Golden Prophecy

X L I

AS ANDORRA and Tofu set up camp for the night, Andorra wondered what this trip would have been like without the large leopard. What would it have been like with Callum? Tofu had scooped out the perfect little cave carved into the mountain-side, and as soon as the sun began to set, he stopped there.

Andorra was thankful, but she hadn't realized it would be an overnight affair. When packing, she hadn't thought to bring extra clothes, or blankets. She stared at the empty cave with a smidge of contempt. But now was not the time to really dwell on her misfortune of not thinking more clearly.

She took her bag and laid it on the ground. That would have to work as a pillow. What should they do now? Start a fire? Andorra didn't know the first thing about making fires. This wasn't what she learned at Girl Scouts.

But then it hit her. She could start a fire. She looked around the empty cave, and decided that she would have to venture out for twigs and sticks. Something to keep the fire going. Tofu stood at the entrance as if he were guarding the spot, but Andorra moved past him, brushing a hand down his side.

"I need stuff for a fire. You stay here."

The cat let out a mewl of disagreement, but Andorra rubbed his nose a little bit. "I know, but I can make myself a human flashlight, and I'll be okay. Someone has to keep track of this hidden cave. I'll be right here."

Right here had a lot of snow covered trees. There were absolutely no twigs on the forest floor that weren't blanketed in a thick layer of snow, so Andorra began moving around the cave, trying to find somewhere a little bit more dry.

It was official: the Winter Court was her least favorite court. It was cold, wet, and made it impossible to find good kindling for fire. She would grumble to herself if her teeth weren't chattering so hard, and she tried to rub warmth into her arms, but it was no use.

She was freezing.

She reached a thicket of trees that were close together, and underneath their branches was a dry spot. There was still snow on the ground, but it was less dense. When she stood underneath, the lowest hanging branches were miraculously dry.

Or, as dry as they could be, out here in the snowy woods.

She began breaking them off of the tree, holding them in the crook of her arm as she continued to gather. She let her skin glow to keep her alight, and she moved as quickly as her numb fingers could go.

Once she gathered what she deemed was enough, she moved back towards the cave, following her footprints in the snow. The cave was hidden well enough that it would have been harder to find without a cat standing guard, but thankfully it wasn't snowing. Yet. Hopefully never.

As she ducked back into the cave, she put her sticks towards one of the back corners. With her finger, she drew forth a flame, and held it to the pile of sticks and branches until it caught fire. Now, it didn't take a genius to know the fire wouldn't last without more wood, but Andorra was greedy for the warmth. She sat down, holding her gloved fingers towards the fire, relishing at the feel of the flames against her frozen cheeks.

She looked at Tofu. "Are you gonna come in, or what?"

The cat sent another look out towards the forest, let out a long meow, then came back into the cave. He padded towards her, then laid behind her, allowing Andorra to lean back on his warm body. She let herself relax into him, blowing out a long sigh.

"Tofu, I don't know what I would've done without you," she admitted. "You've saved me twice now. I owe you my life." She let out a laugh, but it morphed into a whimper. For the first time since she'd been kidnapped, she let herself feel the fear and exhaustion that filled her. She was terrified, out there in the Northern Mountains alone. She had no idea what she was doing, and she felt it in her bones. An imposter, she thought, but tried to banish it as soon as it came.