2.8 The Cat Knows

“Told yah.”

“Shut up,” she replied. Then, turning to the cat, she said, “Okay, that’s literally so stupid.”

Priscilla’s feathers quivered dangerously. They bristled with raw power, each powerful as the average mage’s Remnant and as lethal as the stingers of an enchanted man o’ war.

Her eyes were fixed on the horizon where the Night Terror had been banished to.

I kept my eyes on the horizon as well, not quite believing our imposter friend had yet to return.

The sky had grown dark and gloomy. Heavy gray clouds signaled that rainfall was mere moments away. The lampposts lining the street had grown dark, robbing the town square of its familiar orange hue. All the shopping outlets were dark as well, their lights snuffed out like candles on a windy roof. Thick darkness reigned in the streets of my home, and once again, Priscilla’s wing and Kairos’s blade were the only sources of light for miles around. A chilling wind began to sweep around us with such force that I wondered if the Night Terror was already on his way back.

I wanted to leave immediately, but Priscilla seemed like she wasn't going to budge an inch until she got a straight answer from the cat.

Iris will get us out in five, I reminded myself.

I prepared a kinetic barrier but did not ignite it, just in case.

The amount of fear the Night Terror invoked in both Gordon and Iris told me it wasn't to be trifled with.

“What makes the Night Terror so dangerous other than the fact that we can’t blast it away with magic?” Priscilla asked.

The cat looked torn. His long pause before answering told me he was picking his words very carefully.

“At the risk of making things worse than they are,” he said quietly, “once the Night Terror appears, the nightmare begins to unravel.”

I glanced at Priscilla.

She shot me a sideways glance.

She knew the cat was up to something as well.

“Meaning?” she demanded.

“If the nightmare ends without certain doors being opened, then no one escapes alive."

"Oh, that's it?" she said. "If that’s the case we just have to open the door to the city before that happens.”

Gordon shook his head.

“That is not the door I speak of. And we may run out of time before then."

"Just how quickly does the nightmare unravel?" I cut in.

"A little too quickly."

"Numbers, Gordon! If this is something we have to kill, I want to know how much time we have to do it."

"It can't be killed, Titus. It will persist so long as the nightmare continues. And it will only grow stronger with every passing hour. Our best hope is to help Iris as best as we can. She holds the key to ending the nightmare.”

“You know an awful lot about her for someone who’s never spoken to her,” I said, glaring at the cat.

The cat leered back at me, unafraid, defiance I had not seen in him until now. Or perhaps it had always been there, hidden behind an all too convenient facade of a meek cat. He was a Night Hunter I reminded myself, one of the few who could stare you in the eyes as they ripped your nails off as slowly as possible without batting an eyelid.

I balled my fists in preparation to fight the cat. I was a bit surprised at my knee jerk reaction, but I didn't feel bad about it at all.

“As you both have seen,” Gordon said, “The words you speak affect the world around you. At the mere mention of a single name, you have made it that much more difficult for all who wish to escape this nightmare alive. How much more damage would I cause if I told you that which you are not ready to hear?”

Priscilla’s lips were pressed into a thin line.

“Who are you, Gordon?” she said slowly.

Gordon turned to face his Queen.

“A friend, your Majesty, as I always have been,” he replied.

A thunderclap broke the dull silence. All three of us jumped. And it began to pour, the coldest rain I have yet to feel in the nightmare.

I immediately raised a kinetic barrier over our heads.

“We should get to the cathedral,” I said, gritting my teeth.

“Agreed,” Priscilla replied. “Back into your dungeon, cat! We are going to talk about this later.”

Gordon said nothing as he disappeared into his pocket dimension.

When he was gone, Priscilla turned and looked at me with a look of despair on her face.

“I’m going to lose my mind,” she said in a small voice. “I’m so sorry for saying her name! I didn’t know-”

I shook my head.

“None of us did,” I replied.

She nodded slowly.

