The Hollow Gods (The Chaos Cycle #1)

Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

The Return

Miya

Miya was back under the willow tree, crouching over the dying black wolf. The feathery female presence from earlier had vanished, leaving her alone with her friend. Gently, she placed her hand on his torso, feeling his slow, fading heartbeat. An ear twitched, and a quick breath followed before he exhaled, his body relaxing under her touch. She knew he was relieved to have her near, his fear melting away now that he was no longer alone.

Remarkably, Miya felt his heartbeat strengthen, and when she examined his fur, the traces of darkened blood were gone. His eyes shifted slowly as though he was returning, his nose wiggling to absorb the world around him through scent. Somehow, Miya had healed him. Reassured that he would survive, she fell back on her behind. He raised his head and looked around before his gaze steadied on her hooded form.

“I’m lost,” Miya told him as if answering a silent question. “I don’t know how to get home.”

He cocked his head, eyes shining red with mischief as his lips pulled back to reveal a row of sharp, white teeth. His peeking canines framed a long, smooth tongue that spilled from his mouth. It hung out without a care in the world, hot breath pulsing and fogging the air between them. He was laughing at her, amused that she’d wandered so deep into the woods that she had no inkling of how to get back.

“I’m not afraid,” she said with conviction, then pointed at his charcoal nose. “You can’t eat me. I saved you.”

His pink tongue darted in and out as he licked his chops and swallowed, her assertion putting to rest whatever devious plan he had in mind. How odd, Miya thought, to meet an honourable wolf. She heard a whine before he rolled onto his belly and plunked his head down between his front paws, ears erect as he gazed up at her. Miya wondered if they knew each other. As they sat in silence, she watched the leaves of the surrounding trees turn yellow, then red, then brown, crinkling like burnt paper and falling from their branches. Snow covered the forest, decorating the wispy limbs of the willow and painting the landscape white. She didn’t feel cold, but when she looked at her hands, she realized she was shivering while the wolf remained unmoved. His thick, black coat was peppered with snowflakes that caught like silver fireflies, melting into the trap.

As if having made a decision, the wolf jumped up and shook himself out from head to tail, tiny droplets of ice and water erupting from his warm body. He began to walk, swooning a bit at first but managing to find his step. He circled the tree, then slowed as he moved past Miya, deliberately pressing his body to hers in a gesture that spoke.

Follow me , it said.

Standing shakily, Miya struggled to put one foot in front of the other as she passed over the snow, gliding on the surface as though weightless. There were no footprints, no disruptions in the perfectly glazed forest floor.

She didn’t know where the wolf was leading her, but she could do little but follow. His pace was slow, considerate of her weary body. Every now and again, he turned to glance back at her, stalling to let her catch up before continuing on his way.

Gradually, the forest grew less tranquil. The snow melted, and green life sprung from every crevice. When the commotion passed, the heat of summer pressed down on them with smouldering intensity. Her legs grew heavy, and where her steps were once graceful the earth now crunched beneath her feet like broken glass. This stretch was the longest—the hardest of the four. They found their way only to become more lost until, at last, the heat began to wane, and Miya caught a glimpse of the changing leaves succumbing to the fire of autumn once more. As one full cycle passed, Miya saw the end of their journey drawing near. The edge of the forest was in sight.

The wolf had guided her home—a gesture Miya knew was meant to reciprocate what kindness she first showed him.

She turned to thank the wolf for leading her out of the woods, but he remained in the shelter of the trees, unwilling to cross the threshold into the world of men.

He didn’t move, didn’t tilt his head or grin. Instead, he waited, something hesitant and sad in the way he watched her. It was as though his repayment brought him no joy, as though despite leading her home, he knew that she was still lost, and he still alone.

As Miya resolved to call out to him, a thunderous gale blew the forest away before her eyes, and she found herself in the village where she first began her journey. The moon rose, and with it came the harrowing call of the wolf. Miya closed her eyes and waited for sunrise, but the night was endless. The dark blanket ebbed, but dawn never broke; the white moon rose again and again in endless reiteration, never questioning the absence of its counterpart. With its ascent, the howls echoed through the village—sorrowful and yearning.

Hearing the wolf’s cries wrenched at Miya’s heart until she turned and stumbled to the village gates. There, she saw a figure standing by the forest’s edge, but it wasn’t that of the wolf. It was a woman with a violet-black, iridescent aura that danced around her skin, cloaking her like feathers—wings at rest. Her long, dark hair flowed around her shoulders with the strengthening wind, and her face was hidden behind a mask Miya was unable to make out from a distance. Even from afar, Miya could feel her presence—the same one that had clung to her when she’d first found the wolf under the willow. Miya took a step forward, but the figure turned and walked into the woods.

“Wait!” Miya called out to her, then ran through the field that separated the village from the viridescent sea. She glimpsed something in her periphery—a bar with two dangling vertical chains, its ends fastened to a small wooden board. She turned her head as she heard the squeak of metal, the chains and plank swaying in the wind. But by the time she looked, the image had faded, and she was fast moving into the trees. Miya passed through the threshold a third time, tumbling back into the forest and down into the abyss.