The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 42

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 42

Something much colder than a chill wracked the marrow of my bones. This immortal cat was not a simple, magical being. And it's words, to erase me if I failed, went far beyond my limited understanding of the way of Life and Death.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound helpful at all. In fact, that ranks down in the chunky sewer troughs as far as helpful."

My mouth got away from me yet again. I think it was the stress.

"No Werecat will be allowed to ruin the Balance. Not even a newborn Lower Werecat."

"Wouldn't you say the Balance is already ruined?! Which then explains why I'm here, so why don't you go tearing off to erase whoever created this...this Ring portal thing?! They're the one who ruined the Balance!"

"Ring portal?" The panther said, narrowing its eyes at my outstretched hand.

I held the ring between my two fingers and waggled it. "Yes. This filthy thing right here. It's some kind of loop that joins my world to this one. Can't you feel it?"

The panthers eyes were searching my hand, making me growl in frustration. "You suddenly blind or something?"

"It is a ring, or a loop? And it joins the two realms?"

"Yes! It's right here! Just look at it, you can feel how it's connected to both places, but somehow belongs to neither. It's just...just wrong!"

"Where did you acquire this thing?" The Cat spoke carefully, its depthless eyes locked on mine.

I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "From a magic dealer merchant. He said he found it in an assorted mix of magic items he traded for."

I watched as the Cat resumed pacing, its motions just a touch less smooth now. It's tail lashed the air silently, reminding me of the swaying dance to a cobra about to strike. I edged away, barely shifting my balance, barely moving my limbs. Trying to get some distance without being noticed.

"This ring, have you ever wore it at all, or used its powers in any way?"

"No! I don't want anything to do with it. I only have it with me because I originally thought I had to find whoever created it and make them destroy it. But now I think I just need to destroy it. Because I think...I think whoever created this is already dead. At least my instincts tell me that, anyway."

"Trust your instincts. Follow them. You were once a Wraith, and now you've become a Lower Werecat. Your instincts are more keen than you know."

I thought I saw sadness in the Cats eternal eyes, and I understood, then.

"The one who created this...they ARE dead, aren't they? And you knew them."

The Cat said nothing, but I still understood I was right. It confused me, though. How could this immortal, star-walking being not know about the ring? And apparently not even be able to see it? And then, as we're talking, suddenly know who created it and that they were dead?

"What is this ring? You know what it is, don't deny it."

I watched as the panther paused. It was deciding how much to tell me. As my life was at stake, as my very existence was at stake, it made me recklessly angry.

"Don't sit there and decide how much to tell me! Just tell me everything!"

"Careful what you ask for. Knowledge, with all its cascading changes, once learned, cannot be undone."

"If its knowledge that will help me not get erased then I'm inclined to believe its better that I know than not."

"You're as curious as a kitten. And as fearless. Very well, then. This ring is what's left of a fallen Werecat. Which is why I'm here. You and I will find who made my Werecat stray from the Path. And we will make them regret every second of their entire life."

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. The idea that a Werecat died to create this ring, and the terrible threat of the Werecat King, had dried up my words.

"The ring you hold, it is a fractured loop. It is a tear in the Balance. It must be corrected."

I found my voice. "Yeah, I kinda get that. So how about you help me correct it? Or is that just too easy, and nothing is supposed to be easy?"

The cat just sat still, watching. Waiting. It didn't blink, breath, or move in any way. I wondered if maybe it had left, and this was just an image it had left behind.

"Yup. Too easy to just help me." I mumbled. "Fine, I'll fix this on my own. Like always."

I held the ring close, examining the way the light sparked off its facets. The blood red stone seemed to have eight central facets, and then millions upon millions of smaller ones. A brighter flicker of red caught my eye, and I looked closer.

One of the facets was cracked. It was tiny, barely visible at all, but it was real. I stared at it intently. How could there be a crack in it? And, as I looked closer and closer to it, I began to feel like I was falling into a chasm lined with shards of broken mirrors.

The light flashed dull red, then an angry, vibrant red, then down to dull again. It felt simultaneously unbelievably full of rage, and unbearably sad, which made no sense to me. Then, as my senses and my sight was pulled down into it, images began to flash along the walls, the fractured mirror pieces lining the chasm.

Images of me, locked in battle with a Werecat, a Kahlraugh, and Talia.