The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 21

21

With the dormitory behind me, I crossed the paths of the Academy towards the Barn. I passed a couple of Valkyrie students, but nobody seemed surprised or bothered to see me. Whatever the teachers told them about our absence clearly hadn’t been the truth.

So much for that…

At least that made my task of disappearing easier. If they’d insisted on keeping an eye on me, it would be even harder to find the Forest of Illusions.

“Hey!” a cheery voice said as a face bounced up next to me. “What are you up to?”

“Hey, Aellyn.” I quickly balled up my blazer to hide Pickles’ ears sticking out. I didn’t really want to answer any questions about the dust bunny.

“Are you okay?” She joined me along the path, her pink hair happily bouncing up and down.

“Yes, just glad to be outside.”

She nodded. “Hmmm. It is nice weather.”

“It is.” I peered up at the sky, just overcome with joy from seeing the sun and clouds. The wind on my face, the dancing grass, the rustle of leaves… So many things that I’d taken for granted were now the best things ever. And that was only after three days down in the bunker.

But this feeling of freedom, it was majestical. I wanted my friends to feel it as soon as possible too.

“Where are you headed?” the pink Elf asked curiously, bouncing happily up and down.

“Just going to the Barn to say hello to the pups.”

“Oh, I love the puppies! I’ll come with you.” Her smile was so broad, it almost beamed off her face. There was a certain brightness to her, it never seemed to dull.

While I usually enjoyed that, it was a grim contrast after the rollercoaster of heavy emotions. She was so excited and carefree, without a worry in the world when we were all going through some rough times.

I tried to think of a good reason why she couldn’t come with me, but I couldn’t come up with anything that wouldn’t rouse suspicion. I thought of excuses all the way until we stood in front of the Barn and it no longer mattered.

“Goody! Wolves!” She clapped excitedly and tugged the heavy door open.

A blur of grey fur shot past me and multiple wolves spilt from the Barn, all looking for scratches, kisses, and attention.

“Awrooo!” Hyde howled, curling around my leg and reaching up for fuss.

“Hey, hello.” I crouched down, making sure to tighten my grip on Pickles. I didn’t know whether she’d get along with the dusk wolves and I certainly didn’t want her running off.

“Awroo?” My wolf scratched my knee inquisitively while inspecting the bundle of bunny. “Grrr.”

“Don’t growl. It’s just a dust bunny.” I opened my arm so the two animals could bump noses and sniff each other.

“Hffff!” Pickles hissed, her spines flashing up.

“Ouch!” That hurt. Luckily I had the blazer to protect me, but still… Those spikes were sharp and she seemed to have forgotten that I was holding her.

“Awwrrr…” Hyde’s ears flattened and he sat down like a good boy. With his head tilted to the side, it looked like he was trying to ask me why I had another animal with me.

Clearly, I needed to introduce them to each other properly before they got jealous and both ran away. If I spoke quietly, maybe Aellyn wouldn’t hear me.

“Hyde, this is Pickles. She’s Ryoko’s dust bunny. Do you remember Ryoko?”

He shook his head, his big ears flapping about. “Awrr!”

I tickled the dust bunny on her head, coaxing her to flatten her spines. “Pickles, don’t be scared. Hyde won’t hurt you.”

A second tail curled around my legs and a slightly smaller wolf looked up at me. Astrid’s wolf.

“Maroon is not going to hurt you either,” I said, giving her a scratch under her chin.

Hyde shot me a look of betrayal and I quickly stroked his head. I didn’t want him to feel left out, but there were three animals and I only had two hands.

It was a very nice problem to have, but it was still a problem. This was not the time to be chased by a pissed-off wolf because I didn’t give him enough belly rubs.

“Awrr...” Hyde yipped, tugging on my shirt for more attention.

“Hey! I finally had clean clothes,” I protested, but the adorable look on his face quickly erased any annoyance I had. He was too cute for his own good and he knew it.

“Wolves are so sweet,” Aellyn chirped from behind me, walking up with her own dusk. “Razor, are you going to play with your siblings?”

Her wolf growled menacingly and bared his teeth in my direction.

He’d always been the least sociable of the litter and even when I used to spend quite a bit of time in the Barn, he never came for scratches or cuddles. It wasn’t exactly a surprise coming from the alpha of the pack though.

I repacked Pickles in my blazer, hiding her from view again. “I’m actually not staying long.”

“Why? We don’t have any more class for today.”

“True… But… I’m…” Lying was really not my strong suit, especially when I didn’t necessarily wanted to be doing it. But the truth would just complicate things even more and I didn’t need to drag Aellyn into the craziness that was my life. “I have a meeting with Professor Brynhild. I just wanted to swing by to see my wolf.”

Suspicion flickered in the Elf’s eyes, but she didn’t say anything. She gave Razor a scratch on his head and nodded. “Alright. I’ll walk you back to the school.”

“No!” I blurted out before I could stop myself. Not good. “I meant… You don’t have to. Weren’t you on your way to the dorm?”

“Yes, but I don’t really have anything to do.” She played with some of the leafy tendrils that were twined around her, twirling them between her fingers. “I’ve missed you in class. I don’t really have anyone else to talk to besides you.”

Guilt filled my gut. She’d been lonely with me gone and I should’ve been grateful someone noticed I was gone. Instead, I was just trying to get rid of her as fast as I could.

I was such an ass sometimes.

“I’m glad to be back,” I said. “I have something I need to do, but after that, we’ll chat as much as you want, okay?”

Her pointy ears perked up. “Really?”

“Yes.”

Hopefully, that would make up for my absence and being such a bad friend. I never intended to shut her out, things just kept coming up and interfering with my normal life. This was definitely not the type of year I’d signed up for.

Aellyn smiled at me, some of the bounce returned to her step. “Okay. I’ll let you get on with things then. But we’ll talk later. For sure, yes?”

“For sure.”

“Okay.” She gave her wolf a scratch goodbye and walked away backwards, just so she could keep waving at me. “Bye! Talk soon, friend!”

“Yes, talk soon!” That was something to look forward to. A nice, normal conversation with someone that wanted to spend time with me, not had to because they got stuck.

I’d catch her up with everything later, but right now, I really needed to get going. There was no time to waste and yet, I’d already wasted plenty.

“Hyde, heel,” I called, deciding that it would be in my best interests to take him with me. I was scared to bring him back to Var, but he’d protect me if things went wrong.

He might be young, but I could tell he was powerful. He’d give that damned Lick a run for his money.

“Awroo.” With a happy look, my wolf joined me by my side.

He had no idea what kind of dangers were lying ahead, but he didn’t care. I called him and he came, ready for an adventure.

A smile tugged on my lips. It wasn’t too long ago that Ryoko called something an adventure. Looking back, it was insane how that one night snowballed into the events of today.

There were so many things I never thought I’d have to do, but I’d attacked them all without looking back. Hopefully, that would be the same for my next mission.

Before I crossed into the forest, I shot a last look at the Academy. I hoped to be back soon so everything could return to normal. Now that sounded good. Normal…

“What do you think, Hyde?” I asked, scratching his head. With him by my side and Pickles in my arms, I was as prepared as I’d ever be.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the forest. The leaf mark on my hip glowed hot, guiding me deep into the heart of the woods, which people tried to avoid and where children got lost. The Forest of Illusions, with no end and no beginning.

And that was exactly where I was going.