Chapter 52
Meanwhile in Lumora
The towering spires of the Druid School glinted faintly under the early morning light, and Kyron’s voice echoed through the halls as he called for help. The weight of Sorcha and Cat didn’t slow him, his steps purposeful and his tone commanding.
“Help! We need a healer!”
Doors creaked open as startled figures emerged, but it was Commander Nethran who appeared first, his gaze taking in the scene in an instant.
“Sorcha?” he said, his voice tight with concern as he approached. “What happened?”
“She’s hurt,” Kyron said shortly, adjusting Sorcha in his arms. “And so is the damn cat. They need a healer now.”
Nethran didn’t waste time. “Follow me,” he said, turning sharply and leading them toward the medical unit.
Once inside, Kyron gently laid Sorcha on one of the cots while Nethran called for the healers.
Cat slipped from Kyron’s grip, landing awkwardly on his feet but managing to limp to Sorcha’s side.
The healers arrived quickly, working on Sorcha and Cat with practiced precision.
Nethran stood off to the side, his arms crossed as he watched the scene unfold, his jaw tight with unspoken questions.
As the healers worked, Cat’s silver eyes flicked to Nethran, and he spoke.
“You’re wondering what’s happening,” he said evenly.
Nethran’s eyes narrowed. “You could say that. So, you’re not just a cat…
Cait Sídhe. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard the stories.
” His gaze bore into Cat, scrutinizing every inch of the creature.
Cat looked amused by the statement, tilting his head with an air of mock offense. “I was… intrigued.
Sorcha reeked of magic, and that kind of scent is hard to ignore. But in a short time, I’ve grown to like her,” he confessed.
His eyes glimmered like crashing waves, their tides of light and shadow pulling at the room’s attention. “She is mine, and I am hers. There’s no place she can go that I can’t follow.”
The words hung in the air, weighted with meaning.
Cat turned his gaze to Nethran, who stared back unblinking for a long time.
The commander wasn’t sure he could trust the Fae.
He knew too well the stories of their kind, creatures of habit, cunning, and contradiction.
The Cait Sídhe could guide souls or steal them, and it was impossible to know which path they might choose at any given moment.
But tonight, there wasn’t much choice. After a beat, Nethran nodded slowly.
“I suppose it’s no surprise, with Samhain being so close, that she found you when she did,” he said. “So then, do you have any idea what happened to the two of you tonight?”
Cat, who had been casually licking his wounds, paused to glance up, his expression irritated at the interruption. “Well, Commander,” he began, “Sorcha, for reasons beyond my comprehension, decided to take us to the Bridge of the Forgotten.”
He straightened, his voice dropping slightly as his eyes scanned the room, ensuring he had everyone’s attention.
“For those of you who don’t know, the Bridge of the Forgotten is a death trap.
All who walk across it if they aren’t already dead soon will be.
It’s haunted by souls whose lives ended unnaturally: by force, by tragedy, or by betrayal.
These spirits wander the bridge endlessly, damning anyone foolish enough to cross.
Anyway, in doing so,” Cat continued, his tone laced with dry exasperation, “she managed to draw the attention of every skeleton, walking dead, banshee, wraith, and just about any other creature in the area.”
He let out a heavy sigh, his tail twitching.
Suddenly, it split into two, the newly formed tails whipping through the air with almost deliberate nonchalance.
Nethran’s eyes flicked around the room. Kyron stood off to the side, his expression unimpressed, a flicker of annoyance in his gaze as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest. The healers, however, were transfixed, one of them letting out a soft gasp at the sight of Cat’s transformation.
Sorcha lay motionless on the cot, her breaths shallow but steady, oblivious to the growing tension.
Nethran’s gaze snapped back to Cat, his patience visibly thinning.
The Cait Sídhe seemed entirely unbothered, tending to his wounds as though he had all the time in the world.
“Oh!” Cat suddenly exclaimed sarcasm dripping off every word like venom. “I almost forgot to mention the near-death experience at the hands of her impeccable sense of direction.” He glanced at Sorcha. “Really, Commander, she nearly got us killed. It was impressive, in a catastrophic sort of way.”
Kyron, muttered what sounded suspiciously like,
“unbelievable.”
Commander Nethran cleared his throat loudly, his tone edged with irritation. “And was there anything else?”
Kyron turned his glare on Cat, shaking his head. “You know, for someone who almost died, it’s great to see you walked away completely unbothered. Maybe just get to the point and tell us what happened, since you’re feeling so chatty.”
