Soul Shock, page 26
“Here they come!” She grinned, and sent, Ambush! In wolf speak as the unicorns stepped within thirty feet.
No time to argue, I acted on intuition of Secret’s plan, whirling around to face the spear-bearing equines. As I did, another ice boulder launched from the fort. It streaked like a comet, flooding the bridge with cold light. Secret dug into my turn and launched herself toward the lead unicorn as a black and pink streak. It lowered its horn but Secret swerved, swinging the makeshift blade into the gleaming white of its neck.
Too occupied with watching Secret, I didn’t dodge out of the way of the second unicorn fast enough. The horn scored across my left flank, searing my flesh. Still, I twisted, my teeth snagged on the strap of its unoccupied saddle. Its momentum jerked me hard, and I swung into its side. A kick slammed into my belly and pain flared, but I didn’t let go. It dragged me and bucked wildly. I threw myself to its side, putting all my weight on that strap. The hooves scrabbled and slid out from under the equine. Rearing back, I let it fall beneath me before pouncing on top of it. I tried to make it quick, ripping its throat from its neck but still it thrashed. The meat had an airy quality that melted on my tongue.
Deeper, something urged me as I wrestled with what should be a corpse. Paws grew into fingers that wrenched open the barrel ribcage. There, a pulsating heart, nestled among the blue gore. There. I bit down upon it and tore it free. The animal screamed and fell still as I swallowed the heart. It didn’t dissolve, but plugged into that core of hunger and bloomed into a warm contentment that spread through my insides.
I looked up from my kill to see Secret dashing toward me, her pink helmet splattered with the same blue blood that dripped down her chin and neck. Behind her lay the corpse of the unicorn, melting into a white-gold mixture; a triangular hole had been carved into the side of its chest.
“Abby, lets goooo!” She jumped up on my shoulders. Thoughts bubbled but I pushed them away into the later.
Instead, I ran. Fingers pulled back to toes, shoulders slid down along my ribcage. Winter’s hunger stirred, but I had the energy now to ignore it. Ahead, a much reduced number of riders prepared to clash with Damocles’ goat, facing down five riders. The fight with the unicorns had taken less than a minute, but he seemed almost an impossible distance away. Run! I told myself, Don’t think, just run. The wind tore at my fur, bid my ears to fold back against my head as the bridge’s stonework blurred.
The goat galloped on as the fey riders closed ranks, lowering lances and guarding their chests with shields that reflected the starry sky. This wouldn’t go the same way as the first time. Wait for me! I thought hard but I couldn’t do anything more than that. To howl I’d have to slow down.
It didn’t go the way it had the first time, but neither did it go the way I expected. As those icy horns lowered, Sophie pulled her feet from the stirrups and crouched on the saddle. A moment before impact, she hurled herself forward, arms outstretched, aimed slightly to the right of the lead horse. She reached out with the skin’s still-clawed paw and raked it across the horses on either side of her. The animals recoiled away, knocking into the horses beside them. The goat’s horns slammed into the lead horse at that moment, clearing one side of the V like a ram-horned bowling ball. The riders were ejected from their mounts as the horses tumbled over each other and across the back of the goat. The two remaining riders continued on, but Sophie had latched onto one of them and hung from his hips. Dropping his lance, he tried to hammer her off with his fist, but she ignored the blows and climbed up behind him. She threw her arm around his neck, pulled a long knife from his belt sheath and stabbed it into his ribs. The horse reared as the rider fell, a horn erupting from its head. It failed to dislodge Sophie, and she reached down to drive the blade into its heart. It fell dead beneath her.
One pair left. He slowed along the bridge’s wall, dropped his lance, and drew a long sword which he didn’t get the chance to use, because the black goat charged them from behind. His horns bashed the rear legs of the horse out from under it and with a heave of his neck tossed the pair from the bridge. As I slowed to a stop, he bellowed at us.
“Keep going, wolfie! We’ll catch up.”
