minimum as her body contorted back into a jacket and jeans-wearing young woman.
She took a deep breath and fingered her preservation amulet. She wondered how wolves ever functioned away from their own areas without the artifacts.
The creature’s wings fluttered as he darted around Mina, taking in her new appearance. “A werewolf. I should have known. You’re such troublemakers.”
“Says the thing that pretended to be a monster housecat.”
“It was necessary.”
“Yeah. What was with the giant cat nonsense?”
The creature flitted back and forth. “I was sleeping, woke up, and saw you. I panicked. I was just trying to scare you away. It’s an illusion nothing more.”
“But the ground shook.”
“It’s just because the magic changes your perceptions. It’s not perfect, though.”
Mina snorted. “Yeah, next time pick something smaller. Fewer mistakes to see through.”
The creature circled once more before stopping in front of her face. “I’m sorry, Lady Werewolf. I meant no harm. I was just scared.”
“Just call me, Mina. You got a name? I’m guessing it’s not Megasnuffly.”
“My kind has no need for something as unimportant as names, but some lesser beings call us mirage pixies.”
The mirage pixie shook its head. Mina remained uncertain if it was male or female, or if such a concept even applied to the creature.
The pixie frowned. “I was told there were werewolves in these woods. Cyclopses, manticores, and werewolves. What a dangerous place!”
“If it’s so dangerous, why do you hang out here?”
“The bugs here are delicious. Some of the best on Esper.”
Mina gagged. “You eat bugs?”
The pixie sniffed disdainfully. “You eat much more disgusting things than bugs. Plus, eating people? They don’t even taste good, I imagine.”
“I don’t eat people.” Mina blinked. “Wait. Did you say there is a cyclops in these woods?” She jerked her head back and forth as if one would be standing there, waiting to smash her head with a club.
“Silly, werewolf. It’s called the Forest of the Cyclops. Of course, there is. A whole bunch of them. How can you not know that? You’re wandering around the forest. Is your head full of grass?”
“I’m new to the area.” Mina rubbed the back of her neck. Maybe the elders had made some sort of deal with the one-eyed giants. She found it hard to believe that Thomas would mention a manticore and forget to mention a cyclops.
“Thomas?”
Mina frowned, realizing the pixie was now reading her surface thoughts.
“Don’t worry about him. A cyclops sounds freakier than a manticore.” She shook her head. “Whatever. I’m looking for some stupid magical mushrooms. They were supposed to be in this clearing.”
The mirage pixie made a disgusted face. It pointed past the clearing to a small hill covered in trees. “I think I know what you’re looking for. There’s a small number growing on the other side on that hill. They taste disgusting though, and I don’t even know what they are supposed to do. I’ve never found much use for them.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Mina winked. “It’s a werewolf thing. We’re freaky that way.”
The mirage pixie darted back and forth a few times. “Then I’ll leave you to your werewolf matters. You’re all right for one of your kind.” The creature zipped into the forest.
Mina took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Somehow, the encounter with a bug-eating mirage pixie that tried to pretend to be a kaiju housecat seemed almost normal at that point.
What’s next? A dragon opera singer?
She shrugged to herself and headed toward the small hill, half-expecting a cyclops when she arrived on the other side. Instead, she found a small patch of mushrooms pulsing different colors over several seconds.
“Okay, guessing this is what I need.”
Mina leaned down to pluck a smaller one and pop it in her mouth. She bit down and almost spit it out.
“The pixie was right.”
Chapter 30
The pain of the shift subsided, and Mina stretched in human form, taking in the portal in front of her under the soft red glow of the moss. She’d made it. No cyclops, manticore, Hunter, or other bizarre monster ambushed her during the return trip to the cave. Luck or destiny, she’d didn’t know. At that point, she didn’t care.
Mina’s gaze cut to the torches, flint, and steel near the entrance. She’d considered passing through the portal in wolf form and trying to outrun the shades, but taking a chance against restless spirits trying to suck out her life force didn’t seem smart.