“I hate how the stupidest things can cause so much harm in this stupid nightmare,” she said. “I can’t catch a break. I haven’t had a break in seven years.”

“We are in a nightmare meant to imprison us,” I said.

“Meant to kill us!” she groaned.

Thunder boomed in the distance again, closer, much closer.

I bit my tongue in alarm.

“Let’s go,” Priscilla said, glancing at the horizon. “Watch our backs.”

“Got it.”

We both began to run toward the cathedral. As we ran, she handed Gordon’s pocket dimension back to me. She released the backpack before it was fully in grasp, nearly dropping it on the ground, but she managed to grab it and toss it to me. I caught it with an outstretched hand.

Priscilla smiled, clearly embarrassed at the blunder.

Then I caught the look on her face, the look of uncertainty that seemed ever more prevalent the more time I spent with her.

She was badly shaken.

The nightmare had changed her; I could see it in her eyes.

It was the look of someone who had recently lost the veil of immortality youth granted.

“Hey,” I said. “We’re going to be alright.”

She said nothing in response as she marched toward the cathedral without me.

I slipped the pocket dimension onto my back, and we were well on our way to the safe haven.

Priscilla pulled ahead of me thanks to her Seraph strength, but I tried my best to keep up without using my magic. I almost called out to her to slow down, but I figured that wouldn’t be necessary so long as she was visible.

Gosh darn it, I thought. Being weak sucks.

I felt Gordon poke his head out of the pocket dimension ever so slightly.

“Do you trust me?” he asked in a small voice.

“Not so much after that,” I replied.

The cat meowed sadly.

“Don’t meow like that!" I said. "I feel bad.”

“I would tell you everything if I could,” he said, clearly distressed.

“Then tell me this, Gordon. Can we trust Iris? Can we trust you?”

The cat nodded vigorously.

“She will tell you everything, in time,” he promised. “She is your Host, after all.”

“Good,” I sighed. “Do know I will make a hat out of you if you are lying.”

“And bite the hand that feeds me?” Gordons scoffed. “I am a cat, not a dog.”

I allowed myself a smile, despite myself.

“Good joke.”

I looked back at the horizon where I had banished the Night Terror. I wondered how grave of a mistake we had made. Given that the monster had yet to return, I realized that it wasn’t as big of a threat as I initially thought it to be. That didn’t help with my fear of what it would become.

It’s too early in the dream, I thought, remembering Gordon’s words.

Perhaps he hadn’t forgotten as much of his memories as he claimed to have.

We’re going to grill the cat for answers when we can, I vowed resolutely.

I began to lose sight of Priscilla, who was pretty much sprinting toward the cathedral. I applied a bit of kinetic magic to my legs to help me keep pace.

The last thing we needed was to get separated from each other.

Iris, I said, turning my thoughts to my patron. Are we going to be okay?

There was a long pause before she responded.

A moment, please! she yelped.

Then thick, heavy silence.

Adrenaline shot through my veins.

Iris, are we in danger? I asked.

No response.

At that moment, I felt as if my entire body had been plunged into a bath of ice water. I couldn’t breathe. My body temperature dropped too quickly to be safe. I collapsed onto my knees as I held my breath instead, hoping that the moment would pass.

What is going on?

After what seemed like an eternity, the sensation passed and my lungs were able to draw in precious air once again. Feeling returned to my extremities rather quickly, unnaturally. I tore the air for oxygen, looking everywhere around me in alarm, looking for any signs of the Night Terror. It must have returned, there was no other explanation for being unable to breathe.

But look as I could, the monster was nowhere to be seen or heard.

This is not okay, I thought, unnerved at the thought of being unable to breathe again without warning. I can’t take much more of this.

“Titus!”

My Priscilla was waving her arm frantically at me to hurry up. She was already at the lifeless fountain that had been running minutes ago.

Dread filled the pit of my stomach as I ran toward her.

When I reached her, we continued toward the cathedral together in silence.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her that our Host, and by extension, us, may have been in deep trouble.