I felt a pang of worry for Sophie, but continued past her as she stood up from the fallen horse. I ran for the end of the bridge, which opened into a cobblestone road through a grassy meadow. To one side sprawled the insensate giant, his round belly and face covered with snow. Above, a shadow slithered through the sky, the stars flowing out of its way. We crested a swell, and I saw that not only the road, but the meadow, ended abruptly at a jagged cliff. Yet I didn’t slow. I’d done this once before, when Luna had guided me to the Winter Court, and then again on the way home. I kept running, envisioning what I had seen of the Cat’s court, a cat cafe blended with a church. As I raced forward, that serpent of Shadow slithered down from the sky, flicking a forked tongue the orange-yellow hue of a traffic dividing line. It did not look at me with its flat white eyes as it flowed into and joined with the end of the meadow road.
Its scales were rough like pavement beneath my pads as I ran over its head and onto his back. Then it wasn’t a snake at all anymore, just a road carrying us up into the sky.The land behind us dwindled swiftly, the great canyon and its surroundings revealed itself to be an island floating in the sky. There were others, their outlines floating in an endless sea of stars ruled by the smiling crescent of the moon. The sight of Luna spurred me to run faster. I had to get home before Victoria left for her service in the Twilight. I’d never let her step over that brink without a solid goodbye before. The click of my claws on the road was the ticking of a clock.
The road ribboned and spiraled around darkened islands before it revealed our destination, an island’s outline filled with color. A grand tower jutted from a forest, its surface a patchwork of carpeted hues. At its apex sat a castle that had been carved from a titanic cardboard box. Secret’s hands tightened their grip as the road swept down toward the edge of the forest.
A distant staccato of hooves announced the approach of the goat. I slowed, allowing him to catch up before we reached the island. Cold steam erupted from each of his nostrils as he pulled up alongside me without a word. Sophie bent low in the saddle on his back; the cougar’s face lay across the top of her head. Teeth I didn’t remember it having before pierced her braids.
Nobody said anything as we ran down the last length of road-snake and into the Court of the Cats.
37
Once the road entered the forest, it didn’t end so much as dwindle down to nothing; the pavement gave way to dirt, which narrowed to a path, and then to a winding strip of dirt between clumps of grass. Still, my legs, so accustomed to movement, were reluctant to stop, and I waded several feet into the tall grass before keeling over.
“We made it!” Secret leapt off me and spun around, grinning up at the surroundings.
Maybe she could handle it from here? The exhaustion of the run reared up through my body, calling for sleep as if I had run for an entire night. Perhaps I had. Surely we had earned an hour’s rest… a catnap on the edge of the Court of Cats. My eyes drooped closed.
Immediately hands gripped my shoulder and shook me.
“Abby! You can’t sleep now,” Secret exclaimed in an excited whisper. “Not here in the open! Get up.”
Groaning, I struggled against exhaustion, but only part of me succeeded. Wolf me peeled away from my skin and curled up tightly inside of me. Suddenly without her, my bones jammed and ground themselves together as I shifted swiftly but painfully back to human. It left me on the ground, every bone ringing and my muscles angry from overwork. Definitely awake, though, and not naked; my winter knight garb had returned.
“Come on! Get up! Get up!” Secret urged, grabbing my hand and pulling with all the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning.
“Give me a moment,” I pleaded, allowing myself to be pulled upright and wincing.
“It will be guarded, we need to hide.” Secret insisted.
“Not wrong,” the black goat snorted, chest still heaving from the run. Sophie still sat astride him, looking around warily, the skin’s ears popped up, attentive looking. The goat turned his head to regard her with a single eye. “Okay lady, dat was fun, but we’re fookin done now. Git off.”
Sophie stared back at him. “I’d say thanks for the ride, but I’m pretty sure my ass fell off somewhere on that road.”
The goat smiled, “I got ya here. Didn’t say I’d do it comfy. Take it up with me boss. I’m sure he’ll sell your fookin ass back to ya.”
She hissed halfheartedly and dismounted.
As soon as her foot left the stirrup, the black goat began to trot in the direction we’d come, and once he reached the road, it lifted back into the sky, its darkness swallowed by the stars.
“So will that come back when we need it to?” Sophie turned and directed the question at me.
“I… think so?” I hazarded, but Secret shook her head.
“Once we have Momma, the Ways will not be safe. Follow me for now,” Secret said and walked a few feet into the wood.
