In Vereluna, nightmares are real.

Their truths kept secret by the nahual.

But tonight, in the forest—

Secrets may be broken.

The three Chaneques, trickster spirits, swung wildly in the tree branches overhead. Their grotesque cackling echoed throughout the forest.

They dared to feast on guilt-laden souls. They dared to feast on nahuals.

Tonight, they dared for the last time.

Maya and MJ’s wolf-forms darted across the forest floor. Their senses locked onto the hunt. With every breath, they drew closer. 

Nothing hunts like a nahual. 

Nothing escapes.

The wolves were in perfect position for the flank. This had to end quickly. Maya could still taste the human’s scent in the air, dangerous and close.

Maya’s skin crawled beneath her fur. If the Chaneques reached the human, the price would be too high.

The memory of Abuela Xochi’s words coiled around Maya’s heart. None may know our secrets. The veil is balance. Silence keeps the world upright.

Deeper in the forest, the chase went. 

No time to wait for mistakes, they would force one. 

Maya signaled with a low, inaudible growl; MJ darted ahead in a wide arc, disappearing into the brush.

The wolves had learned the Chaneques’ patterns.

The trap was ready.

The tricksters outstretched their gangly arms toward the next branch. Maya leapt. Her muscles exploded, claws carving into bark as she sprang from one tree to the next. Fangs bared, she pounced at the trio.

The trickster spirits narrowly escaped her. 

Maya landed on the forest floor with a heavy thud. The Chaneques paused, hooting and jeering. Their laughter was sharp and careless. They didn't see it coming—they played right into the wolves' fangs.

One moment.

That was all it took.

MJ burst from the shadows like a missile—jaws wide and gleaming, from an adjacent tree. She snatched one of the Chaneques from its perch; a thunderous snap, and her fangs dripped with black ichor.

The other two Chaneques shrieked as their comrade fell to the earth with a sickening thud. The wolves lunged again before its body fully evaporated.

The remaining tricksters scattered. 

One melted into the shadows; the other paused, raised its gnarled hand, and released a spore-like mist before darting in the opposite direction.

Maya and MJ shook their heads violently. The clammy mist stung like splinters as it crawled into their nostrils. Their lungs rebelled, coughing sticky clusters.

Fog set in. Not only in their lungs, but their minds. They stumbled. Distracted. Disoriented.

The forest swayed. Smells became unreliable. Sounds seemed distant.

The mist gnawed at their senses. Shapes blurred at the edge of vision. But Maya planted her paws, anchoring onto the earth, forcing herself to focus.

The world tilted, but her breathing remained steady. One. Two.

She tethered herself to what was real: the pounding of her heart, MJ’s coarse fur beside her, the rotted taste of Chaneque essence in the air.

Focus. Listen to the forest speaking. This is the hunt. This is the now. You are both.

There.

To the left, a hush, too deep. To the right, churned leaves with a decayed breeze.

Maya snarled, signaling MJ to split. 

Doubt can wait; there was no room for it. Instinct and memory took over. Two wolves rushed to their respective directions.

The trees warped as Maya weaved through them. The rotted scent became clearer. She was headed in the right direction. The air turned cold. The ground slushed as whispers sprouted from the leaves.

You’re going the wrong way.

No, not that way!

You’re the worst Beta ever.

Such a disappointment.

Abuela was wrong to pick you.

Maya growled, swiping her claws onto a tree root. The splinters re-centered her focus on the forest’s true voice. A cold silence fell. Stiff. Unnatural.

“It’s your fault I died,” a little girl’s whisper rang out.

Maya’s ears twitched. 

Keep her memory out of your mouth!

Instinct flared. She spotted a shadowed bough overhead, rage filling her.

She bolted upward, jaws crashing down like a guillotine. A splintering crunch. The Chaneque plummeted to the ground, its leg torn and gnashed.

Nowhere left to hide. Nowhere left to run. It tried desperately to crawl away; Maya gave no quarter as her fangs slammed shut on its nape.

Maya shook the foul taste from her mouth. The distorted reality faded as the Chaneque’s corpse evaporated. Her pulse thundered in her ears as her senses regained full clarity.

A rustle.

MJ slipped from the shadows, sides heaving, eyes wide and uncertain. Fresh scratches dressed her flank. She paused briefly, brushing her muzzle to Maya’s. No words, only relief: I found you. I made it back.

Maya leaned against her, offering silent comfort. She saw it clearly in MJ’s trembling and distant staring: her cousin had been haunted by tricks and phantoms too. They would not nor could they speak of it yet.

