Prologue
“No!” The girl cried out in terror as soon as she realized where she was, and her short legs propelled her through the dark, stone tunnels as quickly as they could in response. Her voice rang out against the jagged walls, hollow and empty in a way that made her feel even more alone, and she realized her mistake as soon as the echo of it reached back to her from either side of the narrow corridor driving her ever forward. Her ears strained instinctively over the pounding of her own heart, hoping beyond hope that she hadn’t been heard. Still, she pushed herself with all the energy and focus her blind terror could provide, bare feet pat-patting against the uneven ground as she sucked in breaths of air so stale she doubted it had ever been stirred by even the gentlest breeze.
If her scream hadn’t given her away, she feared her very breathing would. The slightest movement could disturb the oppressive subterranean atmosphere around her in a way that left a trail, but even if she stopped completely to huddle away in some dark corner while she fought to calm her gasping, panicked breaths, she knew it would only delay the inevitable, and she was far too afraid to just sit and wait for it to come.
The tunnels that unfolded before her burrowed through solid stone as if chiseled from a single enormous rock while luminescent crystals dotted the narrow ceiling and wedged themselves into the walls here and there, giving the area a dim glow as the tunnels themselves intertwined like a maze. Splitting off before her in this direction and that, they led to dead ends, she knew from experience, as often as they intersected with even more tunnels, but the only escape that she’d ever been able to find was the very end that she fought so desperately to avoid though she knew it would find her eventually regardless.
Suddenly, the path before her ended, turning to the right and left, and the girl veered right without daring to even think, nearly slamming into a stone wall as a result. Turning quickly on her heels, she stopped only for the moment it took to change direction, but even that fractional delay brought upon her a feeling of exhaustion mixed with animal fear that she wasn’t moving fast enough, that even that single step backward might lead her right into the clutches of her pursuer, and it electrified her body, quickening her movement as she plowed all the more blindly forward. Feeling only very slightly safer once she’d made it to the opposite path leading to the left, she continued along that route, taking any turn she found without any attempt to keep track of where she’d been or where she was going. All that mattered was moving as far away from where she’d screamed as she could, as quickly as possible.
It was after a while of this instinctual flight, though she couldn’t even begin to guess how long, that a sound finally rang out in the tunnels behind her, the low and fearful snarl of a very large creature, and the girl knew exactly what it was. She’d thought she’d been running as fast as she could, but her legs quickly proved her wrong, picking up speed as she turned in dread to look back. There was nothing to be seen in the empty tunnel, curving into the distance and forking off to the right, but the sound of heavy footfalls somewhere beyond and no-doubt approaching meant it was closing in. She was running out of time.
She took a left at the nearest opportunity to at least put another thick wall between herself and the creature, followed by a right. That this gambit would buy her even a second longer was something she could only hope, but the more she ran, the more she feared she’d been somehow turned around and was now running back again toward danger instead of away from it. To her dread and relief, though, a string of large, bassy rumblings reverberated again behind her as the creature let out another deep, guttural sound that chilled the blood in her veins even as it pumped ever faster through her body, sending shivers everywhere it flowed.
The quaking of the walls and floor indicated it was closer now than ever before, and the girl’s mind screamed in terror, blotting out all rational thought as she wove desperately through the narrow corridors like a hunted animal. Still, the deafening sounds grew louder and louder until they finally hearkened a rare movement in the air behind her, causing the hairs on her neck to stand up on end. She could hardly hold herself up anymore, let alone run, with the continual shaking of the ground beneath her feet, but she dared not spare even a glance behind her this time to ascertain the severity of her fate, pushing herself instead to continue her flight instead, heedless of the quaking around her.
Finding another tunnel leading to the right, she stumbled quickly through it, and the rumbling increased almost unbearably, softening again only a little as it passed behind her. She’d caused the creature to overshoot, but it wouldn’t be tricked for long, she was sure. A cry of feral rage echoed through the tunnels, proving her right as the shaking of the ground moved back again to the right and directly behind her. She veered left again at the next juncture just before a sound like that of an enormous flamethrower or blowtorch ignited the tunnel she’d only just left. Instead of heat, though, what nearly singed her skin wasn’t the scorching touch of flame but the cold embrace of darkness itself.
Still, she stumbled forward despite the futility of her flight. Every corner she turned she imagined opening into sunlight, and every step forward, she hoped she might catch even the slightest hint of a way out, but every projection of hope faded, each in turn with the continual unwinding of tunnel before her to reveal only more stone walls lined with the same dim crystals that had guided her so far. As she heard the enormous creature behind her turn again to follow, every branching path she took felt as though it bought her less time than the previous even as salvation faded off into the unreachable distance ahead. The rumbling had become almost unbearable again, and the girl could hardly keep her footing when ahead of her, the path split in three directions. In her frenzy, she’d have no idea which way she’d go until she got there, and she’d never find out either.