I laboriously climbed to my feet and cinched up the straps of my bag.
“The Fuck!” Sophie exclaimed.
“Sssshh.” Secret shushed her.
Sophie frantically raked her fingers through the white fur front of her skin jacket. “The buttons are gone!” She protested in an urgent whisper.
“What a surprise,” I said, following Secret. “You took a fey gift.”
“Because I was freezing to death.”
“That’s how they get you,” I said.
“Why didn’t you stop me, then?”
“Because I didn’t want you to freeze to death. You-”
Secret whirled around and shushed us both. Then jabbed a finger upward. Looking up, I found a gray stone cat lounging on a branch above us. When it didn’t move or budge, I relaxed a smidge. I didn’t really see that as a threat, but I stopped talking and focused on where we were going.
The forest we picked our way through resembled any secondary-growth grove that you’d find anywhere, narrow trees, no larger than a foot thick, branches dripping with moss and vines. Then I noticed the abundance of scratch marks around the base of each tree, that only one kind of shrub grew here, with tall clusters of purple flowers, and all the mushrooms were felted toys. Only once I saw these things did I start to see all the stone cats. They lurked in every shadow, hid behind tufts of grass and peered down through the thick canopy of leaves. All shapes and sizes, from a jowly tomcat that rivaled the fattest raccoon to a tiny munchkin that crouched by a stream for a drink. Secret carefully stepped around every kitty, holding the tip of her tail in one hand to avoid accidentally brushing one.
I followed, trying to put my feet in the same places she stepped, but they still found twigs to snap. Sophie followed, stepping silently, but scratching and pulling at the skin. We crossed a stream via a log, and into a wall of hot muggy air that instantly brought prickles to my skin as sweat leapt out of my pores.
Secret hissed and lashed her tail with consternation. “There’s a Knight of Summer here.” Through the trees I could just make out the carpeted wall of the tower. “Aww, Princess, you didn’t think it’d be that easy did you?” A soft, sly voice slid from among the trees, that I recognized as Luna’s cat, Cheshire.
“Who said that?” Sophie asked with a guttural growl in her voice. Her hands rose, but instead of fists, she hooked her fingers like claws.
“Cheshire, where have you been?” Secret glared up at a hollow in the trunk of a gnarled tree. Two slitted purple eyes watched her back.
“Where I always am, bringing a smile to the darkness.” A crescent moon grin appeared below the eyes. “I am sorry that I could not greet you in the glacial canyon, but I could not find a shadow deep enough to travel there. Not that I looked particularly hard.”
“Are you kidding me?” Sophie exclaimed. “THE Cheshire? From Alice and Wonderland?”
The grinned widened. “Yesss! The very same. I must say, Madam, that is a most fabulous skin you wear so well. It fits you much better than Abigail.”
Sophie tugged at the collar of her skin jacket and grimaced. “I think it’s rather too clingy for my taste. How do I take it off?”
Cheshire’s purr swelled as he gave a soft chuckle. “But it’s such a lovely gift. Besides… is that the question you really want to ask me? On whose behalf are you braving this insanity?”
Wincing with discomfort, Sophie pulled her hands away from the fur and forced them down to her sides. “My mother, what happened to her?”
“Aaaaah, yes.” Cheshire nodded, “The unfortunate case of Gloria Gifford, who saw evil everywhere but herself. The mistress thought this was unfair to them to be so rudely overlooked in Gloria’s survey. So when there is light from neither sun nor moon, Gloria’s evils come out to mark the world. In such a way she learns her own folly.”
“How can she learn anything if we have to keep her locked up? She’ll just get more bitter,” Sophie snarled, her voice bottoming out to a low hiss.
“Then the dark inside her will grow stronger. Hmm.” Cheshire’s glowing face tilted in a shrug-like motion.
Sophie’s lips closed in preparation of responding, but her face twisted in pain. Her hands fumbled with the knot that held the furred belt around her waist. As the black tip came free, she sagged with relief. The belt unwrapped itself to first swing, then lash with life and bone. A low satisfied moan rolled up out of her throat. “What’s happpeninnn?”
