Chapter One
A rabbit startled from the underbrush as Kayse passed. It scattered a haystack of leaves, dry kindle in the late fall months, but Kayse did not notice it dart into the dusting of fog that lingered along the forest floor. Her legs burned. A stitch knotted in her side, and sweat trickled down her face in rivets of sticky heat. She grimaced at the way her vest clung to her damp skin, but she refused to slow her pace. There was no excuse for failure.
Upcoming branches bent low across the trail. Kayse threw out her arm, blindly pushing them aside as she blinked sweat from her eyes. One particularly sharp branch caught her by her vest, and a few leaves that had dislodged from the branches smacked her in the face. She spit them away and pressed on. The smell of the blood now coating her arm like a second sleeve reached her flaring nostrils and fueled her determination. Any small wounds would be boastful reminders of victory if she made it.
Sunlight broke through the gloom of the trees ahead, and Kayse knew she was near the edge of the forest. With one last burst of energy that pounded through her legs, she took three long strides, cleared a log, smashed through a wall of evergreens, and somehow managed to catch the toe of her boot against a tree root.
Gravity claimed her. Unable to break her fall, she yelped and crashed into the ground with the grace of an injured bird. The light that burst behind her eyelids was brighter than the sunlight surrounding her, and her lungs ached from sudden, incomprehensible asphyxiation. Kayse floundered, grappling the grass with all four of her limbs, until the smell of sodden leaves and old dew registered with her senses.
She groaned.
Before Kayse could find strength enough to push herself to her knees, she heard a rustle of branches, and then huffed and expelled some hair from her mouth when the pressure of small paws landed on her back.
“Hello, Teagan.” She winced through her words as she sat up, and the movement made the paws disappear. Crossing her legs underneath her, Kayse blinked up at the hazy, autumn sky. The chill of the air that settled against her too-hot skin warned her of approaching winter months.
Winter. Definitely not her favorite season.
Kayse collected her scrambled thoughts and looked to the small Mancoon sitting beside her. The smugness in those slitted, yellow eyes taunted her. They gleamed: a predator staring at its helpless prey. Kayse pushed her lips out in a childish pout.
“I would have won had I not fallen. You do realize that, right?”
Teagan, the Mancoon, gave a feline's chuckle and settled his front paws on the curve of her knee. He wrapped his tail around his haunches, twitched his whiskers, and then inclined his head to wash his right paw.
“Braggart,” Kayse muttered, jerking her leg. Teagan dug his claws into her knee and flicked his ears back. When she did it again, he got down and trotted a few steps away. His tail waved smartly in her direction, telling her off.
Kayse rolled her eyes and then gingerly prodded her ribs. A few of them felt bruised and painful, but otherwise she couldn't detect any further damage. Certain that she was fine, she carefully pushed herself to her feet. The dizziness that followed soon passed, and once her breathing steadied, she used her fingers to brush dirt and wet from her clothing.
“Are you alright, Kayse?”
Kayse turned to her companion. A human boy sat where the Mancoon once did. He grinned up at her, and his curly hair was a black, wiry mess around his golden-brown eyes.
“'m fine,” she said, and leaned over to ruffle his hair. He could be rather cocky with her sometimes, but she forgave him that. She always did. However, she refused to let him have the last word, so she added, “Just realize that if we had both been human, I would have won.”
Teagan guffawed and shook his head. She reached down and, grabbing at his hands, pulled him swiftly to his feet. Lazily, he stretched out his bones, reaching one arm above his head and using the other to pull down the hem of his shirt. Kayse smiled as curls of his tameless hair fell into his eyes. She reached over to brush them aside.
Soon, Teagan and Kayse walked, fingers laced, down the slight incline toward the base of a clearing. Down there, the woods parted to envelope the basin of a river that wound deep into the forest. It was their hideout. Their comfort zone. There they spent many hours snatching at time devoid of reality's cruelties. Teagan tugged at Kayse's hand, and they progressed into a loping run. They stumbled upon the river and collapsed in a heap along the soggy, mud-carved banks.
Kayse laughed and leaned into Teagan's side, watching avidly as he skipped a rock across the river's balmy surface. A leaf fluttered down onto her lap and she crunched it between her fingers, content to let the particles rain down on Teagan's knee. She smiled at the loopy grin he gave her.
The warmth of the sun that broke through the clouds seared into her back and neck. It gave enough heat to soothe her aches and pangs, but as she sat there, an odd, uneasy sensation prickled along her skin. There was something else than mild heat in the air, and it crackled against the backs of her hands. Yet, she could not detect what it might be. It was out of her reach.
She considered the sensation for a while, but her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a burning itch that spread through her mind. It reminded her of poison ivy, though this itching crowded through her thoughts in a way pain and discomfort never did. Kayse pulled her weight from Teagan's side and scrubbed her hands against her forehead. She rubbed harder, but she knew the itch would not leave that easily. The thought made her teeth grind.
“Kayse, what is it?” Teagan asked as she pulled away from him completely and stood up. She began to pace, and massaged her fingers against her temples. Kayse knew he wanted an answer, but she ignored him and massaged away the stress lines on her forehead, hardly aware of the impressions her boots made as they sunk an inch into mud.
Wading through the murky depths of her concentration, she pushed away the increasing itch and attempted to find the source. She was vaguely aware that her skin felt clammy, and distantly, her brain burned as it scrubbed raw by an accidental tumble onto something rough. Still, she shoved into the irritation and finally broke through. The itching vanished with a snap that left her whole brain throbbing, and she shook like a dog to get rid of the goosebumps along her arms.
She released a slow breath, then looked at Teagan. “Roxanne wants us home now,” she said softly. “No arguing. I would not push her patience today.” Kayse frowned thoughtfully, trying to make sense of Roxanne's summons, but after a moment she only shrugged to ease the tension in her shoulders.
“Why does she always contact you when she wants us home?” Teagan grumped. The relaxed feeling of earlier was gone as he stood up and went to wipe his boots on the grass. “She taught us both the same stuff.”
Kayse shook her head. “I do not know,” she said, although she did deep down. Roxanne trusted her more than Teagan. Not that he misbehaved or did not deserve her trust. It was merely a matter of skills. Kayse had the potential to go further in her studies. Teagan did not.
Roxanne just had not told him yet.
Teagan rolled his eyes. His eyes roved over her face, and then he licked his thumb and held it up, squinting as if measuring something. His mouth split into a grin. “You have a little dirt on your chin.”
“What? Where?” Kayse reached up to feel her face.
“Ah ah ah. I'll get it.” He swiped at the bottom curve of her jaw with his thumb. “Right there. Just a smudge. It's gone now.” Chuckling, he polished his fingernails off on his shirt, then bowed low to her. “All clean, m'lady.”
Kayse snorted and lightly punched him in the shoulder. “Very funny, sir. Come on. You know what happens when Roxanne is kept waiting.” She looked back at the stream upon detecting a hint of disappointment in the crystallized sunlight of his eyes. “We will come back tomorrow, okay?” There was a heavy, uncertain pause, and then she sighed. “I promise. We will dig for mushrooms and make your favorite stew.”
Teagan frowned slightly. He opened his mouth to say something, then quickly clicked his teeth together and shot away for the incline. His taunting words floated back to where she stood, momentarily confused.
“Race you!”
She tore after him. “Wait until I get my hands on you, you little cheater!” she yelled, but he only laughed and brushed through the tree line. Once he was out of sight, she slowed down. And grinned.
If he could cheat, so could she.