The moons were full, three perfect white discs hanging over the volcanic ridge. The air shimmered with heat, and the cavern glowed faintly with the embers of a dying fire.
Idalia sat near the entrance, gnawing on a bone from their latest meal, her tail flicking lazily as Kelix traced lines in the dirt again.
But tonight, something in his movements was different. Sharper. More deliberate. The marks weren't random symbols this time.
They were marks shaped like the land. Kelix had called it a map.
She tilted her head, chewing slower. "What's that supposed to be?"
Kelix didn't answer right away. He finished a curve, then straightened. The rough shapes he'd drawn looked like a coast, a wide crescent of land surrounded by dark waves, with a smaller, isolated shape at the edge. An island.
"I'm leaving," he said finally. His voice was steady but heavier than usual.
Idalia blinked, setting the bone down. "Leaving? Where? Why?"
He crouched beside the drawing, eyes fixed on it. "There's a Wanderan outpost near the edge of the continent. On an island past the Black Current. It's where the one who destroyed my village hides."
The way he said it—cold, matter-of-fact—made the fur along Idalia's neck stand on end.
She hesitated, her voice smaller. "Destroyed your… village?"
He nodded once. "He came with soldiers and their machines. Lightning cages, fire from the sky. Said he wanted to study us. Said we were too wild." His jaw tightened. "There's nothing left to study now."
For a long moment, the only sound was the soft hiss of cooling magma outside the cave. Idalia stared at him, trying to imagine her own home turned to ruin, her family gone, everything burned away. Her stomach twisted.
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Kelix picked up a small piece of obsidian and stabbed it into the map, right into the heart of the island. "He's there. I'm going to end it."
Idalia shot to her paws. "Then I'm coming too."
That got his attention. He turned, brows lifting. For a second, he looked genuinely surprised. Then a low chuckle escaped him, quiet at first but growing into laughter that echoed through the cavern.
"You?" he said, shaking his head. "You can barely keep up with me when I walk. You'd be weight, Ida."
The mockery hit her like a slap. Her ears flattened, tail puffing up. "Weight?!" she snapped, claws flexing. "I'll have you know I've been training every dawn! I can track faster than smoke and fight twice as fierce as a Haste Troodon!"
Kelix smirked, unconvinced. "Sure. But this isn't about training. It's war."
"You think I care? Those Wanderans you talked about! The ones who tame monsters? Maybe on that island— They might have my Dad!"
That made him pause.
Idalia's voice cracked as she went on, her throat tight. "He fought the Phantom Carnotaurs near the eastern ridges. He never came back. Mom thinks he's gone, but I know he's not. You and Vestella had said a group of Wanderans took monsters from the wild. They could've taken him too!"
She met Kelix's gaze, her own eyes glistening in the glow of molten light. "So if you're going after them, then I'm coming. I have to see for myself."
For a long while, Kelix said nothing. He looked down at the map again, tracing the coastline with his finger, silent and unreadable.
Finally, he exhaled and stood. "You don't know what you're asking for," he said softly.
Idalia growled. "I don't care."
He looked at her then—not with annoyance, but something deeper. A tired, storm-gray sadness beneath his golden eyes. "You might die," he said simply.
Idalia bared her teeth in defiance. "Then I'll die trying."
The silence that followed stretched long and heavy. Sparks popped from the embers beside them.
Kelix rubbed the back of his neck, exhaling through his nose. "You're stubborn."
"I'm loyal," she shot back.
He gave her a look that might've been amusement—or respect. It was hard to tell with him. Then, after a beat, he muttered, "Fine. But don't expect me to slow down for you."
Idalia's ears perked, her heart leaping. "Wait—so I can come?"
He rolled his eyes. "You're going to follow me anyway."
A grin split her face, sharp and bright as a sunrise. "You're right!"
Kelix sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as lightning crackled faintly around him. "Stars help me, this is a bad idea."
But Idalia didn't hear that part. She was already trotting toward the mouth of the cave, tail flicking high, excitement thrumming through her veins.
Somewhere beyond the volcanic fields, past the dark ocean and the edge of the world, lay the answers she had been waiting for.
Her Papa. The Wanderans. The truth. She would face it all beside a lightning-born boy named Kelix.
As another announcement for everyone, the next chapter will be set for the release of Book 2!