Cloud Piercer

Thirteen

Any thoughts of Killian are wiped as I leave him standing alone by the bakery. There's only one thing on my mind—Casimir.

I can't find him in the street I last saw him. My pulse thumps in my throat, peering into the street like he'll appear from thin air.

Has he already headed towards the marketplace? A heavy weight presses on my chest as I scan the forest edge. What if he went to the fields? What if he didn't hear the summoning? It doesn't matter what's happened between us; the council being here is a big deal, and I don't want either of us to face it alone.

I briefly consider hurrying home to check the cabin, but before I can make my way, someone calls my name. It's Cadence. She holds the skirt of her yellow dress up so she can move faster, her golden hair blowing wildly in the wind behind her.

"What're you doing?" she asks.

"I was looking for Casimir."

"Come on." She hooks her arm through mine. This close to her, I can feel the slight tremble in her body. "He's probably in the marketplace with everyone else. We must hurry."

I don't protest as she pulls me along. The sun blasts down on us as we reach the shaded marketplace. It's located on the outskirt of the village, a large clearing that narrows at the trodden path leaving the village. If you were to follow the path, it'd eventually lead you to the Elel mountains.

My pulse leaps in my throat as we get lost in the crowd. I can't see over the heads of people gathered, so I tug Cadence's arm and pull her towards the outside of the bakery stall. A couple of wooden boxes that usually hold produce are flipped upside down. I climb on top of one, peering over the heads of the villagers.

A semi-circle has been cleared at the edge, leaving a clear space by the narrowing of the path. A woman sits atop a large brown horse, a horn in her hand. I can't help but ogle at the horse, it's huge. There are very few horses in Veymaw. Jyro used to have one that worked in the fields pulling the heavy tools, but it was no taller than me. This woman's horse's muscles ripple beneath its skin.

Her hair is scooped into a low ponytail. She swings both legs over her horse to dismount, the dust rising around her as she hits the ground and scans the crowd wordlessly. It's the same woman who arrives before the council members do when they visit, her steely gaze a rival for Casimir's. Her name is Alyse. The first time I saw her I was just a child, and with her harsh gaze, muscles limbs and dark clothing, I'd thought she was a shifter.

Until the councilor came after her. There's a graceful way that shifter's move that sets them apart.

The earth begins to thud, seeming to vibrate under my feet. Tension builds with each thump of approaching hooves, each second that ticks by as we all hold our breaths as a dark carriage rounds the corner. I always found it strange that the council members always arrived in carriages. After what I saw last year, I find myself wondering, why don't they just run in their wolf form? Aside from the night of the Red Moon, we never see them in their other forms.

Cadence taps her foot anxiously as the carriage crawls to a stop. Curtains block the windows, but we all know who is in there.

Mr Tetterman. Veymaw's councilor.

The village holds their breaths as the door to the carriage creeps open and he ventures out. I haven't seen him in nearly two years. The last time he came, after the last Red Moon, I was still holed up in Casimir's cabin, folded in grief.

But age has not been kind to him. We hear about shifters growing up. Though they're rarely seen, we're told of their beauty, the way they age gracefully, the way that everything about them is designed to lure humans in—the prey to the predator. But Mr Tetterman does not look well. His salt and peppered hair has thinned, giving way to a bald spot on the top of his head, and wrinkles line his face.