“That’s impossible,” she muttered, but even as she said it, doubt settled in her chest.
“Is it?” Cat’s eyes glimmered with something ancient and unyielding. “You’re connected to something or someone is calling to you. It’s not a coincidence. The wisps have been trying to lead you there.”
Her heart clenched as she remembered the dreams, the glowing wisps always darting ahead, pulling her deeper into the unknown. Her mind raced, and before she could stop herself, she thought of Vaelric. The way his gaze seemed to linger in her memory, the pull she felt toward him she couldn’t explain.
“Who’s calling me?” she asked, her voice trembling.
Cat flicked his tails, turning his attention to the wisps that had appeared around them, their light flickering like playful fireflies.
“Ah, the pests are back,” he muttered, swiping at one with a massive paw. The wisp darted away, glowing even brighter as though in defiance.
“What are they?” Sorcha asked, her eyes following the tiny lights as they danced through the trees.
“Guides,” Cat said simply. “Or nuisances, depending on your perspective. They lead you toward what’s tied to you, your fate, your answers. Or…” His voice lowered, dripping with ominous weight. “Your end.”
Sorcha shivered, unable to look away from the bouncing orbs. She had always followed them before, trusting their guidance, but now she wasn’t sure. What if they weren’t leading her toward answers but toward something far worse?
“They’ve led me here before,” she admitted, her voice shaky. “But why? What do they want from me?”
“It’s not about what they want,” Cat said, his tone softening. “It’s about what you want, what’s pulling you. Your power, your bloodline, it calls out to them. And to others.”
The air around them seemed to grow heavier with his words. Sorcha glanced back at Cat. “And you knew this?”
“I had a suspicion,” Cat admitted with a shrug, his massive form shifting slightly. “But I had to let you figure it out. You wouldn’t have believed me if I’d just told you I was Cait Sidhe. Besides,” he added with a smirk, “you’ve been a little… busy.”
Sorcha narrowed her eyes at him, though a faint smile tugged at her lips despite the weight of his words. “You’re something else.”
“And you’re just figuring that out now?” Cat teased, swiping at another wisp and catching it under hispaw. He held it for a moment before letting it go, watching as it darted away.
The wisps blinked brighter, drawing Sorcha’s attention back to the forest ahead. Their glow seemed to beckon her, tugging her forward. But something inside her hesitated. The sense of dread and anticipation twisted together, making her stomach churn.
“Will you stay with me?”
“Always,” he said softly, padding to her side. “But tread carefully, Sorcha. The answers you’re looking for might not be the ones you want.”
The trees whispered as they walked, their voices slipping through the mist, layered conversations Sorcha couldn’t quite grasp. Cat leaped effortlessly onto the wisps, bouncing from one to the next as though they were solid.
He seemed unbothered, but Sorcha couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching. Dark shapes flitted between the trees, their forms barely visible at the edges of her vision. The rustling in the undergrowth was constantnow, but whatever was making the noise never stepped forward.
The path beneath them changed. Moss and dirt faded into uneven cobblestones, cracked and worn with age. The air grew colder, heavy with something unseen. The mist thickened, and through it, Sorcha caught glimpses of looming ruins, their jagged edges half swallowed by the creeping forest.
Sorcha slowed her pace, her eyes locking on the blurring images emerging from the fog, she had seen these ruins before, but not like this.
The mist caused the cobblestones to become slick, making their steps less than graceful as the crumbling buildings came to view. The limestone structures stretched toward the sky, their spires broken, doorways gaping like silent mouths. Statues of gods stood in half shadow, their faces worn smooth by time, ivy curled around them, dragging them further into the earth, like the land itself was trying to erase them.Who had these gods been? And what had made them fall? She walked towards them as if in a trance, mesmerized by their beauty, the glint in their eyes, the way they seemed to watch her.
As she moved closer, just ahead stood a circle of nine stones. The air from Sorcha’s lungs fled as she began to retreat slowly. “Nine stones, remember this. Thrice three, beware what slumbers beneath. For in its center do thy creatures sleep; make haste, for what breaks earth will devour thee.”
The verse played on repeat in her mind as she slowly made her way back toward the cobblestones. She wasn’t sure when they had stepped off the path, but the childhood rhyme kept looping in her head. She remembered hearing it in the schoolyard, children singing it as they played.
When she had asked her father about it once, he’d told her, “If there’s one thing I know, it’s to heed the old stories. As silly as they may sound, every tale holds a bit of truth. It’s just that we never truly know which parts.”
Since that day Sorcha has always held every story and every song a little bit differently in her heart.
The ground trembled beneath them as circle of stones stirred. Dirt rippled outward. A deep crack split between two pillars and the earth opened up slowly as black smoke began to plume from its maw.
Cat’s gaze narrowed. “I don’t like this,” he muttered, his fur bristling as his eyes darted to the ground. Above them strange creatures clung to the edges of rooftops, their cat-like eyes peering down, watching in eerie silence. They reminded Sorcha of the old stone guardians carved into the high terraces of ancient druid halls. Their massive bodies and hooked claws gripping the edges as if fused to the rock, some with wings folded tight.
With haste they continued down the path toward the sound of rushing water. The roar grew louder, a steady thunder beneath the whispering trees and black smoke that followed them. Sorcha’s eyes widened as the mist shifted, revealing an ancient stone bridge stretching across a dark river.