“Cheshire!” I chided the cat fey or whatever he was. “Stop it! She didn’t ask for this.”
Those purple eyes gleamed, “Does anyone ask for dreams? She’s the one wearing a puma skin on the doorstep of the Court of Cats as Luna watches. Look up.”
I cast my gaze skyward and there, floating over the highest rampart of the cats’ castle, sat Luna’s patient smile. So close that it appeared that someone standing on the rampart could reach up and touch the moon. She was waiting for us.
The familiar pop of reshaping bone made me turn from her. Sophie now clung to the tree Cheshire grinned from; the hanging legs of the skin had engulfed her own. “It’s… so… tight!” Sophie gasped as her legs were squeezed into a feline shape.
“I asked for Luna to take me,” I protested, “Sophie hasn’t.”
“Is that really true?” Cheshire mused; a shadow snaked from the hole, cupped Sophie’s chin and gently pulled Sophie’s face to gaze up at him. “While wolves rely on each other, cats rely on themselves. Their strength, their stealth, and their wisdom. The skin is but a taste. It will not come with you to crossroads unless you take it as your own. It will give you power here. Luna smiles tonight, there will no better time to bargain.”
Sophie didn’t say anything as the shadow released her. Gathering herself, she pushed away from the tree to stand on her reshaped legs. Her tail lifted, curving for balance as she wobbled. A tight smile bent her lips. “I’m done running. Let’s see what you do.” Reaching up, she pulled the skin’s feline face down over her eyes and it became a mask. Even as she lowered her hands, the paws of the skin slid over them. With a soft yowl, she let herself down onto all fours and arched her back. Her vertebrae pressed up beneath the fur, her spine and torso lengthening.
“Ruck tha huuuur!” Her exclamation of pain turned into a strained growl as her lower jaw pushed out until it meshed with the skin’s muzzle. The nose flushed pink with life once again, and the wide tongue flicked up over it. The transformation seemingly complete, Sophie flopped onto her side with a tired chirp. A large tawny-furred feline with a long, black-tipped tail and a splash of white around her nose. Yet, dark skin shined with sweat around her lower jaw and the front of her neck, marking the feline face as a mask.
“There,” Cheshire chuckled. “What a perfect disguise for sneaking into the Court! You’re on your own to figure out how to get a wolf past the guards, though. The Summer Knight has banished darkness from the Court itself, but on the other side, you’ll find a grate that even the largest wolf can squeeze through. I will meet you there, Princess, and we will bargain for passage through the dark. Hope you bring snacks! Tootles.” The Cheshire’s glowing features winked back into the dark of the hollow.
“Meanie!” Secret called after him before crossing her arms and sniffing hard. Then exhaled a shaky breath. I reached toward her, but she stepped out of my reach. “Least you could do is tell us how to get up there.”
38
Secret moved toward Sophie as the new cat struggled to her feet. Her tail went bolt straight when Secret hugged her neck. Sophie made a series of annoyed-sounding chuffs and chirps.
I readied myself to snatch Secret away, but she giggled and squeezed poor Sophie tighter. “We don’t work like that in this court. Anyone can challenge the queen, just nobody usually wants to.”
Sophie growled, then chirped in a clear complaint, with her ears half turned and tail tip flicking.
“You're part of this court now,” Secret said, releasing Sophie. “Cheshire tried the same thing with Abby, but the skin didn’t fit her. It looks good on you, Sophie. You’re a cat and you can’t do nuthing bout that.”
That got Secret a snarling hiss, but the girl’s own tail tip twitched playfully. Belatedly, I realized my cub wasn’t being supportive at all.
“Secret, stop teasing her,” I chided with a sigh. “We still need to get to the top of this tower, right?”
“But we’re kinda like sisters now!” Secret grinned. “And she’s kinda like a younger sister who knows nothing yet. So it’s like a duty!”
I had to laugh. “Focus, you. How do we get up there?”
“I have two of momma’s treasures,” she huffed and unslung her backpack. Unzipping it, she inverted it and two objects fell out onto the ground. A large golden coin, and a dingy catnip mouse with only one eye. She bent and touched the mouse, which squeaked. “Odin, my favorite toy, find us the least guarded route to Momma.”
