Kari’s bones felt like jelly. In fact,
all of her insides felt like some form of liquid mush. Her head swam as
consciousness slowly crawled its way into her mind. Light blinded her, but that
wasn’t right. They were in a cave, where there was no light. She was…they had…
She shot up,
wincing as her head pounded. “AR—”
A hand clamped over her mouth,
another behind her head. She clawed at the hand eclipsing the lower half of her
face, drawing blood. The person did not even flinch, and Kari’s sense returned
just enough to recognize Guine’s scent. She couldn’t see his face, but she felt
his tautness; he was frozen, unusually fearful.
Through throbbing, blurry vision,
Kari took in the sight of a room made of stone. A beam of sunlight doused them
from an open grate high above. The walls were ancient, and crumbling, yet the
room—bare as it was—was quite clean, and well-kept. Straight ahead of them
stood a single door, black iron.
Where are we?
She pulled at Guine’s fingers,
but the human wouldn’t budge. A low growl built in her throat, only to die at
the sound of metal clinking. A key fitting into the black iron door.
Behind her, Guine drew a long,
slow breath. Kari watched as the door creaked open, allowing the view of a
torch-lit hallway and a single robed person. They held a lantern aloft, the
small flame inside flickering.
Their gasp ricocheted off the
high ceiling, making Kari flinch. “Call Master Radun!” they called over their
shoulder, a man’s voice. “Now!”
To Kari and Guine, the man spoke
softer, “My name is Dako. I—”
The words at his lips halted as
he did; with one step into the room, he froze. His eyes bulged in his head.
Kari had enough time to wonder what was wrong with him before his mouth fell
open in a high, whining scream—he dissolved from the ground up, robe, flesh,
and bone crumbling to dust.
She opened her eyes to find
herself on the ground with her paws over her head. Thick thorns had risen all
around her, crossing points just above her body.
Guine
crouched against her snout. “You need to control yourself, Kari. Please.”
She
whimpered.
“We
are in your mind. Essie helped me get here. Do you remember that at all? Seeing
Essie, and Ari?”
Kari breathed slowly, trying to
stamp down the panic in her heart. When had they gotten to Freehaven? What had
happened?
She shook her head.
Guine
exhaled slowly. “The Catalyst must have taken over at some point. But when?”
Her
heart thud, hard. The thorns above them creaked as they grew; Guine had to
flatten himself against her to avoid one piercing his behind.
“Kari,
focus!” Guine said sharply.
I’m
scared.
“I
know you are.” Her eyes flew open as he answered her thoughts—he could hear her? “That’s
why I’m here, to help you.”
What
happened? A low whine left her throat. What did I do?
Guine
hesitated.
Tell
me! A wave of stifling air surged after the demand.
Guine coughed.
“Maybe
the Catalyst woke at some point during the walk? I’m not sure. I’m certain now
that it was in control when we arrived in Freehaven. You…”
Guine
wavered again. Thunder rumbled high above them, making their thorn cage quiver.
“It’s
asleep now!” Guine said quickly. “And Essie helped me get here so I could help
you stop it!”
You
said we saw Ari. The pattering of rain echoed above, and droplets of
icy water trickled off the thin, sharp thorns. Did
I…
Water
peppered them, quickly drenching the ground around her body. Mud squelched
beneath her, drawing her in.
“Kari,
listen to me.” Guine dug claws into her snout, drawing unbidden tears to her
eyes. “Ari is waiting for you, but if you can’t pull yourself together, neither
of us will ever see him again.”
She
looked up at him. Everything around them was colorless gray, and wet. Neither of us?
“We’ll
both be trapped here forever. You have the control here—it’s your mind. Will we
go see him again, or not?”
How
can I fight the Catalyst? If it was in control, it was absolute. I…am I even me
anymore?
Despair
clouded and thickened the air. Mud swamped around her legs, slicking against
her soft underbelly fur.
“If
there was nothing of you left, Kari, I couldn’t be here.”
I
want to see Ari.
“We
will.”
How?
How can we stop this?
“I
haven’t done much mind-delving, I’ll admit, but Essie explained the general
idea. Every mind has a ‘core’ which houses the very basis of what we are. I
think—I’m sure—that the Catalyst’s hold on you is there. She expelled you from
it and sent you here. I think…this is the outermost layer of your mind.”
Core?
Outer layer?
Kari thought tiredly.
“Yes.
I believe you and the Catalyst share a core mind. That’s how it can take control
at times; it’s essentially a separate personality within you. If we can go to
the core and somehow put the Catalyst back to rest, or, better yet, get rid of
it…”
Then
I’ll be free,
she interrupted, anticipation bursting in her heart. I won’t have to worry about the prophecy ever again.
She stood, shattering the
now-brittle thorns with her back. The mud hardened and flaked away, and the
rain ended so abruptly as if it had never come. Tepid sunlight dried them, and
tentative grass sprouted between her paws.
What
do we do?
“Well,
like I said, I haven’t done much practice with minds like this. I can only
say…walk forward? And try to stay focused. That is particularly important,
Kari. If you lose track of your goal, you will wander and we’ll both be lost.”
Kari shook her head, flinging
Squirrel-Guine from her. Then she stretched and shifted forms, becoming a
humanoid demon again. She rolled her shoulders and stretched.
Out of the grass, Guine crawled,
human again, and looking grumpy.
“Did you have to throw me?”
“You were on my nose,” she
reprimanded him, “digging your mean little claws into me. If I’m honest, you
deserve worse.”
“Whatever,” Guine relented.
“Let’s go, shall we?”
Ari. I was so
close to you before. I’ll see you again, soon.
Something heavy with dread tugged
the back of her mind at the thought of him. The softly sweet smell in the air
dampened, becoming sick.
“Focus, Kari,” Guine warned.
Taking a deep breath, Kari faced
in a random direction, maybe north. She took her first step into the depths of
her mind.
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