Cat froze mid lick, his tails flicking menacingly behind him. “I knew you didn’t like me,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Kyron.
Kyron shot back a pointed glare, raising an eyebrow. “I know an Otherworldly being when I see one, Cat. I was suspicious of your motives from the start. Your kind has a reputation.”
Cat’s lips curled into a sly grin. “Hmm. So is that why you’ve been hanging around Sorcha all this time? Or could it be there’s a little more to it, Kyron?”
Before Kyron could retort, Commander Nethran’s voice thundered through the room, silencing them both.
“That is ENOUGH!” he barked, his tone cutting through the tension like a blade.
“I need to know what happened to my ranger, and I need to know now. If you two have finished your bickering, someone explain things to me.”
Cat tilted his head toward Nethran, his expression suddenly calm and serious.
“I am telling you, Commander. Sorcha has been dream walking into the Otherworld, and it’s a miracle she hasn’t died yet.
She’s crossing the Veil without any understanding of what she’s walking into or how dangerous it is.
She’s been doing this long before I arrived.
” He paused, his voice dropping lower. “And now her powers have begun to emerge. That magic makes her a beacon for everything that walks, crawls, flies, and slithers in both planes. And worse, someone is actively hunting her.”
Nethran’s brow furrowed. “Hunting her?”
“Yes,” Cat said bluntly. “Whoever or whatever it is, they are tied to her by fate. The wisps are leading her to it, this thing cloaked in shadows. She can’t outrun it, Commander. She can’t hide from it. Whatever is happening is bound to her, and she plays a key role in all of it.”
The room fell silent, the weight of Cat’s words pressing heavily on them.
Finally, Cat let out an exhaustive sigh.
“Anything else you’d like me to explain?
Oh, yes—the bridge. A wraith sliced her side open while I stood in front of her, protecting her with my life.
That vermin managed to get past me while I was busy fighting the masses of undead and the shadow figure that was chasing us across the bridge. ”
Kyron looked at Cat, regret flickering across his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but Cat cut him off with a raised paw. “Now, now, no need to get sentimental, Kyron. Keep that away from me before I start to like you too.” Kyron felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips.
Commander Nethran stepped closer to Sorcha, turning to Cat with a stern expression.
“How do we know she’s not there right now? How do we know she’s safe?”
Cat, unbothered as always, flicked one of his tails lazily. “If she wasn’t safe, I wouldn’t be here talking to you.”
Nethran considered this for a moment, then nodded. He turned to Kyron, his tone brisk.
“I need to think this through, get some things in order, and prepare the Circle and cadets for the day. Kyron, you’ll stay here and keep watch over both of them.”
Kyron straightened, his reply immediate. “Yes, Commander.”
With that, Nethran walked out the door, leaving Kyron alone with Cat and Sorcha.
Kyron and Cat settled into the quiet room.
The bells of the Druid School rang softly in the distance, marking the passage of time.
The clash of swords and muffled commands of training drills filtered faintly through the walls, but in the medical unit, all was still.
Kyron sat in a chair near Sorcha’s cot, his gaze flicking between her and Cat, who lay curled at her feet. The Cait Sídhe’s eyes would close briefly, only to snap open again as he drifted in and out of consciousness.
Eventually, the sun began its slow descent, flooding the room with warm, golden light.
The rays seemed to be drawn to Sorcha, enveloping her in their glow as her runes absorbed the light, flickering bright and then dim.
Her hair shimmered, curling slightly and twisting in the light, as though it were alive and reaching toward the sun.
For a moment, Kyron was caught off guard by the sight of her.
In the stillness, she looked more like a goddess than a mortal.
Then her eyes fluttered open, and she blinked slowly, her gaze sweeping the room. Her voice, raspy and strained, broke the quiet.
“Kyron… Are we at the medical unit?”
Kyron leaned forward, his features softening as his dark eyes met hers. Her green eyes, now swirling faintly with liquid gold, glowing in the sunlight.
“Yes,” he said gently. “You needed more help than I could give.”
Cat stirred, his eyes flicking up to meet Sorcha’s. “You’re safe now,” he said, his tone uncharacteristically soft.
Sorcha’s gaze lingered on him, her expression caught in disbelief. Even now, it was hard to process the reality that Cat could speak—that he was so much more than she had imagined.