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I’m still shivering beneath his warm hands, but not from the cold. Bruno scared the shit out of me and I honestly don’t know what to do. I can’t trust anyone, and all I know is I need to visit the human realm… Home. I need to see what’s happening there because these dreams can’t be nothing.
I tell him everything. About the dreams starting small and that I thought they were just an extension from my trauma, but they’re taking control now. It’s something ominous and deeply rooted.
He holds my hand in both of his large ones, pressing his forehead to mine.
“Let’s go.”
“Go where?” I try to wiggle out of his embrace but he holds me steady.
“To your home. We need to find answers. This has something to do with your shifting as of late too. I can feel it.”
I still in his hands, hugging him tightly and burying my face into his sweater.
“Okay. Get dressed. We can take a Hollow and be back by dawn. No one will even know we’re gone.” He grunts at the mention of riding Pine Hollows but nods anyway.
The High Court is quiet. Everyone is still nestled into their beds and sleeping. We make it quickly through the silent streets and into the Hollow enclosure. Brevik is already awake and seems to have been waiting for us. I quirk a brow at the creature. He shakes his gray head and his fur bristles as he flexes his large paws.
“He must have sensed we were coming.” I flick a look to Rune. He’s tired but alert, scanning our surroundings so intently that I don’t think he heard me.
A pit drops in my stomach. If my wing wasn’t damaged I could have just flown to Bresian and back by myself.
I climb onto Brevik’s back and stare down at Rune expectantly. He’s just looking at me like I’m crazy for hopping up on the Hollow so easily.
“Come on—you can’tstillbe scared of them,” I tease. He narrows his eyes at me and lets out a huff, reluctantly hopping on behind me. His arms scoop around me and clutch my body tightly. His large thighs swallow mine.
Okay, I’ve done this plenty of times with Wren. We can do this.
“Brevik, take us to Bresian. You know the way, don’t you, boy?” I pat the Hollow’s head and he grunts as he pushes off the ground with the same speed I remember Murph having. My heart bleeds a little bit more at the feeling, the memory of the magical beast that introduced me to Tomorrow. I have to remind myself that Iwillbring him back.
Goodbye isn’t really forever, not here. We will meet again… even if it takes a century. I’ll never give up… and I’ll never fucking forget.
We approach the south gate, and when Brevik doesn’t slow down, I hold the scream in my throat. We’re going to run straight into the gates.
But he leaps, and gods—for a second it’s like we’re flying. I clutch onto his scruff to keep myself from raising off his back and Rune curses silently in my ear as he joins in, grabbing a handful of fur to keep us from being airborne.
Once the paws are on the outside of the walls I let out a laugh. The air feels so much fresher out here, in the world I fell in love with. I inhale and let the cold air invade my lungs, the scent of pines and snow filling me.
Has it always been this easy to leave? I entertain the thought. It’s more complicated than just leaving though. Like Wren said, I need to find a way to break the bond. That’s the true imprisonment.
The world blurs past us as Brevik wastes no time, gliding through the snow-filled valleys like it’s nothing. I marvel at how different this realm looks in winter. Everything’s so quiet and hushed compared to the usual loud world full of life. The colossal trees that tower into the skies have long since lost their leaves, and their black branches reach into the stars above us. If I hadn’t seen them before, I would’ve been convinced that the stars were their natural leaves.
A few hours have passed by the time we reach a cavernous mountain of rock formations. It looks like the side of a sheer cliff with large boulders embedded in the wall, creating large crevices between them. I’ve never seen this area before.
“Where are we?” I mumble as my eyes search the dark spaces between the rocks. They’re like voids to another dimension.
Rune leans forward and whispers,“The Bresian gateways.”
I let out a small gasp. “What? I thought Bresian was only in one location… How do we know which one will take me home?” I slide off Brevik and Rune follows suit.
The Dreadius shrugs and I look to Brevik, feeling a little silly for putting my fate in the hands of a Pine Hollow, but hey, he might know.
Brevik sniffs me and looks to the cliff face, taking deep inhales like he’s trying to scent out my home. I watch patiently, tendrils of hope filling me. I’m shaking at the thought of being inmyforest again. Will Mom and Dad still be there? Has anyone been taking care of my shed? I look down at my worn boots, anxiety ticking away at my weary mind.
Focus on what you’re looking for.I take a deep breath and wait until Brevik grunts, stepping over to a large hole in the center of the rock wall. Rune sets his hand on my shoulder with comfort and nods at me.
“Thank you, Brevik. You’re a good boy. I’ll be back soon, okay?” I pet his muzzle but Rune grabs my wrist before I can head to the cave.
“What?”
