Hounds Rising

The darkness was absolute. The nothingness felt overwhelming, and she put her hands to her face just to feel something—no sound, no smell, not even her sister’s voice in her head.

Myla, where are you?

Lyla pushed herself forward, walking on uneven ground of rock and grass. She looked down and saw the lush colors of green and gray rise up at her, appearing out of nothing. She took another step forward. Lyla’s foot hit the ground faster than expected, and she realized she was on an incline. She followed the ground before her as it rose higher and higher. A monument of earth, she stared into the night’s cloudless sky as her eyes gazed up to the mountain’s peak she was standing at the base of.

The rush of wind pushed her forward, and she stumbled as she took another step to keep her stance. The smell of trees behind her convinced her not to look behind. She moved, one foot after the other, trying to understand where she was.

Myla? Yla?

She felt the wind hit her back again. It felt rhythmic. She’d take a step, then another. The wind would push against her, and then it would stop. She’d take another step, then another, followed by the wind again, which would stop almost as quickly as it started. This was not wind from nature’s call. It was something else.

She didn’t get the time to react, as her body was wrapped in claw and leather. Something enveloped her body, restraining her, covering her entire body to where she couldn’t move or see. She pushed against it and felt large claws rip into her skin as the creature dug its talons deeper through her clothes and pierced at her body. Lyla screamed, but it only echoed inside the creature’s wings, disorienting her from her surroundings.

Lyla felt a sudden rush of water splash onto her face, and she jolted into a sitting position. She frantically reached out her right hand, catching her sister’s arm as Myla sat beside her. She took her hands to her face and tried to wipe away her soaking hair from her eyes. Above them, Rhokhishi was holding a small bucket, now empty. Near them, Mr. Muffins looked over Myla to see if she was okay.

“You two okay?” Mr. Muffins asked them.

“Why… Why am I wet?” Myla asked back, looking over her clothes.

“I just changed, too!” Lyla frustratedly stated.

“Well, when you both walked out here, you immediately collapsed,” Mr. Muffins replied.

Rhokhishi grabbed a few dumplings from the bag and handed them to Mr. Muffins. He gave one each to the twins. Lyla took the dumpling and stood up. Not much time seemed to have passed.

“Vision?” Rhokhishi asked, having seen this more than once before.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t make much sense yet,” Myla answered.

“And we’ve never walked around while in a vision,” Lyla stated. “That’s new.”

“That’s probably the tower. Since the argument, it was probably trying to bring us all together for safety. It seems everything is in order now, though, so I’m going to head upstairs,” Leaf said from the other side of the room.

Leaf turned and waved his hand like he was trying to cast a spell. Lyla watched as he stopped, put his hand down, walked over to the stairs, and ascended.

“So, he knows that about the tower but didn’t know the other stuff? Or was he just not talking then?” Lyla asked, looking off at Mr. Muffins.

“Let’s not start more shit today. I want to eat some dumplings, then get some work done.”

“I don’t mean it as a bad thing! It’s progress.”

“Mhm…”