19
Caius and I rushed down the path back toward the village. The clearing with its horrible story was far behind us and the walls of the White Fox village loomed ahead of us.
“What are we going to tell Ayame?” I called to Caius as he led the way.
“The truth, and we’ll see what happens from there,” he replied.
My heart sank. The truth. How I wished we could tell everyone all that we knew and avert the coming disaster, but we were just spectators in a tragic story. Spectators with an all-too real stake in what was happening.
My body reminded me of how closely intertwined our fates had become with this sad story when it felt like a hand wrapped around my heart and gave it a hard squeeze. I gasped and tripped over the uneven path. I crashed onto my side with my heart still clutched