No time to argue, I acted on intuition of Secret’s plan, whirling around to face the spear-bearing equines. As I did, another ice boulder launched from the fort. It streaked like a comet, flooding the bridge with cold light. Secret dug into my turn and launched herself toward the lead unicorn as a black and pink streak. It lowered its horn but Secret swerved, swinging the makeshift blade into the gleaming white of its neck.
Too occupied with watching Secret, I didn’t dodge out of the way of the second unicorn fast enough. The horn scored across my left flank, searing my flesh. Still, I twisted, my teeth snagged on the strap of its unoccupied saddle. Its momentum jerked me hard, and I swung into its side. A kick slammed into my belly and pain flared, but I didn’t let go. It dragged me and bucked wildly. I threw myself to its side, putting all my weight on that strap. The hooves scrabbled and slid out from under the equine. Rearing back, I let it fall beneath me before pouncing on top of it. I tried to make it quick, ripping its throat from its neck but still it thrashed. The meat had an airy quality that melted on my tongue.
Deeper, something urged me as I wrestled with what should be a corpse. Paws grew into fingers that wrenched open the barrel ribcage. There, a pulsating heart, nestled among the blue gore. There. I bit down upon it and tore it free. The animal screamed and fell still as I swallowed the heart. It didn’t dissolve, but plugged into that core of hunger and bloomed into a warm contentment that spread through my insides.
I looked up from my kill to see Secret dashing toward me, her pink helmet splattered with the same blue blood that dripped down her chin and neck. Behind her lay the corpse of the unicorn, melting into a white-gold mixture; a triangular hole had been carved into the side of its chest.
“Abby, lets goooo!” She jumped up on my shoulders. Thoughts bubbled but I pushed them away into the later.
Instead, I ran. Fingers pulled back to toes, shoulders slid down along my ribcage. Winter’s hunger stirred, but I had the energy now to ignore it. Ahead, a much reduced number of riders prepared to clash with Damocles’ goat, facing down five riders. The fight with the unicorns had taken less than a minute, but he seemed almost an impossible distance away. Run! I told myself, Don’t think, just run. The wind tore at my fur, bid my ears to fold back against my head as the bridge’s stonework blurred.
The goat galloped on as the fey riders closed ranks, lowering lances and guarding their chests with shields that reflected the starry sky. This wouldn’t go the same way as the first time. Wait for me! I thought hard but I couldn’t do anything more than that. To howl I’d have to slow down.
It didn’t go the way it had the first time, but neither did it go the way I expected. As those icy horns lowered, Sophie pulled her feet from the stirrups and crouched on the saddle. A moment before impact, she hurled herself forward, arms outstretched, aimed slightly to the right of the lead horse. She reached out with the skin’s still-clawed paw and raked it across the horses on either side of her. The animals recoiled away, knocking into the horses beside them. The goat’s horns slammed into the lead horse at that moment, clearing one side of the V like a ram-horned bowling ball. The riders were ejected from their mounts as the horses tumbled over each other and across the back of the goat. The two remaining riders continued on, but Sophie had latched onto one of them and hung from his hips. Dropping his lance, he tried to hammer her off with his fist, but she ignored the blows and climbed up behind him. She threw her arm around his neck, pulled a long knife from his belt sheath and stabbed it into his ribs. The horse reared as the rider fell, a horn erupting from its head. It failed to dislodge Sophie, and she reached down to drive the blade into its heart. It fell dead beneath her.
One pair left. He slowed along the bridge’s wall, dropped his lance, and drew a long sword which he didn’t get the chance to use, because the black goat charged them from behind. His horns bashed the rear legs of the horse out from under it and with a heave of his neck tossed the pair from the bridge. As I slowed to a stop, he bellowed at us.
“Keep going, wolfie! We’ll catch up.”
