Morning Gone Awry
The morning started with the smell of pancakes and honey, the familiar sizzle of batter on the cast iron pan bringing a rare sense of normalcy. Ivy Mae hummed softly, flipping the last pancake while Jas set the table. Roman had even managed a rare smile. For a moment, it felt almost like the world hadn't changed.
Then the ground trembled.
At first, it was subtle, like a far-off train rattling the earth beneath them. But within seconds, it escalated into a violent shaking that sent plates crashing to the floor. The cabin groaned under the force, wooden beams creaking as dust rained down from the rafters.
Jas barely had time to react before instinct took over. They grabbed Ivy Mae’s arm and pulled them under the sturdy table just as Miracle erupted into frantic barking, ears pinned back, hackles raised. Cupid hissed from their perch, tail lashing. Outside, the wind picked up, howling through the trees, and the very air itself felt charged—thick with something unseen but undeniable.
"Roman, hold on!" Jas shouted, voice nearly drowned out by the earth’s roar.
Roman braced themself against the wall, but the entire cabin shifted with a sickening lurch. Books tumbled from shelves. The firewood stack toppled. For a moment, it felt as though the cabin might collapse around them.
Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the shaking stopped.
Silence fell. Not just an absence of sound but something deeper—an unnatural stillness that made the hairs on Jas’s arms rise.
Breathless, they crawled out from under the table, heart pounding. Ivy Mae was already staring at the door, their fingers tight around The Alchemy of Transformation, the book now a lifeline more than ever.
Jas followed their gaze and felt their breath hitch.
Outside, the sky was ablaze.
The auroras had returned, but this time they weren’t just lights in the sky. They moved with purpose, shifting and spiralling like sentient ribbons of colour. Waves of deep indigo, electric violet, and shimmering emerald twisted above them, pulsating in rhythm with something unseen. The ground beneath them still felt warm, as if it had been touched by something beyond their understanding.
The animals had felt it too. Birds circled erratically overhead, their cries sharp and urgent. A family of deer stood frozen at the edge of the clearing, their bodies tense, eyes reflecting the unnatural glow of the auroras.
Jas swallowed hard.
They had felt something during the last tremor—a connection, a presence woven through the air itself. But now, standing in the eerie calm, they weren’t sure if they had just survived another earthquake.
Or if they had just witnessed the world shifting in ways they couldn't yet comprehend.