Rooted to the spot, Flisety stared at her claws. She felt the magic release her paw from the border, but she wasn’t ready to enter just yet. She was afraid that if she moved, she would do something she would regret.

A quiet hiss emerged from between her fangs as she fought back the flare of anger. Keep it at bay, she told herself, the thought a tight whisper. Fixel wouldn’t want you to act like that.

Just thinking his name sent a sharpened dart digging deep into her heart.

Shaking out her fur, she forced herself to lift her gaze, surveying the clusters of huts either side of her. She lifted her paw and placed it on the other side of the border, on true Lunerdan territory. This was how she would do this. One step at a time. Staying calm, and pushing away any voice that whispered otherwise. And never letting her thoughts drift to him.

She picked up the two cards. Her clearance she returned to her satchel, but her residence card she clutched between her fangs, after she’d studied it long enough to memorise the map carved into it, as well as the unique symbol. Another difference. Borelton had used numbers for shelters, but she supposed Lunerda was too big to use such a simple system.

The shelter assigned to her was only a few short turns away, which she had to admit she was relieved about. Not necessarily because of the distance, but the simplicity. She hardly wanted a day of struggling to navigate her way through the tangle of streets.

Turning down a path to the left, bending a touch northwards, she looked up at the polite blue sky above. A perfect match to Dysmas’s wings, it was clear and bright, dotted with only a few specs of white that did nothing to block out the sun’s warmth. It was the last shining beauty of crestide before the world faded into the dull brown of anderspell.

But even anderspell was beautiful. Someone used to tell her that. The colourful trees, the gentle sway of the leaves as they descended gracefully into the dust, and the spindly boughs, stripped of their thick coats to reveal their purest forms. He would show her it all. He would never stop admiring the beauty of the world.

Gritting her teeth, Flisety marked the path with her claws’ prints. Her thoughts were misbehaving especially today.

She focused all her attention on the walk. A right, then another right. A few minutes of walking straight down a wider street before darting left. Now it was only a case of matching the symbol on her card to one of these front doors.

After passing the card briefly to her paws in order to examine it, she began tracking each shelter, criss-crossing the street in order to look at each one. The huts were small, nothing more than wooden boxes of one room each, but it was all she could expect of the Aest Ring. It was enough regardless. It wasn’t like she had a whole host of possessions to fill a large house with.

“Excuse me? Are you the one moving here?”

Freezing in the middle of the street, Flisety whipped around towards the voice. A wolf, of pink fur several shades paler than her own, was watching her from outside the shelter to her right. She didn’t quite look fully grown, maybe only a cyluh or two younger than Flisety.

Pulling on her best smile, Flisety nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”

The wolf’s eyes lit up with excitement. In a few hurried bounds, she dashed to join Flisety in the street. “Really? You’re my new neighbour?”

“I suppose so,” Flisety said with a slight chuckle. The wolf’s whole body seemed to bounce, making her paws tap at the ground and her tail flick in an eager twirl. She gestured to the hut beside the one in front of them, a few steps further down the street. “Is this my shelter, then?”

“Yes! Wait, let me see your card.” Flisety slid the card over, and the wolf examined it, her eyes widening as she made out the symbol etched into it. “Yes, it is! Come on, I’ll show you inside. This place has been empty for as long as I’ve lived here, you know. I didn’t think I’d ever get another neighbour. Especially not a Kinetiwylf.”

Her flurry of words, along with her rushing prance as she darted for the empty hut, were quite dizzying to keep track of. Flisety followed her, feeling her snout lift into a smile. A natural smile, one brought on by her new neighbour’s unyielding energy.

Maybe she’d been right about Lunerda. It was possible to rekindle a spark of happiness here.

“There are barely any Kinetiwylves in Lunerda,” the wolf continued, once she’d reached the shelter and caught her breath. “Not cool ones, anyway. Are you a cool one? I hope so.” She leaned closer to Flisety, her eyes narrowed in their scrutinising.

“Probably not to your standards, but I like to think so.” Flisety cast a quick glance at the symbol carved into the door beside her, half expecting the wolf to be wrong and for it to be a false match. So many hopes could be crushed in such a way. But sure enough, the bend in the tight spiral was the same. Her smile widened. A weight in her chest she hadn’t noticed before grew a touch lighter.

“I’m sure you are. You seem cool. What’s your name, by the way? Mine’s Kalia.”

“I’m Flisety.” Flisety ducked her head in a small greeting. “Nice to meet you, Kalia.”

“And how old are you?” The moment the words had left Kalia’s quick tongue, she seemed to attempt to yank them back as her snout jerked downwards. “Sorry, that sounded super rude. You don’t have to answer. I’m just curious.” Her head remained bowed as she nudged open the door with her paw.

Stepping forward, Flisety nudged her shoulder to stop her. “No, it’s fine. I’m twenty-two cyluh.”

Drawn back by the contact, Kalia twisted her head to the side. “Really? You look older. Sorry if that’s rude too. I mean, you look more mature and confident.”

“Confident?” A laugh slipped from Flisety’s jaw. “I assure you, I’m not.” Sliding past Kalia, she entered the hut, but her eyes remained trained on her neighbour. She was far more interesting than the empty interior of the shelter. “How old are you, then? If you get to ask, you have to answer too.” She flashed a brief, joking glare.

“Twenty cyluh. But I’m turning twenty-one in a few days.” Kalia paused, then leaned closer, curling around Flisety’s flank in a gentle embrace. “It really is good to have you, Flisety.”

It was odd how the warm touch at her side made Flisety want to both giggle and sob at the same time. She took a breath, holding both back.

Suddenly, Kalia flinched away, her eyes glinting with a fresh excitement. “Oh! If we’re going to be friends, you need a nickname. How about…” She sprung in a full circle around Flisety, which apparently was her way of thinking deeply. “How about Fliss?”

Fliss.

The word sunk into Flisety’s heart, aching and cold. In an instant, the heaviness was back, dragging down her smile. “No,” she snapped, feeling her gaze darken.

Kalia stilled. Her head bowed downwards, ears drooping. “Oh.”

A flood of guilt jabbed at Flisety’s heart. She shook off the chill, growling internally at herself. Everything seemed to be setting her off. “Sorry,” she said. “I just… I don’t like that nickname. It’s Flisety.”

A falsehood. She had loved that nickname the same way she still loved the wolf who used to speak it.

Fortunately, Kalia snapped her head back up, never able to sink low for long. “That’s okay. You don’t need a nickname. Flisety is pretty.”

With a firm nod, Flisety willed her smile back in place. “Thank you.” She swept the room with her gaze. “I should probably collect some supplies.”

Kalia bounced on her paws. “I’ll help you! Come on.” She beckoned towards the doorway. “I’ll show you around, too.” She padded out of the hut with a spring in her step, the brief conflict forgotten.

Pushing all other thoughts from her mind, Flisety dashed after her. The nickname’s ache still filled her, but she could shake it away. The same way she could do anything in this town. She couldn’t let his echo chase her here.

For if it could reach her even in Lunerda, the first settlement, town of found souls, there was no escaping its grasp.