CHAPTER 24 TAKING A CATWALK
In the Forest of the Afterlife, there were many interesting spots and clearings.
In some places, castles rose out of stone, some had hammocks made of flowers and vines that awaited any idle soul who wished to rest. Then there were the cliffs that gave way to magnificent starry skies; the souls that wandered its realm could drift through and peer out over the expanse of heavenly stars. Some of the beings that lived in the forest liked to marvel that they once lived in a world that was far larger than they had ever realized while alive.
Sometimes a clearing with tables and tasty treats and teas would appear for those who wished to have company. In a grove of birch trees, someone could stumble upon a rousing game of cards amongst beings both ethereal and those that once lived.
However, it was also a common sight for there to be the casual meandering of felines that would traipse through the world, curiously observing everyone and everything for snippets of time before returning to the land of the living.
No one really thought much about such a thing …
Especially as none of the cats were known to talk.
That is until Kraken, familiar to the house witch, came to be.
In the world of the living, only his witch could converse with him, but there in the Forest of the Afterlife, Kraken was free to talk with whomever he pleased. It was something of a mystery that the Gods should bless an animal with such a gift.
Kraken thought it made perfect sense. After all, they had made him divinely fluffy with superior intelligence. Why wouldn’t he be given such a useful ability?
Because he was unique, however, Kraken had become something of a celebrity in the Forest of the Afterlife, and, delighted that they could converse with a creature as enigmatic as a cat, he found that he would be chatted up far more often than he would have liked.
It was one of the reasons he didn’t frequent the afterlife … He didn’t like being hounded as a beast of entertainment.
Though, he had made a point to visit a few times a year to update the mother of his witch on how everyone was doing. Sadly, she didn’t always remember the details, but Kraken did his best not to mind. It wasn’t Katelyn Ashowan’s fault after all.
The Daxarian queen had been a newer addition to the forest … and she often asked about her husband and children.
Kraken had begun visiting less often as a result … He’d always liked the queen and didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth about how her loved ones were doing in recent years, what with the prince kitten disappearing.
Though she did always laugh magnificently anytime Kraken told her some new small assertion of dominance he’d bestowed upon her husband. Relieving himself on the rug right by King Norman Reyes’s bedside so that he had to step in poop the very first thing in the morning … The occasions he had casually drunk out of the king’s goblet when he wasn’t looking and left tufts of fluff behind …
All good times.
“After we find these mushrooms, you’ll go back and tell Fin, and that will help?” Kate asked airily as they wandered through the forest, occasionally greeting people as they walked.
“Yes. There is someone who is using the mushrooms to forcefully exchange human souls for ancient beasts—and the type of people who consume these mushrooms are the ones who are almost instantly transported to the Grove of Sorrows.”
“Whoever planned this is quite cunning,” Ainsley noted as she walked beside Katelyn.
“One thing in particular that rubs my fur the wrong way is that I’ve heard this person is nearby in the castle. I should be able to smell someone who is around Witch’s Brew regularly, but I cannot. They are hidden from me,” Kraken confirmed as they moved through the trees that began to thin.
“Is there anything you know of that could block the scent?” Katelyn wondered seriously.
The familiar didn’t respond immediately. “A few things. Stronger smelling things … or perhaps they haven’t been around the Witch’s Brew in a while and only rely on other people to handle its creation …”
“Why can’t we just tell the Gods? Or what about the ancient beasts still lurking on the outskirts? Couldn’t we ask them?” Ainsley frowned as she sifted through the possibilities.
“The ancient beasts are loyal to whoever they believe will bring them back to the other realm or who will help the devil. As for the Gods … they are being exceptionally quiet about this entire thing. Most likely because of their son being involved.” Kraken sighed, for once his haughtiness tinged with his age.
Hearing this, Katelyn Ashowan leaned down and scooped up the fluffy feline in her arms.
Giving him an expert scritch around his head and ears, she saw Kraken allow himself to grow limp in her arms.
“I must say, you are a rather delightful selling point to succumbing to death’s carriage,” Kraken purred happily.