A good minute passed as Mina struggled to get her torch lit. She rolled her eyes once the flames grew on top.
“Couldn’t they have just stored a bunch of lanterns in these caves?”
Mina stepped toward the portal and stopped. She looked behind, still half expecting to see a fae woman. Too many things had happened for her to dismiss the dreams anymore, but she was about to escape Esper.
As long as I stay on Earth, Little Miss Chokes-A-Lot can’t ever get her hands on me.
The werewolf couldn’t think of any reason why a faerie would be obsessed with her, let alone what it might have to do with revenge, humiliation, and something that happened a hundred years before.
Long-lived beings carried bizarre grudges, but it didn’t matter. If that fae bitch came to Golden Oaks and started trouble, she’d have a clan of wolves on her ass.
That’s us. Werewolves. The OG furry gangsters.
Mina shook her head, took a deep breath, and stepped through the portal.
Everything was as before. The stars hung in the endless blackness above, and the illuminated steps continued down. Distant flowing shadows marked desperate shades hunting for life.
Mina looked behind her. She hadn’t bothered the first time. There was no sign of the portal.
The brief thought of experimenting vanished as she turned around and spotted several shades flowing nearby.
“Don’t have time to screw around. Right.”
Her heart didn’t pound as she made her way down the steps. As before, the shades started to swarm, but the light of her torch kept them away. Fear didn’t threaten to overwhelm her, just weariness. Mina picked up the pace, staring straight ahead and doing her best to ignore the gathering and hungry shadows.
How long did this take last time? I couldn’t even tell.
The eerie silence of the twitching dark mass broke through her tired mind to set her blood pumping.
Such a simple task. All she had to do was walk, but the implications of having to try and fight something she couldn’t take down with her fangs, claws, or fists tightened her stomach.
Step after step followed
until Mina found herself in the original cave, her foot half on a stone step. She stumbled down and landed on her back with a yelp.
“Son of a bitch!”
Mina blinked several times. Upside down from her point of view stood her father and cousin John. She’d expected more people there, but perhaps that was for the best, considering how she’d embarrassed herself.
The king smiled down at Mina, and she hopped off the ground and dusted her jacket and pants. She grimaced a bit as a whiff of her body odor passed into her nose. They’d taken the time to bathe in some ponds and streams during the first half of the Rite, but with everything that’d been happening during the second half, she’d given up on such niceties.
Mina took a deep breath. Thomas wasn’t there, so she wasn’t sure how to proceed. He was the one who was supposed to do most of the talking at the end of the Rite, from what she understood.
Her father gave her a nod, a glint of pride in his eyes. “The elders are making sure the others are taken care of in Golden Oaks. That’s why only the Keeper of Rituals and I are here, Mina.”
“They’re all okay, then?”
“They’ll recover, and their lives are not in immediate danger.”
Mina let out a sigh of relief, but bile rose in her throat at another harsh possibility. “Are we going to war? I don’t know if they told you, but those Hunters, they were rogues, like True Breed versions of Hunters.”
John cleared his throat. “My king, we must observe the ritual, even if it is just the two of us.”
“You’re right. Mina, the rest of this can wait.” Her father looked back over at John. “Please, Keeper.”
John turned his intense gaze on Mina. “Kneel, wolf.”
Mina knelt and bowed her head.
“The Rite marks where a pup becomes a true wolf. Where they learn to rely on the pack and that dangers lurk all around our clan, threatening us. You’ve learned that more than anyone, Mina Golden Claw.
“You faced the dangers of Esper by yourself and proved your bravery as a wolf of the Golden Claw. Know now that much of what you experienced, you will not tell to others. For all must face the surprises the Rite offers, and in surprise is the true measure of the wolf revealed. Such is the way of the Golden Claw. Take this opportunity now to boast of your glory and the dangers you faced to your king.”
