POV: Thelma

The darkness inside the cave was absolute. Not the simple absence of light, but something deeper, something that pressed against my skin like cold hands. I walked forward because there was no other direction to go, my footsteps echoing off unseen walls.

"Hello?" My voice sounded flat even to my own ears.

A laugh answered me, dry and crackling like old paper. "Hello, she says. As if we're meeting at a market square."

Light bloomed ahead, revealing a cavern carved from black stone. In the center sat an ancient wolf in human form, her hair white as fresh snow, her eyes milky and sightless. But when those blind...