Vereluna is a body.

It feels, breathes, and bleeds.

Some wounds heal. Some wounds fester.

What happens when wounds cut too deep?

Go! Just go!

MJ’s words still echoed in Maya’s ears. Her heart pounded as she ran, Ariel unconscious in her arms. She dared to look back for just a second. MJ was alone, two Cuetzpalin closing in from either side. Another burning question haunted Maya: how much had Ariel seen? How was she going to fix it?

No time for that. Gotta get her to safety. Gotta get back to MJ.

The streets blurred into streaks of shadow and light. Maya’s eyes darted to every corner, too many windows, too many streetlights. A flash of movement by a trash can…just a cat.

A streetlamp burned out the moment she passed beneath it. Her pulse sputtered. Someone watching? Or was it just nerves gnawing at her?

Her arms burned as much as her lungs. “Hold on, Ariel,” she muttered, hoisting Ariel’s limp body onto her back, securing her arms over her shoulders, hooking her hands under Ariel’s thighs. Ariel’s head leaned against Maya’s back. Better.

Ariel’s head bobbed, soft whispers escaping her lips. Maya caught only snippets.

“Lizard…obsidian…never this cold before…Maya—”

The soft ramblings sent a cold spike through Maya’s chest as she tightened her grip.

Maya forced her pace into a desperate sprint, her feet slapping the road. Most passersby barely glanced her way. They probably looked like two people after a rough night of drinking. She felt their eyes though, like a blade’s edge scraping along her spine.

The library was up ahead. Maya’s heart beat a frantic pulse, like the drums at a midsummer festival, pounding through Vereluna’s streets. The sensation of burning gazes never left her skin.

As she went up the steps, her gaze flicked. To the right, just past a streetlamp, where the light faded into a corner. Nothing. Was it too fast, or were the shadows playing tricks?

Keep it together. Keep moving.

On the steps, she set Ariel down just long enough to fish the keys from her pocket, then hauled her up again. Her hand slipped, keys bouncing across the steps. 

Just nerves. Take a deep breath. Just nerves. 

She fumbled the lock open and burst through the doors.

Ariel sagged in her arms, fingers unconsciously rummaging around. They found Maya’s wrist, thumb twitching over the bracelet she always wore.

“Cold…then hot…never any other time…just Maya…” Ariel muttered brokenly.

Maya caught only fragments of her words, but each syllable twisted her stomach. She wove through the darkened corridors, hissing at every echo. Were those footsteps or just nerves again? She fumbled for the library’s key, almost dropping Ariel. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

She went to a corner that was out of sight, away from any windows. She knelt as gently as she could, setting Ariel down on the library floor, slipping a bag from Ariel’s desk under her head for support.

Maya ran her hand across Ariel’s forehead; soaked in cold sweat, face pale and waxy. The heat from Ariel’s skin was fading like a failing furnace. Maya’s mind scrolled back to Abuela’s warnings:

When the tonalli is drained, the body cannot heal. Not by itself.

“Stay with me, Ariel.” Maya whispered, checking her pulse. It was jumpy and erratic. Like the violent flicker of a flame before going out. Dark shadows bloomed under Ariel’s eyelids.

A worn notepad slipped from Ariel’s pocket, smacked the floor, and spun underneath a bookshelf. Unseen, unnoticed, lost in the chaos.

Outside, the night churned with a thick, unnatural heat. Maya could feel it crawling under her skin, a buzzing hiss behind her ears. She could feel eyes everywhere. Staring at her. Judging her. She shoved the feeling down and focused on Ariel.

“You’re gonna be okay,” she lied.

Tonalli drain has been nothing short of fatal for humans.

Pressure built behind her eyes. MJ. No, Ariel. Abuela’s voice echoed inside, drowning it all: Never abandon the pack. Never expose the secret.

Maya’s indecision tore at her insides. She hovered over Ariel, hands trembling. If she stayed, she might save her. Or fail both. If she ran to MJ, maybe vanquishing the Cuetzpalin would help Ariel too. She shook with the urge to scream in the empty room.

“I’m sorry. I have to go back. You’ll be safe here.” The words felt shallow and false even as she spoke them.

Ariel’s eyelids fluttered as if she might wake. But she didn’t.

Maya bolted away, the pull already threatening to drag her back. She swung around to a dark corner outside the museum. All clear. The Nahua magic surged, wrapping around her. But something was different. Her skin burned hot, lacerated.

She winced as pain flickered up her arms, her hands numbing as scars formed on her shoulders. Her wolf-form finally came with effort, the burning sensation still present, fur feeling just as hot, jaw locked in a silent snarl.

What is going on? Why does it hurt? No time.

Maya darted to the outskirts of town, hidden in darkness, nerves flayed raw.   

Time itself bent to her wolf form’s speed.

MJ’s last words roared in Maya’s skull. Go! Just go!

Her wolf-form burned with panic and pain as she sprinted toward the south ward. The world streaked by, warped by fear. She reached the south ward in a quarter of the time.

Stale ash, brittle earth, and singed fabric filled the air. The south ward’s cacti patch caught Maya’s eyes. It stood blackened and frail. Its integrity ebbed, the protection glyph flickered weakly. Cold dread clawed up Maya’s spine.

If the south ward breaks, the others will follow. There will be no walls left to protect Vereluna. Abuela…MJ…All of us, wide open.

MJ was nowhere to be seen. Not even a hint of a struggle. She must have drawn the Cuetzpalin away from the town. She bought them a sliver of time.

Maya stretched her senses, desperate. She felt every leaf rustle, every heartbeat, every tremor in the earth, every breath in the air. Her pulse thundered, punching harder as she searched for something, anything. There, a faint yelp, bleeding into the darkness.

There. Hold on, MJ. Please.

She turned and raced into the forest.

***

Maya plunged deep into the forest. Her muscles burned, her mind raced. MJ’s scent was sharp, growing closer, tangled with smoke and the bitter taste of fear.

A large shadow moved. Obsidian scales flashed in the moonlight. Maya thew herself forward. A powerful leap. Her claws raked dark hide as she landed atop the Cuetzpalin’s back.

It twisted, jaws snapping. Maya caught a glimpse of MJ: battered, patches of fur scorched, lying weakly on the dirt.

Maya landed beside MJ. She pressed her muzzle to MJ’s neck, a slight relief, but ice cold. MJ’s warmth was fading, her heartbeat fluttering like a dying candlelight.

Maya snarled. Ivory fangs bared as she planted her body between MJ and the threat.

Where’s the other one?

The answer came in a stinging hiss. Maya’s limbs buckled under a sudden wave of cold. The other Cuetzpalin snaked from the trees, tongue flicking like lightning, eyes burning with malicious glee.

Darkness crept into Maya’s vision. Her muscles became weak, joints straining to stay upright.

The two spirits closed in. Circling, mouths gaping wide like an endless void, drinking every drop of warmth.

Maya crumbled to the ground. Her breath became frost in the air. MJ whimpered, a sound Maya never wanted to hear. The Cuetzpalin drew close, their jaws twisting into a smile.

“So much fear tonight, little wolves.”

Maya’s fur pricked, mind reeling. Monsters never spoke openly, never taunted. Not in any story or warning.

“Tonalli is our flavor of choice,” the other Cuetzpalin hissed. “But fear…fear is especially sweet. Your hearts overflow with it.”

The cold was absolute. Maya’s body wouldn’t move. No! I will not let this—

But her eyes slid shut. MJ’s pain, the last thing she felt. There was only the monsters’ laughter.

The crush of the cold. The taste of defeat.

Their sparks faded.

Some wounds never heal.

Darkness took everything.