A small ball of white fur—no larger than a cat—stood trembling before the swirling portal that shimmered at the edge of the clearing. Its light was painted in hues of blue and silver, casting long shadows over the mossy ground. Neeko stared at it, his heart heavy. This was the doorway that would take him away from the Feywild—the only world he had ever known. The place where he had once believed he would be born, live, and die.

  “I refuse to harm the mortals,” he had said, and those had been the words that sealed his fate. He had known what would follow. In the eyes of his court, mercy was weakness, and disobedience was unforgivable. His defiance had been branded as cowardice. His titles stripped. His magic severed. His true form was taken from him.

  “Leave, now,” the command of his kin thundered from behind him.

  Neeko’s eyes flicked between the portals that floated before him, each one swirling with a different light and hum. None of them was marked, and none of them was safe. No one ever knew where the portals led—some stayed within the Feywild’s borders, others crossed into realms far darker or stranger. If he were lucky, perhaps one would drop him on the fringes of his home, far enough to survive but close enough to still hear its music. He could live with that.

  But the thought of being cast into some unknown land filled him with dread so intense that he could barely breathe.

  “Leave!” the voices roared again, their power shaking the air. A force like wind tugged at his small body, dragging him toward one of the portals. He tried to resist and plead his case one last time, but the rushing current of energy swallowed his words. With one last glance toward the only home he had ever known, Neeko was pulled through and then spit into quietness.

  He stumbled out onto damp earth, landing hard among roots and fallen leaves. The air was still, with no shimmer of magic and no hum of eternal song. The trees stood tall and silent, and their branches were unfamiliar.

  Neeko tried to spread his wings, but there were none. He tried to call out for help, but his voice cracked, hoarse and strange in his throat. He was weaker than he had ever been. Alone, disoriented, and trembling in a world that did not sing back to him. The Feywild’s music was gone, replaced by a silence so deep it felt like he’d lose his sanity … or what was left of it, anyway.

  Ahead of him, the air shimmered once more. A faint spark flickered to life, swirling and stretching until it grew into the shape of another portal. Neeko’s breath caught. His small mouth fell open in disbelief. Home.

  Maybe this was the same portal he had fallen through, the one that could take him back to the Feywild. Excitement rushed through his body, and he stumbled forward, his legs trembling beneath him. The ground felt heavy, every step clumsy and unfamiliar.

  He couldn’t stop, though. He couldn’t let it close. His heart hammered as he scrambled over roots and stones, his fur brushing against the moss. The moment he reached the portal, he threw himself through it, eyes squeezing shut.

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  For a heartbeat, he imagined what waited on the other side again—the skies that shifted through every hue and the sweet hum of Feywild magic in the air. He could almost feel the warmth of home calling to him … but when he opened his eyes, the color was gone.

  There was only … grey. The world around him was quiet, dull, and cold in comparison to what he had been used to.

  “What … ?” The word left him as a shaky gasp. Panic flooded his chest. He stumbled to his feet, turning wildly to take in the unfamiliar landscape. The ground was hard and uneven, and his body felt wrong.

  He spotted more light then. Not the soft, eternal light of the Feywild, but something shimmering through the trees, reflecting off the surface of a shallow pool. Beside it stood a girl. She knelt in the dirt, tracing a sigil in moss and water, her movements slow and uncertain.

  For a moment, Neeko could only stare, wide-eyed. His voice came out rough and broken, like it hadn’t been used in years. “Where … ?” he rasped, barely able to form the word.

  The girl turned sharply at the sound. Her eyes widened as they landed on the small, white creature before her.

  “Oh,” she breathed, blinking in surprise. “Are you all right?”

  Neeko’s gaze darted in every direction. He could barely keep his balance as he stepped back, his small paws unsteady on the soft earth. The girl before him didn’t look like a threat, but she was unlike anything he had ever seen.

  When he didn’t speak, she tilted her head, her voice gentle and curious. “What’s your name?”

  He hesitated, his throat dry and tight. “N-Neeko,” he managed to say, his voice trembling as he shuffled a little farther away.

  “All right, Neeko,” she said with a small, reassuring smile. “I’m Ivy. You look lost, so how about you let me help you find your way home?”

  His shoulders sagged, and he lowered his gaze to the ground. “There is no home,” he murmured softly.

  Before Ivy could respond, the light around them shifted, and a shadow stretched long across the clearing. From behind her, a tall figure stepped, cloaked in darkness that seemed to swallow the light.

  Neeko froze, every muscle tense. She was nothing like Ivy—her eyes were hard, and her voice, when it came, carried a coldness of ice. “For forest’s sake, where did you find one of these?” she asked, frowning. “From the Feywild, of all places?”

  At the sight of her, Neeko’s instincts screamed. He darted toward Ivy without thinking, pressing himself against her leg. She was the only safety he knew in this strange new world.

  “Nirva, don’t be rude,” Ivy said firmly, though her tone held more patience than scolding. “He’s lost.”

  The taller woman—Nirva—folded her arms, her sharp eyes moving from Neeko to Ivy. “And what exactly do you plan to do with it?” she asked, her tone skeptical.

  Ivy met her gaze without hesitation. “We’ll take him home,” she said. Then, softer, she added, “And after that, we’ll see if there’s a way to help him find his home again.”

  For a moment, Nirva didn’t respond. Her eyes lingered on the small, frightened creature at Ivy’s feet, and though she said nothing, the faintest sigh escaped her lips. It was resignation more than disapproval, but at the very least, Neeko was not alone in this strange world.