As the quaking became so turbulent that the ground finally rose to meet her from below even as she raised her scraped-up foot to take just one more step. She was on the ground as fast as the stale air could escape her lungs in protest, and the rumbling grew until it was all around her, shaking her entire world. Then suddenly, it stopped, but the air was no longer still, for over the girl loomed a creature so large and terrible that her childish mind screamed out in horror at the very thought of it. Even without looking, she could feel its breath upon her, filled with rage, hatred, and the desire to kill—and worse. It was over. She was trapped again, and against her own will, she turned her head to the side to meet her own destruction.
The creature was even more terrifying to look at as its large, scaled body filled the entire corridor, as dark as the deepest shadow. Only its piercing, crimson eyes and the blood-red markings on its long neck and body stood out from the darkness of its scales to assure her it was more than just a shadow, and as those enormous eyes met her own much-smaller pupils, dilated as they were. With its terrifying gaze, the creature had created an almost telepathic connection, filling her with a disdain so palpable she could almost choke on it. Finally, when the girl felt she could bear it no more, the creature drew its head forward, swaying slightly on its powerful, long neck until it was so close she could smell the rot on its breath, and with one last snarl, it opened its enormous, fanged mouth, and the girl woke up.
Chapter 1
“Hey! Are you a beader?”
Katella snapped back to reality from wherever she’d lost herself, somewhere far beyond the ocean that lapped at her feet and stretched out into eternity like a panorama before her. At the far end of the horizon stood the sun, glowing an ever-deepening shade of orange as it continued to dip below the golden pathway it had paved across the surface of the darkening waters to the very spot upon which she stood. Like a caring friend that had waited up for her long past the limits of its own vigilance, it had begun to droop into slumber as it sank further into the water, and Katella knew it would soon roll up that golden carpet and disappear from view entirely, rescinding for the night that final offer it held of whatever experiences lay beyond the point of its setting.
Having been stirred from her reverie by the unexpected voice, Katella refocused her senses and was met with the lulling condolences of the waves, the warm, animal-and-salt smell of the ocean, and the gritty, wet feeling of sand between her toes. A gentle breeze played in the skirt of her thin beach dress and teased the large ringlets of her long brown hair, causing the wavy strands to tangle themselves loosely among each other, their interlacing curls creating a silhouette like that of a woven net against the pale colors of the sky.
Her eyes rekindled to light upon the face of a boy about her own age. He wore an expression of hope beneath a casual mop of red hair, which in turn framed a pale face tinted red from sun exposure. His eyes were concealed behind a cheap pair of hot pink, star-shaped sunglasses, a piece of tape holding the cracked frame together over his right eye, and his T-shirt bore the image of palm trees and the name of her island. Besna, it said, Island of Dreams.
“Yes, I am, but the season hasn’t really started yet,” she apologized, “and I’m still working on finding all the shells I’ll need.” It was true, of course; the island of Besna, like all the Dream Islands, was famous for its shell-bead bracelets and the dreams they represented for those who wore them, but the summer tourist season couldn’t truly be said to have started until school let out in another week, and the young women of the island, skilled in the local art of bead-making, wouldn’t yet be out and about selling their services. Even Katella, as much as she loved the craft, was far from ready.
“Aw, man.” The boy’s entire body slumped in disappointment, and he pushed the star-shaped sunglasses up into his hair, revealing a downcast set of blue-green eyes that seemed to search the sand at his feet for a solution. “I have to leave tomorrow,” he complained, “and all I’ve been able to get is this bracelet they were selling at the hotel.” He held up his wrist to show her.
“Let me see.” Katella reached to accept his hand and examine the bracelet. Even without the boy’s explanation, she would’ve been able to tell by the quality of the materials that it had been purchased at one of the souvenir shops or hotels scattered across the more tourist-oriented areas of the archipelago. Unlike the unique dreams it was meant to represent for its wearer, it had clearly been mass-produced.
“They told me they work better if you can get someone to make one for you special,” the boy noted in agreement with Katella’s own silent assessment, “but I haven’t been able to find anyone. My dad never ended up taking me to see the caves like he promised either,” he mumbled. “This’s been the worst vacation ever.”
As he sulked, Katella reached from the boy’s hand to the bracelet itself, unclasping it while he held his arm out allowingly, and once it was loose, she raised it up to examine it against the fading sunset.
