Chapter 2

  First encounter

  "You’re human,"

  She says at last, voice low and guarded.

  Lux take a step closer, hands open to show he mean's no harm. “I’m not from around here,” I admit, trying for a friendly tone. “I just… woke up nearby.”

  Her ears flatten slightly. She doesn’t reply, but her gaze lingers on you for a long, searching moment before she slips off the path, disappearing into the brush.

  I keep walking toward Springvale. Minutes later, I hear them again—soft footsteps trailing me at a distance. A quick glance over my shoulder catches the flash of amber eyes between the trees. She’s following me now, though she keeps her distance, wary as a stray cat.

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  The sound of the city begins to reach me in scattered pieces—distant voices, the faint clatter of hooves on cobblestone, the rhythmic creak of wagon wheels. Springvale’s walls rise ahead, sunlight glinting off their pale stone.

  Behind me, the faint footfalls stop.

  I glance over my shoulder. The demi-human girl stands a few paces back, half-hidden in the shadow of a tree. Her tail sways slowly, ears angled toward me, but her gaze is fixed on the city walls with something between distrust and fear.

  For a moment, it seems like she might follow me in—but then her eyes meet mine, and she shakes her head once. Without a word, she turns and melts back into the forest, her ragged clothes catching briefly on the branches before vanishing entirely from sight. I'm left standing at the edge of the road.