Kate smiled sunnily down at the feline. Her warm brown eyes were as bright as they had been in her youth, and her wavy brown hair thick and healthy. She looked like she was back in her prime again, as did Ainsley Reyes.
“Ah, I can’t believe I forgot to ask! How are my grandchildren?” Katelyn mused happily. The weight of earthly situations never fully rested on her.
Kraken’s eyes had been in the process of rolling back and his mouth falling open as Kate found an exceptionally delicious spot to scratch along his cheek. Mention of Finlay’s kittens, however, had him begrudgingly coming back to his senses—at least until Ainsley reached over and gently massaged the silky fur of his paw while lingering along his imperial toe beans.
“Aaaauuurrrgh …” Kraken tried to talk but drooled a little instead. “The queen kitten …”
“Oh, you mean Alina?” Ainsley asked helpfully.
“Yes. She is having her own litter now.”
“How wonderful!” The former Daxarian queen beamed, tears rising in her eyes.
“Ah … and … the fiery kitten and prince kitten are married …”
Both Kate and Ainsley stopped their adoring pets to stare at the feline in astonishment.
“Do you mean to say that Katarina is married?”
“To my son?!”
Both Ainsley and Kate stared at the fluffy feline, who was wondering why in the world the scritches and massage were not resuming.
The two women then looked to each other and burst out laughing.
“Gods … Mr. Howard must be having a conniption. I should ensure when he arrives here in the forest that his favorite wine is on hand,” Ainsley gasped.
“I’m not sure I remember your son … but I just cannot believe that my little Katarina is married!” Kate sighed, her eyes growing distant and starry as they often did.
Kraken squirmed out of Kate’s arms. If there weren’t going to be any proper pets, then they needed to continue on their journey.
The two women shared a knowing look before they followed after the cat. Kraken was always a persnickety beastie.
As the trio walked, however, their former good mood faded and a funny somberness settled over them as the forest continued to darken and mist rose around them. At first it could have been played off as a trick of the eyes, but soon it grew thicker … and thicker … The flowers of the forest disappeared, and they found that no matter how far they walked, every tree and stone looked the same.
“Kraken, I’m … I’m not sure I like this part of the forest …” Kate announced warily while blinking with a frown. She was feeling … strange. As though … As though something were happening to her …
“I feel it too,” Ainsley whispered, suddenly stopping.
Kraken looked back at the two women that had decided to join him on his journey into the woods and chirped.
He had been to that part of the forest many times before … yet he had never felt peculiar. Why was it those who had passed away felt strange there? The entire forest should have felt natural to them.
When he turned back around, however, he perked up.
There.
The smell of the mushrooms!
Unlike Witch’s Brew, however, the scent didn’t have the sickening sweet, decaying odor …
Kraken trotted faster toward it, following his nose.
Hesitantly, Kate and Ainsley followed him.
They were feeling heavy and as they stared around themselves, everything seemed to feel a lot clearer to them …
“Ah! Finally!” Kraken announced as he made a sharp right.
As if by some trick of the trees, a ring of stones appeared, standing at least fifteen feet tall with nothing but grass within its circle … though surrounding the inside of the circle of stones … were the mushrooms.
Kraken entered the ring easily and sniffed the nearest mushroom without hesitation.
“Something is wrong …” Ainsley announced weakly.
“I haven’t felt like this in … in … Gods!” The realization and alarm in Kate’s voice drew Kraken’s attention once more.
“I feel like I’m … I’m alive again. My mind feels sharper … I … I can remember things … Gods! I kept forgetting everything you told me, Kraken! I kept forgetting how old Fin was … How old my grandchildren were … Kraken, what in the world is happening?!” Kate demanded, her hands flying to her hips, her eyes sharper than they had ever been in the thick of the forest. She stood just outside the ring of stones with Ainsley gradually moving to join her side.
The familiar stilled as he stared in awe at the two women who not only seemed more clearheaded … but had also no longer looked as they had in their primes … Instead, they looked the ages they had been when they had died …
Sniffing the mushrooms again, Kraken bit off a stem and made his way back over to Kate and Ainsley. Setting down the item he intended to take back to the earthly realm for Fin, Kraken regarded his two impromptu companions seriously.