“What’s your name?” she asked, still inspecting it carefully.
“Jason,” he said, “but everyone calls me Jase.”
“And what do you dream about, Jase?” she prodded almost out of habit.
“I wanna be strong!” he replied without hesitation, balling his hands and spreading his feet into a stance that embodied determination. Katella considered his response for a moment and then sighed.
“I’ll make you a bracelet,” she finally decided.
“Alright!” Jase grinned from ear to ear, pumping his fist into the air while Katella set her beading bag onto the sand. She retrieved several plastic cases from it, removing the lid from one and setting it aside, as well as a pair of scissors which she used to snip off the clasp from one of the bracelet’s knotted ends. The beads fell onto the lid Katella had prepared for them, and she went about collecting more beads from various containers to add to them. Perhaps with some of the beads she did have available, she could spruce up the boy’s bracelet into something acceptable. Not all the beads from the original bracelet were bad, after all, so as she mixed in the new beads, she focused on removing whatever didn’t suit her unexpected client, placing them into an empty container to use or dispose of later, until she was left with something workable.
“Why do you want to be strong?” she continued probing as she moved the beads around, still adding to and removing from their midst as she considered various configurations.
“Well,” the boy looked down as if ashamed, and his voice lowered like he was afraid of being overheard, “I guess if I’m strong, then no one will ever be able to pick on me,” he admitted.
Katella contemplated his answer non-judgmentally as she chose a few more beads. Finally, content with her selection, she arranged the beads one last time before gathering them and fishing them onto a string, fastening a clasp to each end before securing it again around the boy’s wrist.
He grinned back at her before a realization struck his face. “Oh! Um,” he started as if suddenly unsure, “How much?”
Katella shook her head. “It’s okay,” she assured him. “It’s a gift.” The encounter had been unexpected, and the atmosphere didn’t feel right for accepting payment either. Nearly half the materials had ended up being his anyway.
“Wow, thanks!” the boy’s grin softened into a contented smile. “Oh! I’d better go; thanks again!” He lowered the sunglasses from his hair back over his eyes and grinned at her through the tinted shades before turning away.
“Follow your dreams!” she called after him, and he turned back toward her and lifted his fist into the air.
“I will!” he called back before turning once more and plodding off down the beach side, carrying a piece of her wrapped around his wrist as he disappeared into the distance. His footsteps, however, were replaced by another set, faster and lighter, that ran toward Katella through the sand.
“Hey, Tella!” called a small voice. It was Kolin, her younger brother. His eyes were bright, and the playful grin he wore across his face was as wide as ever.
“Well, aren’t you just full of energy,” she noted as she’d often heard her mother say. He was beside her now and looked up into her eyes even as she sat, and she brushed her hand through the sandy, sun-bleached blond hair their father had given him.
“Yeah!” he giggled, “It’s nots time for beds yet, but Mom said you shoulds come home and eats your supper,” he proclaimed happily, his apparent lack of a grasp on plurality showing through his speech as usual. Then, his message successfully delivered, he began running around in circles, creating a ring of footprints on the beach that quickly turned into a tangle of interlocking loops and twirls as he expounded in no particular order on the day’s happenings, the colors of various things, the sounds they made, and seemingly whatever else came to his mind. His words quickly faded into the background, though, as Katella began putting all her beads back into their proper containers.
At some point, Kolin had collapsed due to complications arising from dizziness and playful intent and now lay, limbs outstretched in the sand, gazing up into the dark, velvet sky as he continued to talk, either assuming that his sister was still listening or not caring that she wasn’t. Having finished her packing, she reached down to help him up, and he took her hand heavily, relying almost fully on her strength to lift him to his feet and only half-trying to pull her down with him instead.
“Oh! Tella!” he added once she’d set him upright again, the exclamation followed by the invocation of at least his version of her name punctuating his run-on speech enough to get her attention as he looked into her eyes earnestly, grinning in excitement. “I needs to tells you a secret,” he whispered, cupping his hand around her ear and bringing his lips so close that his breath tickled the small hairs in her ear. “There’s monsters in the woods.”
“Really?” Katella turned and whispered back at him, amused, and he giggled in reply.
“Uh-huh,” he agreed, lifting his hand to her ear again before returning to a whisper, “I heared them. But don’t tell Mom.”
And with that, he darted off toward the edge of the beach, turning back partway to wave his arm in the air, beckoning her toward the family vehicle that no-doubt awaited them nearby. Looking after him in bewilderment and wondering exactly what sort of games he’d been playing, Katella finally stood to follow, and, her back to the dimming shore, she wished fervently against the very machinations of reality itself that this, if nothing else, could be one thing in her life that would never change.
