“I’m not in the habit of talking. You have one last chance. What are you?” she asked. The cat’s large yellow eyes fixed on her. “Shadow doesn’t recognize your kind.”
Wynn thought about her answer. “I’m a girl,” she said, carefully forming her words.
The big cat stepped forward. It huffed, sniffing at Wynn’s shredded skirt. Wynn reached out and patted it on the head.
It backed up, coming down on its haunches until it sat awkwardly with its back feet splayed out. It blinked its big eyes. Just then it looked very much like a large, confused kitty.
Wynn laughed.
The girl peered at her, her eyes staring. “What was that sound?” she asked. Her voice sounded strange, like she was surprised.
Wynn looked around. “What sound?” A howl rose deep, deep in the woods. Another reaper. Wynn covered her ears and ducked.
The girl turned her head, and the big cat made the rumbling noise again. “There’s another reaper somewhere in the wood. You had better find your way home, girl.”
Wynn hiccupped. “I am lost,” she said. She missed Elric. “I don’t know where to go.”
The girl tilted her head toward the big cat, and the cat looked up at her and raised its striped brows. Both the girl and the cat let out a huff at the same time. The cat’s stripes faded to white as it stood and resumed its position at the girl’s side. Her hand returned to the cat’s shoulder.
Together they turned their backs to Wynn, and the cat flicked the pale tip of its tail. Finally the girl said, “Come with us, and you might survive the coming night.”
Wynn did her best to follow the girl and the big striped cat. It was hard. The light was fading quickly, but the girl didn’t slow down at all. She walked with one hand on the cat’s shoulder, and prodded the roots and branches around her with her staff.
Wynn had to climb over the roots and rocks. Sometimes she fell behind. She wasn’t as good at crawling through the forest. This wasn’t like the woods she had grown up in. There, the trees gave each other room to grow. These trees grew close together and were bigger and more twisty than the trees in the Otherworld. Every time Wynn stared into the shadows, she thought she saw eyes staring back. The big cat flicked the white tip of its tail, and Wynn hurried to catch up.
They reached a hill, where the roots of the trees became like the rungs of a ladder. It was hard for Wynn to climb in her dress. Shredded bits kept tangling around her legs, and getting under her toes. She wished she had smoke clothes like the girl. Her legs moved freely through the smoky dress. On her back, there was a strange mark. Wynn caught a glimpse of it every time the thick curls of the girl’s hair swung to the side. It was a circle, paler than the rest of her tawny brown skin, with a star in the center, and what looked like flames. It reminded Wynn of the seal in the palace, but it was different. The flower seal was calming. This looked fierce.
“What is that?” Wynn asked.
The girl paused. She turned slowly back to Wynn, but not all the way, only enough to tilt an ear toward her. “What is what?”
“The mark on your back?” she asked. “It’s pretty.”
The girl moved away again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The girl’s hair fell over the mark and hid it from her.
Still, Wynn was glad she wasn’t alone. The forest wasn’t as dark here. She could see the sky through gaps in the twisted branches. The light was fading. There was no color in the sun setting, the way there usually was when she looked through the shield that protected the fairy lands. Here the pale gray sky slowly turned to black. Still, the trees didn’t look as angry in this part of the woods. They seemed more like the ones in the groves she used to play in.
Enormous mushrooms grew in clusters. They had red and orange caps sprinkled with white splotches. Ferns also curled up from the forest floor, giving the woods a soft and feathery look. It felt better here. It felt less sad, less scary. The woods were almost pretty. As the girl passed, the ferns uncurled their long fronds toward her. As Wynn reached them, they recoiled as if they were sad the girl had passed.
The girl paused on the crest of the hill, turned, and sat on a rock. She crossed her staff in front of her and stared at Wynn.
“Well, why don’t you answer Shadow’s question?” The girl gave her an expression that reminded her of Elric when he got impatient because she forgot something.
Wynn clung to the root she had been climbing and blinked at the girl. “I don’t know.” She didn’t remember a question. “Shadow can talk?”
“Of course she can.” The girl let out a huff that almost sounded like a laugh. But it wasn’t really a laugh.
“I don’t hear.” Wynn reached the top of the roots and sat on the ground. She rubbed the bits of dirt and small rocks from the bottoms of her bare feet. “I don’t hear animals talking.” That was something fairies could do. But only if they were very old like Elk, or royal like the queen. Even then, they couldn’t talk to every animal. No one ever knew what Mildred was saying. It drove most of the fairies batty. Wynn looked at Shadow. “She growls.”
“Oh.” The girl looked confused. “How awful for you. I’m sorry. I haven’t met a girl before.”
“I haven’t met a Shadow before. I haven’t met a you before,” Wynn said.
“Shadow is a tigereon, the last of
