Time was running out, the ground seeming to charge up to meet her. The beast lunged, jaws releasing a snarl.

Instead of biting her in half, however, she collided with its sleek, furred back. Considering the height she’d fallen, the impact should’ve broken her spine and maybe the beast’s too, but instead it felt like landing on a bed of feathers, her arms naturally falling around its neck. She hung on for dear life as it sprang away at speed, reentering the forest at a full sprint, ash-gray trees standing sentinel flashing past on either side, along with bits of foliage.

Trees rose up in their path, determined to stop their flight, but the creature—a panther? a forest lion?—was more than up for the challenge, darting and weaving, always finding the path of least resistance through the undergrowth. For the first minute or so, Perfidy couldn’t think about anything but not letting go, but then, in drips and drabs, she began to enjoy the ride, releasing a whoop as the wind filled her hair, as her stomach did backflips, twists and front flips with each leap over a fallen log or drastic change of direction.

The creature seemed to be spurred on even more by her reactions, twisting around a large tree before darting left, feet skidding on the groundcover before its claws caught and it was able to pivot in the opposite direction, accelerating with a speed that momentarily trapped Perfidy’s breath in her lungs.

Finally, it became too much, her hands wrenched free of their grasp. She slipped off the beast’s back, slamming to the ground with a jaw-snapping smack. The creature kept going for several more steps before turning back toward her. It was enormous, at least thrice the size of any of the big cats that were known to roam Lostwood, its body long and lanky, muscles rippling along its flanks. Its sleek coat was the color of night, its face stoic, intelligent. Something gleamed in a spot just on the edge of its right eye: a gold leaf. As she stared at that marking, she felt a growing warmth beside her left eye, and when she reached up to touch it, she felt a second raised leaf. Meanwhile, the panther was pawing at its face on the same side.

Where another gold leaf had appeared to match her own.

“Whut the void?” she said aloud, their gazes meeting across the distance.

Its eyes were unnaturally golden, a pair of coruscating orbs gleaming in the dark.

There was something about those eyes that was breathtakingly familiar.

Their eyes met for a moment, a low growl rumbling from the back of its throat.

And then it was gone, vanishing into the forest as though it had never existed in the first place. As though she’d imagined the whole damn thing.

And yet Perfidy couldn’t deny the feeling that now filled her:

Hope.