But she knew that her entire life was about to change dramatically regardless, and after a quick, reheated dinner of fish that Kolin had apparently helped her dad select from the outdoor market that afternoon before picking her up at the beach, she went to bed dreading the beginning of her final week of class.
“I know; I just can’t wait for the semester to finally be over,” Lola groaned, her long, dark ponytail swaying behind her as she leaned back in her backless stool to gaze at the ceiling as if expecting something to descend from above and intervene in the injustice of her education. She wore an athletic-cut T-shirt and a pair of form-fitting denim shorts just long enough to pass the school’s fingertip-length rule along with a pair of white crew socks and a worn-in pair of tennis shoes. Her skin was the light golden brown of a well-tanned native islander, and as she reluctantly abandoned her plea to the heavens, her long bangs fell across her eyes, prompting her to brush them aside dismissively before returning to her meal.
“It’s just independent variables,” countered Lily, her voice quiet, “I’m sure you’ll do fine; I can help you study if you need me to. Oh!” she turned as Katella set her red cafeteria tray on the table to the left of both of them, “Hi, Katella.” In contrast to Lola’s darker hair, Lily’s was a light, almost-platinum blond that reached only to her neck, and her bangs were cut just above the top of her oval-shaped glasses. She wore a loose yellow T-shirt that looked like it may have been a size too large along with a pair of tan capris that ended a bit below her knees, showing just a little of her thin, light calves before they retreated into a set of loose socks protruding from her yellow sneakers. She sat at the table with her shoulders hunched as if trying subconsciously to take up as little space as possible, even for her already smallish frame, but the smile with which she welcomed Katella was as natural and sincere as the blooming of a flower.
“Hi, Lily,” Katella greeted her friend absently, lifting her fork to poke at her food.
“We were just talking about Thursday’s math test,” Lily explained, “Are you ready for it? Or are you still working on your final paper for composition class?”
Katella used the fork to carve out a small slice of pizza and held it loosely above her tray. “Yeah,” she admitted a bit distantly, “I’m still working on it.”
“Oh, come on,” Lola piped up, clearly glad for the change of subject. “Math might be one of the most useless things in the world, but writing is super-easy.” She grabbed the half of her own pizza that remained with one hand and bit into it heartily as if devouring prey.
“Don’t you get Cs in English?” asked Lily.
“C-pluses,” Lola corrected pridefully after a hard swallow, “and that’s just on the grammar stuff. Papers are even easier. It’s just like talking except you write it down instead.” She took another large bite of her pizza and set it down again in favor of her chocolate milk, but even though Katella couldn’t exactly disagree, it wasn’t the writing itself she was having trouble with so much as the subject matter. What I Want to Do After High School was the topic Mrs. Valmen, the girls’ composition teacher, had assigned to the class, and even though they were only just preparing to graduate from middle school by the week’s end, she’d insisted it was important to think ahead.
“Really?” asked Lily. “So you turned in your final paper already?”
“Of course!” Lola boasted, puffing out her chest. “Like I said, easy.”
“What did you write about, then?”
“After high school,” Lola began, her voice becoming wistful as it dropped about an octave, “I will travel the world, a wandering warrior, fighting villains and righting wrongs wherever I find them.”
There was a moment of silence during which Katella could hear the clattering of silverware and chattering of students around them before Lily broke in with a quiet but admiration-filled “Wow…” Then, a realization seemed to strike her. “Oh, but how are you going to make a living?”
“I don’t know,” Lola admitted, her voice having returned to its normal tone. “I’ll probably collect bounties or something. Maybe the townspeople I save will pay me out of gratitude or I can take money from the people I beat up—like in Black Lace Battalion,” she added, referring to one of her favorite fantasy shows.
“Oh, I guess so,” Lily agreed easily. “I just said I’d go to graduate school and become an archaeologist like my parents—or maybe a nurse or something,” she added as an afterthought, retrieving her fork from where it had lain dormant at the side of her orange tray and stuck it into one of the many equally-sized portions of pizza she’d pre-cut for herself. She’d barely eaten more than Katella had even though Katella had only just arrived. “Oh,” she added, turning to Katella with an encouraging smile, “but if Lola’s going to become a hero, then I’m sure you’ll become something great too!”
“Besides,” Lola chimed back in, “It’s only a paper. It isn’t like you’re stuck with this decision for the rest of your life or anything.”
