Page 89 of Whisper Woods

The others watch on, whispering to each other as they regroup. Wolf ignores them, eyeing the trees with his superior vision, single-minded in his search for a path to Rafe. From where my consciousness resides, I can see it. Whether it was already there and it’s now just clearer, or the Whisper Woods themselves are clearing the way for us, a narrow, still overgrown path appears.

Turning back to our friends, Wolf barks sharply in their direction and tears off down the path without waiting to see if they follow.

He can feel it too, that burning urgency to get to Rafe.

Something’s wrong. Bad. Wolf is panting hard, absolutely flooring it through the underbrush. I can vaguely hear the others struggling to keep up behind us. Seldon is the only one able to keep pace, having changed into his sleek red fox form, but even he lags behind.

Wolf is right, though. Our instincts are once again firing off a thousand and ten warnings. It’s the same fear I’ve had since Heylor appeared in Rafe’s office. The terrible feeling that something awful has begun. That we will not be able to stop it. That I will lose Rafe forever if I do not get back to him.

The separation from him feels like a bleeding wound inside me. Maybe it’s made worse because this time it wasn’t our choice? I don’t know. But, Gods, it hurts.

I don’t know how Caelan and Tor cope. I haven’t even mated Rafe yet and this is how it feels. Caelan and Tor are bonded mates and that shit’s like, elite level connection. Or how Roan must’ve felt when Theo was kidnapped? Was that only a week ago? Fuck. It feels like six lifetimes. Either way, I have no idea how he did it. They may not have gone through their mating ceremony yet, but like, it’s inevitable.

Wolf comes to an abrupt stop when the path reaches the peak of the hill that surrounds the Tathissian border. He pants loudly, tongue hanging from his mouth while trying to recover his breath. This portal was a fuck-ton closer than the one Rafe and I used earlier, or maybe Rafe was right and the Whisper Woods are still playing us like pawns for their own games.

Pawing the ground impatiently, we wait for the others to catch up. They stumble, grumbling and groaning, clutching their aching chests and legs when they appear. Edith is the last to arrive, collapsing to the ground cursing me, the Woods, and running in general. Caelan looks pale, sweat dripping from his hair, his breathing loud and wheezy.

Wolf doesn’t have any patience for any of them and I scold him sharply when he snaps and stamps his feet at our friends.

“What the fuck?” Roan growls threateningly when Wolf gets too impatient with Theo, tugging at his pants with his sharp teeth.

“Roan, it’s fine.” Theo reassures his love between panting breaths, laying hishand on Roan’s arm. “He just needs us to get to Rafe.”

Wolf whines at the name, dropping to the floor to nuzzle his nose into his front paws. Edith rolls herself off the ground with a loud effort, stumbling to the crest to view the other side of the hill, and Tathys itself.

“It’s okay buddy, we’ll get you there, ‘kay?” Tor squats to scratch at Wolf’s ears, Caelan’s characteristic kindness rolling off him.

“Do we know where to find him?” Theo asks, his breathing significantly more even now. Wolf huffs and jumps to his feet, ready to lead the way, but Edith interjects.

“Um, not an expert on these things. But is there a chance he could be over there?” She points a bony finger out over the distance and we all make our way to join her.

We’ve landed much further west than with the now closed portal, at the very tail of the hill that rings Tathys. It’s much lower here, tapering off into the dragon’s lands only a few kilometres to the west. In the far distance and to the east, is the city of Tathys itself, looking significantly duller and less wondrous in the gloomy grey light of the day. Even the farmlands have lost their vibrant green, the vividness of Tathys fading with terrifying speed.

But that’s not what Edith is pointing to.

No, what she’s seen in the very near distance, on the southern cliffs is… chaos. Wolf paws the ground while we all gather and strain to see what’s happening.

Two figures—tiny in the distance—are on top of a big flat stone with a large crowd gathered around. Awareness prickles everywhere, Wolf’s and my instincts firing like machine guns, too chaotic to make reason or sense.

“What the fuck is going on, Seff?” Theo whispers, digging his fingers into Wolf’s coat. Seldon circles, yipping anxiously, and burrows himself under Wolf's chest, peeking out from under his chin. Wolf whines, stepping on the spot as we watch a dark, terrifying beast leaps from out of fuckingnowherefrom the other side of the cliff and attack the gathering of beings.

A bloody howl rips from Wolf’s chest and he bolts, tearing down the cliff at breakneck speed towards the carnage, leaving our friends screaming in terror and following in a panic.

Because Wolf recognised that being just as I did. The smudge of green on the stone block, too.

It’s Rafe.

And Brydon.

And they’re in trouble.

***

Mindless and feral with fear, Wolf crosses the empty field with reckless disregard for anything other than getting to Rafe. I have no idea if my friends are close behind me. I just need to get to him.

They caught him. He was a fury of pain and destruction before they managed to reign him in, the horrifying sounds carrying across the flat, open landscape with gross clarity.

The magic surrounding them builds until it is blinding, a rainbow glowing dome of energy that is repulsive, physically trying to push me away and draw me in at once.

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