The Cat's Out of the Bag by Molly Milligan

Author:Molly Milligan [Milligan, Molly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Molly Milligan
Published: 2018-06-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

I slipped quickly and easily across the boundary and into the realm of the Otherlands. I had thought it would be harder to cross, but perhaps part of me was still there from my last trip. I descended the stone steps of my mind and sank below the inky waters. Hands and claws reached out to grab at me, and something slimy twisted around my legs as I tried to swim forwards. Already I was having a bad feeling about this, but I could not go back, not now, not yet.

My feet touched solid ground and I waded out of the water. I was on a beach of silver sand and the sky above me was black. I begged aloud for any of my allies to come to me, for a mentor to appear, or She Herself to be revealed. I begged for insight and protection. Something rustled, and movement caught the very edge of my eye. I fought to keep my breathing steady. If I showed fear or panic, I could attract the sorts of things that fed on negative emotions.

Black wings enfolded me and something filled my mouth and my eyes. I stumbled backwards, trying not to fight against it; black wings meant that She was here, and I had to accept Her presence. But there was a whispering in my ear: You have had your fill. Yet there is one here who would speak with you. Then the wings opened out and I could see again.

I was no longer on the beach of metallic sand. Now I was in a forest, which was dark and forbidding. The tree trunks were black and twisted and moss hung from the branches like nooses. Not a single bird sang here. I could not see very far, and part of me didn’t want to.

The King of Shadows approached.

He looked the same as the first time I had seen him, before he had changed into a priest and a bishop. He had the cloak, the crown and the sword. And he had arrogance and amusement rolling off him. “You are back, just as I had hoped. You’ve returned to take me up on my offer, then.” He said it flatly. It was an assumption, not any kind of question.

“I need to know more, first,” I said.

He frowned at me.

What had I done wrong? Maybe I was making a demand he did not like, or maybe it was just because I didn’t call him “My Lord” or whatever it was you called a king. Sire? I threw it in, experimentally. What had I called him last time? “My Lord.”

His face cleared. “What could you possibly need to know? You have power, and I have power and wisdom and can go to places that you have not even dreamed of. Shall I show you? Come with me now, little wanderer. You have been adrift for too long.” He held out his hand.

“Who else has taken you up on this offer?” I asked, refusing to let him touch me.

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