“I know,” Katella admitted, abandoning her pizza to push around the fruit in her fruit cup. “It’s just—I don’t really want to think about it.” The truth was that she didn’t want to think about life after middle school, let alone force her thoughts even further beyond. “I mean—Lily, your parents are sending you to a private school on Soll next year, right?” she asked, referring to the largest and most-populated of the Dream Islands.
“Uh huh,” Lily nodded. “I guess they think I’ll get a better education there.”
“And Lola,” you said you’re moving to Balma, right?” This time, she referred to the second-most-populated of the islands, which could be seen from Besna’s eastern shores.
“Yep,” Lola affirmed. “School sports here on Besna aren’t that great. Hopefully, I can get a little more of a challenge where there are more people—maybe even get a scholarship.” Having finished her pizza, she lifted her carton of chocolate milk again it to her mouth, turning her face upward to empty its contents before slamming it back onto her tray and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand in satisfaction.
“But that means…” Katella concluded, “…that means we won’t get to see each other anymore.”
“I guess,” Lola shrugged, but you’re going farther than any of us. That friend of yours on the mainland—Millie, right? You’re leaving to go to school with her still, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” Katella felt herself deflate a little, knowing that Lola was right. As far away as her friends were moving, she’d been doomed now to leave the Dream Islands entirely since receiving that fateful text message from Millie several months ago inviting her to stay with her family on the mainland. At first, Katella had even been excited at the prospect of finally getting to see first-hand what the world outside her shore-locked island had to offer, but the closer the time of her eventual departure came, the more it closed in around her even tighter than the constrictions of her small island home. Every day, she feared more and more the ever-looming eventuality that she’d finally be getting what she’d wanted for so long, and she fought the gravity of her own approaching resignation with what was beginning to feel like the last of her failing strength.
“But what if I didn’t go?” she protested weakly. “What if I stayed? We could all stay if we wanted to, right? Then we’d…” she trailed off without daring to finish her thought.
“Huh?” Lily cocked her head in concern. “I’m pretty sure my parents want me to go…”
“And I’m not going to reach my potential if I stay here either,” added Lola.
“It’s not like we’ll stop being friends, though, right?” Lilly was clearly starting to worry. “I mean, you’re still friends with Millie, so just because we’re all leaving the island doesn’t mean we’re leaving each other.”
“Of course,” Lola agreed, her face in her hand and her elbow planted on the table. “Kat’s just being emo.”
“R—right!” Lily looked relieved.
“If math in high school is anything like math here, then you’d better still answer my text messages,” Lola insisted, and Lily nodded happily.
“Right!” she agreed again. “S—so, you shouldn’t worry so much, Katella. “I—I can still help you with your homework too if you need it!”
“We’ll have to part eventually either way.” Lola’s tone had dropped an octave again. “You forget that I also will be traveling the world if pursuit of justice, but wherever you are, I will find you if you ever need me,” she promised, clearly enjoying her delusion a little too much. “Besides,” she added, returning to her normal tone, “you’ve only been talking about seeing the mainland since we were kids. Don’t wuss out on me now that you’re finally getting the chance.”
Katella averted her gaze downward.
“Um!” interjected Lily.
“And don’t be so serious either,” Lola scolded. “Like Lily said, we’re all still going to be friends, and we can still see each other on breaks. You can even bring Millie back with you,” she nodded at Katella, “and then there can be four of us! In the meantime, just think of it like we’re splitting up for reconnaissance so that we can compare notes later.”
Katella thought this over but didn’t answer.
“Look,” Lola’s voice softened ever so slightly, “You can’t always stop things from changing, but sometimes you can choose how they change, right? It sounds like we’re all making the best choices, and if not, we can change them again later. So stop worrying, okay?” She looked at Katella and didn’t look away until Katella finally felt herself nodding in passive agreement. “Good.” Lola stood from her seat and grabbed her white lunch tray with her silverware, mini carton, condiment cups, and an unused paper napkin. “’Sides, we’ve still got all summer to look forward to, and for now, I’m gonna go outside and find some boys to punch or something. That’s one thing I’ll miss when the semester’s over,” she admitted, walking away to apparently spend the rest of her lunch period on the playground.
Lily smiled contentedly and returned her focus to her meal, but Katella could only think about how this could be one of the last days the three of them would ever eat lunch together like this.
