Chapter 6

The Cream Puff

For the second time in as many days, I find myself falling.

Grey manages to shift almost as soon as we are out the window; he pushes off my back and shoots himself into the air, where he then transforms into his dove form and tucks his wings in close to get nearer to me.

Falling backward, I get to see all that. And now I have to figure out how to shift back to my human form since he can't catch me as a wolf. I take a breath to try to slow my heart rate and push out the thought that I only have a few seconds to figure it out before I become a splat on the ground and accidentally do what the King wants and the Justice ordered.

I burned to become a wolf. Maybe it's the opposite to become a human again.

I exhale and imagine my veins filling with ice, which works almost immediately, as my muzzle shortens and my paws uncurl into fingers. Fur gives way to skin, and my tail shrinks.

Just before I hit the ground, Grey's talons close around my body, and he beats his wings to gain ground and fly away from the King's castle.

Waves of arrows hurtle around us, whistling, and Grey cries out in a shaky call. He ducks and twists to avoid the arrows, but a few still nick his feathers and a handful break skin. Blood slowly drips from the three wounds made by Screech. It's not as fast as before, but they're taking a long time to heal.

"Come on, Grey," I shout. "You can make it. Just a little further."

He flaps his wings in an attempt to go a little faster.

Behind me, I can hear the shouts of the Guard and Soldiers, the howling demands to shoot us down and bring us before the King again.

But, despite the attempts of the Guard to bring us to the ground, we escape, and Grey flies on, leveling out and flying a little ways above the trees. We continue like that for a while, until I get uncomfortable.

"Grey, can I get onto your back, please?" I ask.

He chirps, gaining elevation, then drops me.

My short-lived scream gets eaten up by my grunt as I land on his shoulders. I wrap my fingers around his feathers to steady myself.

"That felt a bit extreme," I mutter, and Grey replies with a sound that seems like laughing.

xxxx

We fly for a long time. I look back, and the King's castle is slowly disappearing into the distance, and when I turn around again, it's gone.

I hear and feel Grey's sides heaving for breath, the struggle he makes as he tries to inhale, the wheeze as he draws air into his lungs. I can only see one of the wounds— the one on the side of his neck. Silver burns within it, gradually healing the injury.

Grey screeches as he suddenly pitches to the side when a wing falters and spasms, and panic flares in his eyes. Holding on tight to his feathers, I try to hang on as he plummets backward and tries to twist and roll over. Fear snakes around my gut and seizes my throat.

Trees rush up at us, just like they did at the Lava Flats, and I shake as I cling to my brother.

"Please, Grey," I plead. "You can do it."

Grey manages to get right side up, and he flares his wings out as far as they'll go in an attempt to slow us down. I press my face into the side of his neck and squeeze my eyes shut. Even with his efforts to slow our fall, it's not enough.

We break through the trees, snapping branches, and then we crash to the ground and tumble a few paces apart.

I land on my stomach again, only this time there's no Soldier pinning me there, no Guard and Soldiers capturing us and binding our wrists together and carting us off to the King.

The forest is nearly silent, with a handful of singing birds and the faint sound of a breeze blowing through.

I lay there for a minute as I regain my bearings. I twist my wrists and ankles, testing my joints, then push myself upright when everything feels fine.

Grey shifts back to his human form and sits up, running a hand through his blond hair.

"That was a shit show," he grumbles, rolling his shoulders and stretching with a grimace.

I huff out a humorless laugh. "That was terrible."

"At least we made it out, I suppose," Grey mumbles, pulling at his shirt to look at the tear in it from the arrow that struck his abdomen.

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"At least we made it out," I echo.

We're silent for a few moments, until I ask a question.

"Where do we go from here? We can't go back to the Sea. The King knows who we are. Supposedly we're the Wolf and the Dove, but I don't know what we're supposed to do. What do we do?"

Grey shrugs. "I don't know. I just wanted to keep my head down, teach, and not get noticed. Now we've got these necklaces, we almost just died, and we're who knows where on Ragdon." He throws his hands up. "I don't even know what to do."

I'm about to reply, to try to help my brother with his stress and figure out a plan that we could reasonably accomplish, but I hear footsteps. I jump to my feet with Grey right behind me. My heart rate pounds, a thumping beat I can feel in my chest, and I start to panic.

How the hell did the Guard and Soldiers find us so quickly? I think.

I glance over at Grey, and his worried expression matches mine. We move to stand shoulder to shoulder as we scan the trees for any sign of movement. I see nothing but still hear the footsteps drawing nearer. I curl my fingers into tight fists as my skin starts to prickle with heat, pewter pendant burning against my chest. Invisible hackles rise on my spine. Grey's shoulders draw back as the footsteps grow closer.

"Do we run?" I whisper.

"I don't think we can," Grey murmurs, voice tight.

However, the last thing I expect to see is two cats, each standing somewhere around hip-height at the shoulders. One has a twisted, grumpy look on his face and short black fur, and the other has a more guarded expression with fluffy tan fur.

We each stare at each other for close to a minute.

"Who are you?" asks the tan cat, breaking the silence. A black shock of fur falls over his brown eyes as he tilts his head to the side.

