Where Foxes Hunt with Wolves (Folk Lore 2)

Radek nuzzled Yev’s neck, eager to show his gratitude. He barely remembered the petty anger that had led him to Yev’s door just a few days ago and in turn had caused the events that had pushed his life off-course. Yev had been right from the start. Radek shouldn’t have gone hunting while drunk, shouldn’t have shot at wolves, and should have known what was going on at his own fox farm.

It did strike him as odd that Yev knew of a witch, even if she was likely a lady dealing with some sort of folk healing, who also was a little bit mad. Way stranger was Yev’s lack of concern about an unnatural creature walking through the woods as if the valley were its home. Its powerful form was a distant, shadowy presence at the very edge of Radek’s vision, but Yev remained calm, as if he’d expected it to be here in the first place. Come to think of it, he hadn’t been that shocked to find out the truth about Radek either. Maybe he was just calm about everything.

Yev smiled at him and continued forward, until they faced a steep rock wall that for some reason made Radek’s stomach churn with worry. There wasn’t anything particularly eerie about the place, but he couldn’t help the sense that something was off in its atmosphere, as if the air were vibrating at some low frequency he couldn’t grasp. He sensed a coppery flavor on his tongue, and as Yev groaned, squaring his shoulders before he stepped farther toward the cliff, Radek’s heart got into a frantic rhythm when he realized he could barely smell or hear the forest anymore.

He whimpered, tapping Yev’s shoulder, not so sure if he wanted to go see the witch after all. What if she was the one who’d put him in this position in the first place? He was so frustrated with not being able to ask the hundred questions running through his mind that he nipped on the exposed skin of Yev’s neck.

But Yev shook his head. “I know, I know. It’s like a… barrier to keep people out. You’ll feel much better soon. I promise,” he said when he reached the bottom of the cliff and gently removed the backpack, holding it up with one hand.

Radek yelped when he realized that there was a crack between the rocks, and that this was where they were headed, but Yev ignored him and slid into the narrow cave, which forced him to lower his head and move sideways.

The damp scent of the dirt under their feet had Radek hiding inside the backpack, which swung with each of Yev’s steps. But then, unbelievably, his nose picked up the juicy aroma of grass at the height of summer, of daisies and clovers, and he peeked out just as Yev placed him on the ground.

He was surely dreaming.

This could not be real.

Fireflies floated in the dark like tiny lanterns to celebrate a place where summer had retreated to survive the long and harsh winter.

Yev stopped at the bottom of a gorge with steep rock walls, but they might have as well stepped into a different dimension, where the air was warm and scented with flowers and where their breath no longer created vapor.

“Incredible, right?” Yev asked, removing his coat as if he’d come here expecting this.

Radek took the opportunity to jump out of the backpack, into soft moss dotted with wild flowers, enchanted by the beauty of this secret garden. He had found out about true magic, and there was no going back. His heart beat so fast it might burst out of his chest, as he breathed in all the unexpected scents. A yelp escaped his muzzle when a firefly buzzed too close to his ear, but when he jumped away, he landed in smooth grass, amazed at the warmth hidden in the ravine when the world beyond its borders was frozen and covered with layers of snow.

Yev’s laughter was warm and sweet like the smoothest cocoa, and Radek rolled to his back, staring at him with a silly expression. Water whispered somewhere nearby, and above their heads, a massive tree stretched its branches to protect this amazing ecosystem that shouldn’t have existed yet was very much real.

The calloused fingers slid up and down Radek’s throat, as if this glimpse of a summer to come within the next few months had been enough to relax him too. Radek allowed the massive hand to caress him, embarrassed just how much he enjoyed the touch. He wouldn’t have been such an ass to Yev if he’d known how friendly the guy was.

In the past days, despite the strain on all his routines and the money he needed to pay the vet, Yev hadn’t lost his patience with Radek once. Including that time Radek had climbed into the sink to have a bath and then had accidentally broken several dishes by knocking them to the floor with his tail.