After lunch, Lily loaned Katella a binder containing all the papers she’d written since the beginning of the school year, and after returning home, Katella leafed through it for a while. Though she marveled at her friend’s writing ability, it wasn’t seeming to spark anything that could help with her own assignment, and she spent the rest of her evening trying to write but finding herself still unable. The next morning found Lola uncharacteristically lethargic after an evening of studying with Lily, and Lily noted during lunch period how thick the mist had gotten. Katella, for her part, had been too busy cooped up in her room trying to write to notice, but the very idea of it still managed to deepen her sense of dread.
Thought to be connected to the same dreams represented by the shell beads, the mist was one of the Dream Islands’ signature characteristics and natural tourist attractions, descending on the islands mostly overnight sometime after the start of summer and increasing in both volume and duration until around the end of July when it would be at its thickest. That by Lily’s account the mist had thickened so much before school had even ended for the year made Katella feel almost as if summer were hearkening its own end before it had ever even truly begun, like her time was already up and the months ahead were little more than the echoes of a life she’d already lost.
This new frame of mind settled slowly around her until that evening, at which point her lingering apprehension had finally succeeded in driving her into a sort of numb acceptance, and ironically, with this passive resignation came a sort of new focus. With the encouragement of her friends the previous day and some further help from her mother, Katella was finally able to set aside everything that had been bothering her. It didn’t matter, she decided, if she went to high school with Millie or if she stayed home, and it didn’t even matter where she went to college. She’d look past all that for the moment, forget even that the semester was ending and fill the required number of pages with what she wanted to study in college, what kind of place she wanted to work at, etc., and before she retired to bed that night, she’d actually managed to complete a draft of the paper she’d struggled for weeks to begin.
The rest of the week passed like a spring breeze, and Katella arrived home after her last day of class feeling fresh and free. The final draft of her paper having been completed and turned in with any serious considerations of even her immediate future having been deftly avoided, postponed at least until the end of the summer. She felt as she lay in bed, gazing up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling, as though a great burden had been lifted, though not entirely removed from her shoulders, and as her arms reached up reflexively, her fingers traced themselves along and tangled themselves into the familiar fishing net that had hung on the wall behind her bed for as long as she could remember.
As she’d written in a paper that had won her much praise from Mrs. Valmen, she’d been plagued by nightmares as a child until one day her father, with the help of visiting children’s psychologist Dr. Roseland, had finally convinced her that putting it there would catch any nightmares before they could reach her, and the trick seemed to have worked too. The way her parents told the story, at least, she’d slept soundly from that very night forward, and after her father, who was by trade a fisherman, had taught her how to mend nets, she’d taken also to weaving leftover shell beads into it, transforming it from a mundane fishing implement into such a unique and colorful part of her room that she’d never once considered removing it even after its purpose had long since been fulfilled.
Her mind now stirred by the beginning of summer, though, Katella couldn’t help but notice as she traced her fingers through its threaded web how warn it had become over the years, frayed here and there and having even come apart completely in places. She had thought about taking it down for repairs several times before, but school and beading usually kept her too busy. Tonight felt somehow different, though, and with the Dream Festival in July so far off, it would be a while before she was overrun with beading requests. It wasn’t as though she wouldn’t be able to sleep without the net for a few nights either. Any nightmares she’d experienced in the past were far too distant for her to remember, and it had been so long since she’d had any dream at all that she couldn’t even imagine having one that could frighten her even a little.
The task of repairing the net could also serve, along with her beading duties, to distract from her future, Katella realized somewhere so deep inside herself that she might not even have realized she’d thought it, but with that final subconscious decision, she pushed herself onto her knees and turned around to examine the net in full with her night-adjusted eyes. Lifting it from the screws that held it in place, she folded it gently at the foot of her bed as a reminder to herself to fix it in the days to come, but when she looked back at the bare wall where it had been, she was struck with a feeling of unexpected regret, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to leave it empty like that even for the night.
Acting mostly on instinct, she unclasped her own shell bead bracelet from around her wrist and hung it from its clasp on one of the center nails that had been holding the net. Having been intended only to adorn a wrist, its presence did little to fill the void left by the much-larger net, but Katella decided that it would have to do for the night. Content for the moment, she laid herself down again and glanced back up at the bracelet one last time before pulling her light blanket close to her in preparation for yet another night without dreams. She would not, however, sleep long.
Katella was awakened by someone gently shaking her, and she cleared the fog from her head and pried her eyes open to find Kolin at her bedside, wide-eyed and earnest.
“Tella,” he implored her, whispering, “Wake up.”
She grunted softly in acknowledgment. “What is it, Kolin?” she mumbled.
“Shh,” he pleaded softly, glancing behind him toward her open door before looking back at her, his round cheeks flattened by tightened lips.
“What is it?” she asked again, this time in a full whisper.