Not now. Not while the decayed air lingered. Worse yet, they caught the scent of the human from earlier. The Chaneque’s position had shifted, drawing closer toward the human.

Together, they made for the last trickster in earnest. They could not allow paths to cross. The price would be too steep.

Trails of mist blanketed the air. This last trickster had grown desperate. Its mocking laugh ricocheted through the boughs as the roots seemed to shift.

Maya and MJ charged through the thickening mist. For an instant, they lost their footing—MJ stumbling forward, Maya feeling abuela’s piercing gaze in the fog. Maya tugged MJ’s neck, steadying her gait. They pressed on.

Shadow shapes appeared, looming in the underbrush. Some were bodies crossing their arms in disappointment, others twisted in mourning. Every passing step blurred the present with memories. Their vision couldn’t be trusted.

Maya huffed, forcing her senses to clear. The mist had begun to thin. In the Chaneque’s desperation, it exhausted its fog. Her wolf sharpened, locked onto the Chaneque’s trail. The human’s scent became clear as glass. A woman.

In silence, we keep the secret. The secret keeps the balance.

A dark thought rippled through Maya’s spine. What’s the price to keep the secret?

The human?

Herself or MJ?

The Chaneque slithered through the fog. Its ravenous gaze turned towards the human. Its gangly form shimmered, whispering sweet, poisonous memories.

The human seemed unaware, eyes yet turned upward to the lunging danger.

Maya watched the fog curl, watched the trickster’s tendrils of enchantment reach towards her. She growled, signaling MJ of something drastic. MJ bared her teeth in disbelief. No time for caution. Maya bolted.

With unnatural speed, Maya darted from the mist. Her flank brushed against the human. A small impact to jolt her from the Chaneque’s gaze. The human’s warm skin and stiff denim pants sent a cold shiver through her ribs. 

The woman gasped, stumbling back, scanning the forest floor. Maya was already gone, melding into the shadows.

MJ’s low, barely audible growl rumbled through the mist as she burst from the underbrush, clamping down on the Chaneque’s leg and hauling it away.

Maya joined her, jaws tightening on the trickster’s abdomen.

They pulled. The sound of tearing flesh and snapping bones echoed in the mist.

The evaporation had begun. Its body fizzed as its screams trailed away. Across the veil, it would return.

Maya’s ears twitched.

Footsteps approaching.

The human?   

The body had not fully evaporated yet. Another diversion act.

What is up with this human? Fine, you wanna follow?

Maya huffed. MJ understood, lying low, tucking her haunches beneath her.

Maya lunged, swinging out in a wide arc, drawing the human’s attention away from MJ’s location. She saw the woman chasing after her.

Good. Keep your eyes on me.

With effortless speed, Maya weaved through the trees and underbrush. She rustled against low boughs, maintaining the woman’s gaze on her.

Her ears perked at the sound of claws scraping tree bark. MJ’s all clear signal.

Now to lose this girl.

Maya let out a soft growl, then bolted towards a forest clearing.

She made it out to the clearing, then swung wide back into the forest. The woman trailed desperately behind her. She could hear the woman’s lungs struggling to catch a breath.

At least here, you’re not so lost.

The moon peeked from the clouds. Maya, hidden in the forest shadows, caught a clear glimpse of the woman’s face. Wavy, messy hair. Deep, burning brown eyes.

Something about those eyes. Maya couldn’t pull away. The world tilted. Soundless.

A force tugged at something in her chest. A headache began to quake inside her skull.

She felt the forest hush, as if every spirit and star watched. It drew her in.

***

Ariel heaved, her hands braced on her knees, lungs struggling for air. Her heart hammered, heat rising from her ears. Alone in the clearing, she could feel the forest moving and churning.

She looked back, searching for signs of movement. All she found was moonlight, an open clearing, and the rustling trees.

Was it a cryptid or was it a trick of the fog?

Was it the unknown of this vast forest that got the best of her? She felt the sharp heat against her jeans.

No, something DID bump into me. Nearly knocked me over.

Her thoughts tangled. The stiff air didn’t help.

A chill ran down her neck. She peered towards the tree line. Something: not human, not animal watched her. The forest seemed to whisper to her.

Ariel straightened, shivering. Her thoughts ran of cryptids, old folktales, stories that were too farfetched to be believable.

Every instinct said to run, but there had to be more.  

There were secrets living in these trees—promises of danger and revelation.

She stared into the dark abyss, breath stilled.

For one impossible beat, it felt like the world itself was holding its breath, waiting.

What had she seen?

And what had seen her?