Page 195 of Lethal King

Leaves rustle. Branches creak. But the sound I think I just heard remains elusive.

Then, I hear it again.

My pounding heart stops dead in its tracks.

A meow.

“… Willow?”

My voice is hardly more than a silent croak.

Am I going crazy?

“Willow?” I rasp again, louder this time, not caring about my own sanity. That ship has long sailed. “Willow!”

As if heeding my calls, the cloud-filled sky momentarily breaks, and a slice of pale moonlight illuminates the dark world ahead.

Still, I don’t see anything. The tall grass that surrounds the weeping willow dances in the breeze. I search it intensely, looking for any signs of—

Meow.

My gaze rips towards the sound.

No way.

There, perched on a black rock, barely twenty feet from me, is the silhouette of a cat.

The air is ripped from my lungs. Blood rushes into my ears.

“… Willow…” I can barely breathe. My feet feel like anchors as I try to take a step forward. But my advance is interrupted by something protruding from the earth. It trips me.

This time, I don’t catch myself. I fall to my knees, nearly face planting in the mud.

“Willow!” I cry out.

My view is shrouded by the tall grass. I push myself back onto my feet. But the second I get a glimpse of that heart-stopping silhouette again, a thunderous clap rips through the night.

It snaps me out of my daze. Reaching for my gun, I whip around, weapon drawn.

But when the blood rushes from my ears, that thunderous clap quickly becomes a pathetic clang.

Someone’s kicked that same ashen can I did.

“Who is it?” I shout. My gun is just as shaky as my voice.

Wiping the tears from my eye, I look back over my shoulder, towards the rock.

My heart drops.

The silhouette is gone.

“… Willow…”

Did I imagine her?

There’s no time to think about it. And there’s definitely no time to grieve.

The pale moonlight disappears as clouds blanket the sky once more. The clanging can echoes through the night.