I felt a pang of worry for Sophie, but continued past her as she stood up from the fallen horse. I ran for the end of the bridge, which opened into a cobblestone road through a grassy meadow. To one side sprawled the insensate giant, his round belly and face covered with snow. Above, a shadow slithered through the sky, the stars flowing out of its way. We crested a swell, and I saw that not only the road, but the meadow, ended abruptly at a jagged cliff. Yet I didn’t slow. I’d done this once before, when Luna had guided me to the Winter Court, and then again on the way home. I kept running, envisioning what I had seen of the Cat’s court, a cat cafe blended with a church. As I raced forward, that serpent of Shadow slithered down from the sky, flicking a forked tongue the orange-yellow hue of a traffic dividing line. It did not look at me with its flat white eyes as it flowed into and joined with the end of the meadow road.
Its scales were rough like pavement beneath my pads as I ran over its head and onto his back. Then it wasn’t a snake at all anymore, just a road carrying us up into the sky.The land behind us dwindled swiftly, the great canyon and its surroundings revealed itself to be an island floating in the sky. There were others, their outlines floating in an endless sea of stars ruled by the smiling crescent of the moon. The sight of Luna spurred me to run faster. I had to get home before Victoria left for her service in the Twilight. I’d never let her step over that brink without a solid goodbye before. The click of my claws on the road was the ticking of a clock.
The road ribboned and spiraled around darkened islands before it revealed our destination, an island’s outline filled with color. A grand tower jutted from a forest, its surface a patchwork of carpeted hues. At its apex sat a castle that had been carved from a titanic cardboard box. Secret’s hands tightened their grip as the road swept down toward the edge of the forest.
A distant staccato of hooves announced the approach of the goat. I slowed, allowing him to catch up before we reached the island. Cold steam erupted from each of his nostrils as he pulled up alongside me without a word. Sophie bent low in the saddle on his back; the cougar’s face lay across the top of her head. Teeth I didn’t remember it having before pierced her braids.
Nobody said anything as we ran down the last length of road-snake and into the Court of the Cats.
37
Once the road entered the forest, it didn’t end so much as dwindle down to nothing; the pavement gave way to dirt, which narrowed to a path, and then to a winding strip of dirt between clumps of grass. Still, my legs, so accustomed to movement, were reluctant to stop, and I waded several feet into the tall grass before keeling over.
“We made it!” Secret leapt off me and spun around, grinning up at the surroundings.
Maybe she could handle it from here? The exhaustion of the run reared up through my body, calling for sleep as if I had run for an entire night. Perhaps I had. Surely we had earned an hour’s rest… a catnap on the edge of the Court of Cats. My eyes drooped closed.
Immediately hands gripped my shoulder and shook me.
“Abby! You can’t sleep now,” Secret exclaimed in an excited whisper. “Not here in the open! Get up.”
Groaning, I struggled against exhaustion, but only part of me succeeded. Wolf me peeled away from my skin and curled up tightly inside of me. Suddenly without her, my bones jammed and ground themselves together as I shifted swiftly but painfully back to human. It left me on the ground, every bone ringing and my muscles angry from overwork. Definitely awake, though, and not naked; my winter knight garb had returned.
“Come on! Get up! Get up!” Secret urged, grabbing my hand and pulling with all the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning.
“Give me a moment,” I pleaded, allowing myself to be pulled upright and wincing.
“It will be guarded, we need to hide.” Secret insisted.
“Not wrong,” the black goat snorted, chest still heaving from the run. Sophie still sat astride him, looking around warily, the skin’s ears popped up, attentive looking. The goat turned his head to regard her with a single eye. “Okay lady, dat was fun, but we’re fookin done now. Git off.”
Sophie stared back at him. “I’d say thanks for the ride, but I’m pretty sure my ass fell off somewhere on that road.”
The goat smiled, “I got ya here. Didn’t say I’d do it comfy. Take it up with me boss. I’m sure he’ll sell your fookin ass back to ya.”
She hissed halfheartedly and dismounted.
As soon as her foot left the stirrup, the black goat began to trot in the direction we’d come, and once he reached the road, it lifted back into the sky, its darkness swallowed by the stars.
“So will that come back when we need it to?” Sophie turned and directed the question at me.
“I… think so?” I hazarded, but Secret shook her head.
“Once we have Momma, the Ways will not be safe. Follow me for now,” Secret said and walked a few feet into the wood.
