The Roving City was even bigger than Calla had originally imagined. It steadily rose above the horizon as they walked closer. There were fewer of the bigger rot sprites which were coming after Calla and soon there were none. The wind blew less as Seirye didn’t need to push as many of them over.

Manny talked to her as they walked. He had been talking to Augustus before, but he was lagging behind. He got further behind the closer they walked.

“What’s wrong with Augustus?” She asked.

He spoke quietly. “We’re getting close to the middle of the forest. He is closer to the other shadow wolves than he has been for a very long time. He doesn’t want to be near them, but he also doesn’t want to just abandon us and go. He’s not that type of person to leave before he knows for sure we’re all safe.” He tilted his wooden head towards the wolf who was a good six meters behind the group. The wolf’s ears perked up as Augustus tilted his head. “You know, that’s why I like him.”

She smiled. “So why doesn’t he want to see his people? Did he do something?”

Manny sighed. “It wasn’t anything bad from how I see it, however, this isn’t my story to tell.”

She glanced back at the wolf and then leaned down to whisper to the wooden boy. “Do you think he’s listening?”

“Yes. His hearing is pretty strong. He could probably hear you even if you whispered.”

Her face grew hot from the embarrassment. “I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“It’s fine,” Augustus shouted from the back of the group

Calla was silent for the next several minutes as she looked for something to do. The ground still rumbled, but it was steadily growing stronger. She looked down the long strip of trampled forest and almost gasped. Ahead of was what looked like some sort of four-legged beast lumbering through the forest. From a distance, it looked very small until she looked at the forest surrounding it. The trees reached up about a third of this creature’s height. What looked like houses and buildings rose from the creature’s back like spikes. It was walking away from them so all she could see was the creature’s backside and the trail of trampled trees and rot sprites it left behind it. She stopped for a moment before jogging to catch up with Manny.

“The Roving City is alive?” she asked quickly.

“Of course it’s alive. In the forest everything is alive.” He paused for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything that wasn’t alive aside from the wasteland and beneath the forest.”

“In my world cities don’t roam around. They’re still and they’re not alive.” She squinted her eyes at the distant city. “How do you enter the city? Are there ladders, or….”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He shook his head. “Don’t worry. There are many ways to enter the city. If you ask for a way you will find one.” He glanced back at Augustus. “He may have some trouble getting in though. Most wolves never enter the city so many of the ways may be locked to him.”

The wolf called ahead. “Don’t worry about me. I don’t want to go to the city anyway. Once we arrive we will be parting ways.”

“That’s fine with me,” Manny called back.

Calla looked down. “I think I will miss you.”

“If you end up going home, you will never see me again, " he explained. You will miss me anyway.”

“I guess…”

Manny placed a wooden hand on her arm. “You’ve only known him a couple of days. I’m sure you will be a lot happier in your world.”

“I’m not so sure.” She said, remembering the struggle she had been having with her art. She wished she had brought her sketchbook on that walk, but she hadn’t expected to be suddenly transported into another world.

“Why not?”

She sighed. “It’s just that… I feel the things I want to do are wrong and childish. I want to draw the way that everyone else wants me to draw, but I can’t get it right and I don’t find it as fun and interesting.”

“You draw?” Manny asked quietly. “That’s impressive. I think you would like the witches of heart.”

“Why?”

“They’re artists. The only ones the forest intends though many people go against what they’re intended for and become creative. Seirye’s one of them.”

“Hey!” Seirye appeared in the air as a cloud waving at the two of them. They both waved back.

Calla turned back to Manny. “What type of people are the witches?”

“Well—”

Manny was about to continue the conversation when the howls echoed through the forest. Everyone froze except for the city in the distance. It was unbothered by the sound. It would continue walking to wherever it was going.

He looked back at Augustus who seemed smaller than he had been before. “The shadow wolves are nearby. But…”

Manny shook his head. “They usually don’t come this close to the barrier of dust which means they have a reason to be here. We need to be very careful.”

Augustus shook his head. “This is no time to be careful. If they’re after Calla they know exactly where we are. You need to run to the city. Get there as soon as possible.” He stood tall. “I will try to lead them away so you can get to safety.”

Before anyone could say anything else Augustus ran off into the forest. Calla watched as her new friend ran away to protect her. She hoped he would be okay. She felt a wooden hand on her arm and she looked ahead. The new trio began to sprint towards the city.