Kolin hesitated. “The monsters,” he finally replied, looking to the high, open window above where her net had previously hung, “I heared them. They’re nots in the woods anymore. They’re coming to ours house.”
“Silly,” Katella whispered back, “You know there are no such things as monsters.”
Kolin returned his gaze to the small window, though from the height at which he stood, he could only have seen the sky through it. “I heared them,” he repeated, “I’m scared. Can I…?”
“You can sleep in my room tonight,” Katella agreed, and Kolin looked grateful as he turned and pattered out of her room, returning a minute later with his bedding bunched up in his arms and dragging behind him. He spread it out on her floor and folded half of it over himself like a makeshift sleeping bag before whispering “Good night, Tella,” and falling into silence.
“‘Night.” Katella rolled over and stared again for a while at the faded glow-in-the-dark stickers on her ceiling while Kolin’s rhythmic breathing slowed into an easy rhythm that suggested sleep. She too had nearly fallen asleep when she was awakened again by something she heard—or thought she heard—outside her window.
At first, she wondered if it had only been the breeze, but then she heard it a second time: a low growling. She strained her ears to verify that she hadn’t just imagined it, and as she continued to listen, the sound repeated intermittently, quietly and with enough variation that she couldn’t be sure it was anything more than her imagination, until finally, whatever was making the sound—if it really was a sound at all—had ceased to matter. All that mattered was that she could no longer sleep.
She had half a mind to shut her window, but she was reluctant to give up the wonderful breeze it offered. She looked down at her younger brother, who was now sleeping peacefully, and when she heard it again, she made a decision: she would go outside herself and make it stop. She grabbed a flashlight from the laundry room and a broom from the kitchen, with which she’d protect herself if necessary, and was ready to head outside, standing framed for a moment by the open back door before finally stepping through it and into the yard beyond.
The air outside was cool and calm, and there was no growling to be heard in any direction. Lily had been right about the mist, though. It lay in thick sheets just above the ground and veiled the trees and houses in the distance while the moon polished it like silver until it shone a glossy white, and Katella admired the sight before her for another moment in peace, enjoying the night air before moving to the side of the house that contained her bedroom. She thought of Kolin sleeping soundly on her floor, though she could only see her own ceiling through her window, along with the ever-dimming stars stickers that could never compare to the ones hanging high above her now.
Turning away, she looked out in all directions, shining the beam of her flashlight here and there through the mist, but it revealed nothing out of the ordinary, nor did Katella hear any further growling from this new vantage point. Maybe it had been the breeze after all; it probably just sounded different through the window, she thought. Kolin’s childish story had either played a trick on both of them, or if it really had been some sort of animal that she’d heard, it must have left during her hunt for equipment.
Despite this, Katella found herself hardly ready to return to her bed so soon after going to all that trouble—especially with the breeze playing as it was against her skin and in her hair. She would go for a short walk, she decided; sometimes a girl just needs to get out and clear her mind, after all, and luckily, there happened to be a very small, secluded lagoon by the shore a short walk west from her house that would fit the bill perfectly. She would go there for a few minutes, she thought, before returning again to her room for the night.
Even while she’d been making this decision, Katella found that she’d already begun walking toward this lagoon, and she allowed herself to continue on for some time, enjoying the feeling of the damp grass brushing against her bare feet until she finally entered the path sometime later that led through the woods concealing her lagoon. Halfway through, she deviated from this path, stepping through the trees to the left until she arrived only to find herself even more pleased than she’d expected to be. The water was as smooth as glass below a thin blanket of mist, and the image of the moon reflected perfectly on its surface in spots where the mist parted, bathing the entire secluded area in just enough dim light for Katella to see what she was doing.
Wandering around the edge of the shallow pool, she reached the small cliff that cropped up from the deep end on the far side. Where it rose upward to mark the edge of the lagoon, it also jutted out just a bit above the surface of the water, creating the perfect place to sit and watch the pool and the trees through which she’d passed, and Katella set her flashlight and broom down on this outcropping before lowering herself into the water. It was still warm enough from the day’s sun to feel quite pleasant as it enveloped her, rising to her neck at its deepest point, and she let herself soak it in along with the moonlight, dunking fully beneath its surface just to be certain she’d immersed herself entirely in the experience before wading back to shore.