"Are you with the King? Are you two Generals?" Grey asks in return. He stares at the black cat, eyes wide.

The black cat snarls, long upper canines flashing in the sun as his ears pin to the sides of his skull. The yellow horns sprouting from his forehead glint in the light.

"What the fuck? Hell no. I'm gonna kill the little cream puff." His eyes blaze with fury, a clear promise.

Grey tenses, expression flattening.

"Are you with the cream puff?" the black cat spits after seeing Grey's reaction. He takes a step forward, tail lashing.

"No, we're not. We just escaped from him," I say, stepping in.

"What did he do to you?" The tan cat squints at us, sitting down, fluffy tail flicking.

"He tried to kill us."

"I can see that. All that effort and they failed," the black cat mutters, eyeing Grey's still-healing wounds. "The idiots. Can't do anything right."

"Phoenix!" the tan cat snaps, lunging over and batting him across the face.

Phoenix bares his teeth and lashes out with a blow of his own. His claws flash in the quick movement. The tan cat dodges, then gets up in Phoenix's face.

I jump back as the two cats stare each other down. Phoenix glares at the tan cat, who just raises his eyebrows until Phoenix finally looks away, rolling his eyes and growling low in his chest.

The tan cat turns back to us.

"I'm Ky. It's nice to meet you. That's my brother, Phoenix. He was trying to say that he hates the Guard and Soldiers, not that they should've finished the job. I'm sorry you had to be on the receiving end of their attacks, but I'm glad you were able to survive. It looks like the injuries are healing well, I hope?" Ky studies Grey's wounds, then narrows his eyes. He looks up at my brother. "How long has it been since the attack, if you don't mind me asking?"

Grey looks to me, freezing. He doesn't reply, and I don't know what to say.

The silence stretches long and thin.

Phoenix takes a step forward. A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

"Cat got your tongue, eh?" he snickers.

"Do you, by chance, happen to have any necklaces?" Ky asks.

"Necklaces?" I echo, hoping my voice doesn't shake too much.

"Yeah, necklaces."

Grey takes a step back. "What do you mean by that?"

Phoenix takes another step forward, closing the distance. His shoulders stand well above Grey's hips.

"A necklace," Phoenix echoes. "You know, a little dangly thing that's hanging from something— a chain, a cord, and so on. You wear it around your neck." He shifts his weight to his hind legs and stands up for a moment. "You know, like the one you're wearing. I saw that flash of a leather cord. Don't try to lie to me."

He shows his teeth in a wide smile, then turns around and walks back to his brother.

"I know what you're thinking, Ky. You're probably right. But we don't need them."

"Yes, we do. Four is stronger than two."

"They haven't even introduced themselves. How rude is that?"

Ky rolls his eyes. "They're the Wolf and the Dove. Not much introduction needed."

I freeze, and I hear Grey draw in a sharp breath of air behind me.

"Are you sure? They don't look like much. Haven't even tried attacking." Phoenix turns his attention to Grey, who hasn't moved. "Besides, that guy looks terrified."

Ky scoffs. "He's healing as we speak. The injuries are nearly gone. But if you really need proof, I'll humor you."

"Whatever. Just be quick about it. The cream puff isn't gonna die himself."

Ky sits back down, wrapping his tail neatly around his paws. He focuses on me, and I tense, preparing myself for whatever he's planning on doing. His brown eyes glaze over and go unfocused.

Nothing happens, until Grey yelps and dashes back several paces.

"What is it?" I ask.

"There's a fire!" He points at the ground in front of me.

I frown. There's just soil, some leaves, a few branches. No fire to be seen.

"No, there isn't. There's no fire."

"There, see?" Ky says. "They're the Wolf and the Dove."

"What are you talking about?" Grey snaps, breaking free from his earlier fear.

He walks straight up to the two cats, and I follow suit.

"You don't know? I thought you would've by now." Ky holds our gazes for a few moments before shrugging. "Ok, then. The Dove can heal and turn into a dove. The Wolf cannot see magic and can turn into a wolf. That's why you-." Ky looks at Grey. "-could see my illusion of fire and your travel companion could not. I'm guessing that's why your travel companion didn't have the same reaction to my brother's fiery fur."

"He's on fire?" I ask.

Phoenix snickers with a grin that's all fangs. "Completely."

Ky chuckles softly.

Although, I think, I can't see Phoenix's fire, but I could see Grey's magic. I could see the silver healing him.

"Now that we've established that you're the Wolf and the Dove," Ky says, "care to introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Alex," I reply.

Grey studies Ky and Phoenix for a few moments. "I'm Grey," he finally says.

"Are you guys related?" Ky asks.

"Brother and sister," I respond.

"Sister, huh?" Ky echoes.

"We have a cream puff to hunt down," Phoenix bites out. "Don't even think about it."

Phoenix glares at his brother who only squints back at him, ears drawing back briefly.

"Hold on," Grey says. "You're going after the King?"

"Cream puff," Phoenix corrects, "and yes. I'm going to kill him. We've covered this already. And I've called dibs on taking his life, so don't even think about it. I'll kill you before you can reach him. He's mine."