“Moon Goddess,” I cried between breaths, begging for guidance home. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry! Please don’t let me die out here!”
Stupid of me to think I’d be granted mercy after such disobedience.
Brambles snagged my foot. The pain fired up through my legs and toppled me to the ground, and then the pain continued all through me. My body was hot and cold at the same time. Fear blinded me, urging me to thrash, to fight the unseen enemy consuming me. A dark maw eclipsed the moon until my vision blacked out completely, and suddenly I went unconscious.
Glimmers of a pale figure materialized in my dream. Soft fur and celestial white eyes beckoned me forward. My dream continued without me, as if my soul had left my body behind in search of another vessel, following a smell…
Blood and sweat.