The trees surrounding the lagoon gave the area a feeling of seclusion, and that feeling was even further enhanced by the mist that obscured on this night all distant forms, giving the impression that only the world immediately around Katella truly existed while everything beyond it faded to white in the darkness. It comforted her to be in such a small, enclosed space where neither past nor future seemed to exist, only an eternal present that hung lazily between seconds, and before Katella knew it, she’d almost fallen asleep. She’d been laying face-up on the sand at the shallow end of the pool opposite the outcropping from which she’d first submerged when she heard it again, the thing she’d completely forgotten about until now, a noise she’d expected least of all to hear in this place so safe as this.
Still, she lay where she was as the still tide rose to cover her supine chest like a blanket, not daring to move but with eyes wide open. There had been movement in the brush behind her in the direction from which she’d entered the lagoon, and then the same growl she’d heard from her bedroom, unmistakable, and this time, she was very sure it was real. She considered her options frantically as her body stiffened. She couldn’t reach her flashlight or broom without retreating back to the outcropping, she realized, but it was her only option. Water dripped from her wet clothes as she rose slowly to her feet, turning to keep her face toward the direction from which she’d heard the growling, and waded backward through the pool to the other side, reaching up to the outcropping when she finally felt it against her back.
Up to her chest in water again, Katella felt for the flashlight and, flicking it on, traced the beam across the mist that peered through the trees at the far end of the lagoon. Suddenly, she was startled by a sound behind her, and water splashed loudly in protest as she spun quickly to illuminate the cliff top where the beam of her flashlight rested blindingly in the face of a stranger. It hadn’t been just any sound, but a voice, she realized, and “Don’t move,” is what it had said, though she’d by reflex just done the opposite. It was a warning, not a threat, she understood by its tone, and the boy on the cliff didn’t look menacing, so Katella lowered her flashlight, and the boy lowered his hand as well.
“I’ve got your back,” he told her. “Come toward me slowly.” She obeyed, turning fully though reluctantly from the unseen creatures to lift herself out of the pool and onto the outcropping, trading her flashlight for the broom as the stranger reached out and lifted her so that she climbed easily up the rocky crag to where he stood above it. She was at his level now, though without the flashlight, she couldn’t quite make out his face, and with the lagoon down below, he walked her from the ledge before releasing her hand. “We need to get you home,” he noted calmly but firmly, motioning for her to take the lead, and she obliged as he followed her back along the edge of the cliff as it sloped back downward until they’d reached the edge of the woods. “Pretend we’re not in a hurry and maybe they won’t follow,” he instructed, but the sounds of low breathing and soft footfalls were already approaching them again from either side until—“It’s too late,” he admitted. “Stay still; I’ll take care of them.” There was movement in the air beside Katella, and she caught a glimpse of moonlight on something long and reflective in the boy’s hand. She’d seen no outline of a scabbard at his side, but there he stood, sword at the ready, his eyes trained on various points in the darkness.
One by one, several creatures left the cover of the trees to approach, dark shadows shaped like wild dogs or even wolves, and as they neared Katella and the stranger, they began to circle, closing in around them until one of them lunged suddenly with a snarl at the stranger. He caught it midair with his blade, piercing it through the mouth and all the way out the other side like a spit, and its remains wafted away like smoke in the wind before they could even reach the ground. Next, there came two at once, and the boy stepped aside, slashing at one, causing it to fall to the ground before evaporating, and catching the latter from behind, he rendered it in similar fashion.
Katella tightened her grip on the broom as one of the wolves took a leap at her, but the stranger with the sword swung himself around her and ran it through at the abdomen. They were both facing the same direction now, she and he, but the wolves were still coming from every direction. The boy repositioned himself at her back again, aligning them both, if possible, so that he took the brunt of the attacks.
“If they attack at once,” he warned between strokes, “I can’t cover them all. Protect yourself with your, uh, broom until I can take care of them.” Katella obeyed, her makeshift weapon at the ready. The boy was taking on three at a time when she was approached by a fourth, and as it lunged, she brought the broom down upon it, interrupting its growl as she managed to knock its breath away, but it made no whimper, instead picking itself up for another attack, and then as it charged, the stranger turned again and felled it with a downward stroke of his own.
Suddenly, these wolves were coming in faster and in greater numbers than Katella had even guessed there could have been, and she was forced to intercept many of them herself: left stroke, right stroke, and down from above, doing her best to keep them away until the stranger could finish them. It was like a dance, and her body began to move of its own accord as the stranger guided her with his back and the wolves dictated her movements from the front: turn, weave, dodge, return, strike, and back to weaving. Eventually, she had hardly even to think about it, and before she knew it, all the wolves were gone and had been gone for a while. She must have walked the rest of the way home, because she was standing in front of the door to her house, the stranger beside her and a little behind.
“This it?” he asked, but she didn’t understand the question. After that was darkness.