The Wolf

Ch. 42: Nyx's Plan

~Nico~

"Are we almost there yet, Kat?" I lean against a tree while she takes a seat on the ground.

"We're close now, just a couple hundred more mile to go," She replies, stretching her legs out in front of her.

"How is that considered close?" I ask in disbelief.

Kat sighs heavily. I can tell that she's getting sick of me already. "Considering we barely need to rest, we'll make it in no time. We've already traveled thousands of miles. A few hundred more are nothing."

I kick a pebble near my shoe in irritation. This is taking forever. "Why do we need to stop and rest anyway? I feel just fine. We can keep on going."

Kat lays down on her back, looking up at the sky above us. "Trust me, you'll be too tired to move once you get back in your physical body if you don't stop and rest now."

I grumble, not satisfied. I cross my arms but lay back nonetheless. I might as well do as she says.

"Listen, Nico," Kat says after seeing my reaction, "think of it as being awake for days without sleep. Usually, your mind needs a break from information input so it can recover and get rid of useless info. I may not have mentioned this, but when you get back to your body, you're going to feel really heavy and disoriented as you readjust to having a vessel. So, you'll have to make sure you're in a safe place before you step back into your life."

I mull over the information. If Nyx makes it to the mountain before we can get out of this place, I may not have a safe place, but I have to do whatever it takes to stop Nyx from going through with whatever she has planned for us. "I got it, no being physical unless I have consent."

Kat sits up to look at me. "Why do you have to word it like that?"

"Because it's the truth. I'm also trying to lighten up the mood, jeez, Kat." I stand up from my spot against the tree. "Anyway, break time is over, let's go."

Kat sighs as she jumps to her feet effortlessly. "You're killing me, smalls."

Again we start running for the portal's location. It's hard to judge how long we've been running for. There's no night or day in this place, just shifting gray skies. For all I know, I could've been here for an hour in real time or a month. I just hope that we pop out of this world before our mission commences. If Nyx knows what we're planning to do, then she'll have the advantage and we'll lose good men.

~*~*~*~

"So, how do you like being a spirit?" I ask Kat.

Both of us are sitting on the edge of a cliff, letting our feet dangle over the edge. Kat insisted that we take another break, so I decided this was the perfect time to ask her about herself.

"Being dead isn't too bad..." Kat shrugs.

"But?" I look at her hunched shoulders. I can tell that something is weighing on her.

"You get to watch everything you know and love move on and change without you. You get to see how much or how little you mean in the span of things, you know? Now that I'm dead, I have perspective. I see that now." Kat kicks her legs back and forth. Her eyes stay focused on the vast expanse of forest in front of us.

"You mattered, Kat." I grab her hand in mine.

She gives me a small smile. I can see the sadness weighing heavily in her onyx eyes. "I wish I had known that when I was still alive. My family may have been shitty, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't have given them a second chance. Or maybe it was never about them. Maybe I should've focused on myself, world be damned."