I laboriously climbed to my feet and cinched up the straps of my bag.
“The Fuck!” Sophie exclaimed.
“Sssshh.” Secret shushed her.
Sophie frantically raked her fingers through the white fur front of her skin jacket. “The buttons are gone!” She protested in an urgent whisper.
“What a surprise,” I said, following Secret. “You took a fey gift.”
“Because I was freezing to death.”
“That’s how they get you,” I said.
“Why didn’t you stop me, then?”
“Because I didn’t want you to freeze to death. You-”
Secret whirled around and shushed us both. Then jabbed a finger upward. Looking up, I found a gray stone cat lounging on a branch above us. When it didn’t move or budge, I relaxed a smidge. I didn’t really see that as a threat, but I stopped talking and focused on where we were going.
The forest we picked our way through resembled any secondary-growth grove that you’d find anywhere, narrow trees, no larger than a foot thick, branches dripping with moss and vines. Then I noticed the abundance of scratch marks around the base of each tree, that only one kind of shrub grew here, with tall clusters of purple flowers, and all the mushrooms were felted toys. Only once I saw these things did I start to see all the stone cats. They lurked in every shadow, hid behind tufts of grass and peered down through the thick canopy of leaves. All shapes and sizes, from a jowly tomcat that rivaled the fattest raccoon to a tiny munchkin that crouched by a stream for a drink. Secret carefully stepped around every kitty, holding the tip of her tail in one hand to avoid accidentally brushing one.
I followed, trying to put my feet in the same places she stepped, but they still found twigs to snap. Sophie followed, stepping silently, but scratching and pulling at the skin. We crossed a stream via a log, and into a wall of hot muggy air that instantly brought prickles to my skin as sweat leapt out of my pores.
Secret hissed and lashed her tail with consternation. “There’s a Knight of Summer here.” Through the trees I could just make out the carpeted wall of the tower. “Aww, Princess, you didn’t think it’d be that easy did you?” A soft, sly voice slid from among the trees, that I recognized as Luna’s cat, Cheshire.
“Who said that?” Sophie asked with a guttural growl in her voice. Her hands rose, but instead of fists, she hooked her fingers like claws.
“Cheshire, where have you been?” Secret glared up at a hollow in the trunk of a gnarled tree. Two slitted purple eyes watched her back.
“Where I always am, bringing a smile to the darkness.” A crescent moon grin appeared below the eyes. “I am sorry that I could not greet you in the glacial canyon, but I could not find a shadow deep enough to travel there. Not that I looked particularly hard.”
“Are you kidding me?” Sophie exclaimed. “THE Cheshire? From Alice and Wonderland?”
The grinned widened. “Yesss! The very same. I must say, Madam, that is a most fabulous skin you wear so well. It fits you much better than Abigail.”
Sophie tugged at the collar of her skin jacket and grimaced. “I think it’s rather too clingy for my taste. How do I take it off?”
Cheshire’s purr swelled as he gave a soft chuckle. “But it’s such a lovely gift. Besides… is that the question you really want to ask me? On whose behalf are you braving this insanity?”
Wincing with discomfort, Sophie pulled her hands away from the fur and forced them down to her sides. “My mother, what happened to her?”
“Aaaaah, yes.” Cheshire nodded, “The unfortunate case of Gloria Gifford, who saw evil everywhere but herself. The mistress thought this was unfair to them to be so rudely overlooked in Gloria’s survey. So when there is light from neither sun nor moon, Gloria’s evils come out to mark the world. In such a way she learns her own folly.”
“How can she learn anything if we have to keep her locked up? She’ll just get more bitter,” Sophie snarled, her voice bottoming out to a low hiss.
“Then the dark inside her will grow stronger. Hmm.” Cheshire’s glowing face tilted in a shrug-like motion.
Sophie’s lips closed in preparation of responding, but her face twisted in pain. Her hands fumbled with the knot that held the furred belt around her waist. As the black tip came free, she sagged with relief. The belt unwrapped itself to first swing, then lash with life and bone. A low satisfied moan rolled up out of her throat. “What’s happpeninnn?”
“Cheshire!” I chided the cat fey or whatever he was. “Stop it! She didn’t ask for this.”