“You’ve come to an unnatural portal. It could be that if you passed through it, you could resurrect yourselves … Though I cannot say what the price for such a thing would be. Most likely the deaths of thousands of people … perhaps even an entire kingdom.”
Kate and Ainsley stared at each other, then back at Kraken.
“What if that is the purpose of the portal? Of all the exchanges? Someone keeps increasing the value of beings passing through until someone, or something even bigger can enter the other realm?” Kate asked as she began pacing amongst the ferns.
Looking around at the misty trees, Kraken could sense beings growing closer to them.
“What makes you pounce to such a conclusion?” the familiar asked while keeping an ear out for the mysterious creatures lingering nearby.
“Well … I’m thinking what powerful person could want with such a thing? If I were the devil, or someone who wanted to be rid of the devil, I would try to find a way to send them into another realm entirely. If I knew it was possible and a way to do it,” Kate reasoned while reaching up and rubbing the back of her neck thoughtfully.
Kraken sat quietly with his thoughts for a few moments before answering.
“That would make sense. But from what I hear, the devil believes there is a woman after him, so that means she has created this portal and intends to shove him through.”
“A witch is doing this?” Ainsley interjected while moving forward. Her regal bearing had returned alongside her clarity of mind.
“No one knows who is doing this. Which is why I came here for the mushroom,” Kraken explained patiently. He normally wouldn’t bother, but the two women seemed to be eager to figure the situation out. And if they could? Well, it was no fur off his nose.
“Someone with a grudge against the devil certainly doesn’t narrow it down,” Kate muttered half to herself.
“And the Gods have tied my witch into the whole endeavor,” Kraken reminded while resisting the urge to yawn.
Kate blinked, then halted her movements. “Where is the first witch?”
At this, Kraken tilted his head. “Dead. Ages ago. The devil defeated her.”
“But then she would’ve been here in the Forest of the Afterlife,” Kate pointed out, her right hand vibrating as her mind whirred through her thoughts at lightning speed—it was precisely the way she had been when she was forced to think through her medical diagnoses back when she had been alive.
“You think the first witch is alive?” Ainsley queried with open astonishment.
“Well think about it! This drug is called Witch’s Brew … She has a vendetta against the devil, and she has connections to the afterlife! What if … What if she wasn’t killed, but instead weakened? What if this is her way of one last fight against her brother?”
Kraken sat perfectly still.
He had forgotten Finlay had come from such a brilliant mother cat.
“That could be. For now, you two should return to the depths of the forest where it is safe. If it is the first witch? That means she would have eyes and ears everywhere … Though, how she would have convinced the ancient beasts to join her side still makes no sense to me,” Kraken mused aloud.
“Perhaps she promised them something in exchange … Oh, I wish we could talk to them!” Kate lamented irritably while her right fist pounded the air in frustration.
Ainsley folded her arms over her middle. “We need to figure out who the first witch is and what her motive is … then it’ll be easier to figure out what we should do.”
“Assuming it is the first witch. That is still a mere guess,” Kraken reminded.
“While it does seem like the obvious answer … perhaps it isn’t the first witch. Maybe the devil simply found his match in a human woman who is determined to see him vanquished.” Ainsley shrugged, though her eyes were lost in thought as she, too, pondered the puzzle before them.
Without bothering to say another word, Kraken bent down and picked the mushroom back up.
The creatures in the mist were already disappearing, and he could take a guess where they were going …
They were going to warn their mistress that a certain plan had been figured out. Or perhaps they hadn’t guessed correctly at all, and there was simply no reason to show themselves …
Kraken turned back to the stones and made his way toward a particular opening he recalled without another word to his witch’s mother or the former queen. He would see them again, but his instincts were starting to make his fur stand on end … Kraken needed to tell his witch everything he had learned.
I suppose it’ll be a little more annoying to take over Troivack than I originally thought … Ah well … How many ancient beasts could they have brought into our realm anyway?