Page 28 of Up from the Earth

The Wolf didn’t offer a response other than huffing and setting off at a quicker sprint. I smiled, enjoying this sliver of normality shared between us three. However, there was little that could be done to truly distract me from the purpose of this endeavor. I sensed that malignance up ahead, our path leading us inexorably toward it.

My stomach pinched. I did not want to face what lay ahead. I did not believe myself strong enough. A thought sparkled in the depths of my mind. I had completed two tasks to prove myself worthy of matehood to The King, The Wolf, but I had yet to experience the same connection and upheaval of my being with The Queen.

What still lay ahead that I could not see yet?

Cerridwen…Cerridwen…

The sing-song call in my head didn’t come from either The Wolf or Cerberus. And for as feminine as it seemed, it was not of The Queen either.

Cerridwen…Cerridwen…

“Stop.” I yanked on The Wolf’s fur, immediately halting our progress. “I hear something.”

The wolves with me padded to a stop, their ears perking as they swept their gazes over this endless geography. I did the same, scanning over the shadows until I noticed a small crevice in the gorge wall. This perfect crack in the rock formed a triangular opening to what stretched inward like a cave. My chest pulled, drawing me closer to the opening.

“Mother?”

Cerberus’s voice caused me to pause, and I looked back over my shoulder at him and then at The Wolf, that need to go still pulling at my bones.

“Little beast? What is it that calls to you?”

The massive creatures stood over me, a wave of protective energy surging as they blocked my path. I walked up to The Wolf, laying my hand against his chest.

“It’s a voice. Female. I…I need to go in there.”

His yellow eyes swung in the direction of the cave, a low growl rumbling through him.“That place…It is not for the uninitiated. It is not of this realm, not truly. It is something else. I have little to no power there.”

Cerridwen…Cerridwen…

“I can’t sense malice, my Wolf.” I looked past him to the opening, the pitch-dark shadows undulating nearly invisibly. “I…I have to go there. Please, you have to understand.”

“Then we will go with you.”Cerberus offered, stuffing his nose through the gap between The Wolf and I, smoothing his muzzle against me.

“You may follow at my back. But this is something I need to do alone.”

I held both their stares, that resonance in my soul echoing the pull of the cave. This was meant for me. It had something to do with the final step to ensuring I was at peak strength. And I already knew it would not be pleasant.

But growth never truly is. It is pain and adjustment. Things mortals are terrible at. Still, I was hardly just a mortal anymore.

And above all things, I trusted myself.

“Go, little bloom. But do not think for a second that we will leave you to whatever that realm threatens without protection.”

Running my hand up The Wolf’s nose, I held his bright moonlight stare. “I know, Beast. I know.”

Fourteen

If She Asks A Favor Of You, You Must Complete It—At All Costs.

AsIpushedmyway through the cavern, a crooked, disjointed field stretched out from the darkness. It was little more than a passageway, not some dank cave that would swallow me whole. Still, as my eyes adjusted to the lack of light—a sudden change from the washed-out, overcast sky that still managed to convey brightness—this new terrain was hardly more comforting than the last.

The cracked earth blended into the too-thin reeds and grasses that shot up from black dirt. Just beyond the field, a forest began, but not like the one I’d seen at the castle. In fact, this forest didn’t feel connected to any part of this realm, more…adjacent to it. The trees were spindly memories of themselves, jutting up into the sky until they disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds.

“What is this place?”

My voice echoed though I whispered, and as the words drifted from me into the woods, the leaves and branches swayed. That icy wind met me where I stood, and I watched the mist clinging to the ground thicken and dance.

Cerridwen…Cerridwen…

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