Those purple eyes gleamed, “Does anyone ask for dreams? She’s the one wearing a puma skin on the doorstep of the Court of Cats as Luna watches. Look up.”
I cast my gaze skyward and there, floating over the highest rampart of the cats’ castle, sat Luna’s patient smile. So close that it appeared that someone standing on the rampart could reach up and touch the moon. She was waiting for us.
The familiar pop of reshaping bone made me turn from her. Sophie now clung to the tree Cheshire grinned from; the hanging legs of the skin had engulfed her own. “It’s… so… tight!” Sophie gasped as her legs were squeezed into a feline shape.
“I asked for Luna to take me,” I protested, “Sophie hasn’t.”
“Is that really true?” Cheshire mused; a shadow snaked from the hole, cupped Sophie’s chin and gently pulled Sophie’s face to gaze up at him. “While wolves rely on each other, cats rely on themselves. Their strength, their stealth, and their wisdom. The skin is but a taste. It will not come with you to crossroads unless you take it as your own. It will give you power here. Luna smiles tonight, there will no better time to bargain.”
Sophie didn’t say anything as the shadow released her. Gathering herself, she pushed away from the tree to stand on her reshaped legs. Her tail lifted, curving for balance as she wobbled. A tight smile bent her lips. “I’m done running. Let’s see what you do.” Reaching up, she pulled the skin’s feline face down over her eyes and it became a mask. Even as she lowered her hands, the paws of the skin slid over them. With a soft yowl, she let herself down onto all fours and arched her back. Her vertebrae pressed up beneath the fur, her spine and torso lengthening.
“Ruck tha huuuur!” Her exclamation of pain turned into a strained growl as her lower jaw pushed out until it meshed with the skin’s muzzle. The nose flushed pink with life once again, and the wide tongue flicked up over it. The transformation seemingly complete, Sophie flopped onto her side with a tired chirp. A large tawny-furred feline with a long, black-tipped tail and a splash of white around her nose. Yet, dark skin shined with sweat around her lower jaw and the front of her neck, marking the feline face as a mask.
“There,” Cheshire chuckled. “What a perfect disguise for sneaking into the Court! You’re on your own to figure out how to get a wolf past the guards, though. The Summer Knight has banished darkness from the Court itself, but on the other side, you’ll find a grate that even the largest wolf can squeeze through. I will meet you there, Princess, and we will bargain for passage through the dark. Hope you bring snacks! Tootles.” The Cheshire’s glowing features winked back into the dark of the hollow.
“Meanie!” Secret called after him before crossing her arms and sniffing hard. Then exhaled a shaky breath. I reached toward her, but she stepped out of my reach. “Least you could do is tell us how to get up there.”
38
Secret moved toward Sophie as the new cat struggled to her feet. Her tail went bolt straight when Secret hugged her neck. Sophie made a series of annoyed-sounding chuffs and chirps.
I readied myself to snatch Secret away, but she giggled and squeezed poor Sophie tighter. “We don’t work like that in this court. Anyone can challenge the queen, just nobody usually wants to.”
Sophie growled, then chirped in a clear complaint, with her ears half turned and tail tip flicking.
“You're part of this court now,” Secret said, releasing Sophie. “Cheshire tried the same thing with Abby, but the skin didn’t fit her. It looks good on you, Sophie. You’re a cat and you can’t do nuthing bout that.”
That got Secret a snarling hiss, but the girl’s own tail tip twitched playfully. Belatedly, I realized my cub wasn’t being supportive at all.
“Secret, stop teasing her,” I chided with a sigh. “We still need to get to the top of this tower, right?”
“But we’re kinda like sisters now!” Secret grinned. “And she’s kinda like a younger sister who knows nothing yet. So it’s like a duty!”
I had to laugh. “Focus, you. How do we get up there?”
“I have two of momma’s treasures,” she huffed and unslung her backpack. Unzipping it, she inverted it and two objects fell out onto the ground. A large golden coin, and a dingy catnip mouse with only one eye. She bent and touched the mouse, which squeaked. “Odin, my favorite toy, find us the least guarded route to Momma.”
