An intense chill washed over me, as if an icy wind had just appeared from nowhere. It rushed past my face, and it was so strong and in my face that whichever direction I turned, I couldn’t escape it. I couldn’t breathe. I was going to die here. This was the end, and my life would come to nothing.
As the wind rushed past my ears, I heard him laughing in my head. He wouldn’t shut up. He wouldn’t go away. “Farewell, Dragoncat. Until we meet again.”
I awoke into a night blanketed by cold darkness, suddenly aware of how cruel life was.
22
A Terrible Sickness
I wasn’t sure if it was because of Astravar finding me in my dream, because of the poison, or because of the crushing I’d taken when sandwiched between two dragons, but I got increasingly ill on the journey back. My fur, and probably the skin beneath, it was literally turning green, and I vomited on Salanraja’s back at least three times, much to her chagrin.
Eventually, she turned her head back to me nestled in the cage. “What is wrong with you?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied. I couldn’t help feeling queasy.
“Probably the mutton didn’t go down too well with you,” she said, and barked out a laugh. “Talk about irony.”
I wasn’t in the mood for joking around. “No, it’s not that. The thorn from those toxic plants the Manipulator created. You told me not to get scratched by one, but I did. It must have gone much deeper than I thought.”
Part of me wanted to tell her about Astravar and that horrible dream. But I knew such a conversation would also lead to admitting to swallowing the golem’s crystal back in the Versta Caverns. Somehow, I didn’t think she’d react well to that.
It bothered me though, because what Astravar had said about the demon dragon sounded somehow significant. It really sounded like something I should tell her. But Salanraja had already said that I was in trouble with the Council of Three, and I didn’t want to give her information that might make things worse.
“You should see Aleam when you land. He’ll fix you up. He’s good with healing and stuff,” Salanraja said.
“Maybe I will,” I replied. “Or maybe I’m just going to die soon. It’s been a good life, Salanraja. I had lots of salmon and roast chickens. And that mutton, even though I shouldn’t have asked for it… Now, I feel complete.”
“Stop it,” Salanraja replied. “You’re not going to die on me, you idiot. You’ve still got a lot in you yet.”
“What do you care?” I said, licking my paw.
“Because we’re bonded now, and that means I care about your wellbeing, believe it or not. And I should hope you also care about mine.”
But by that point, I was getting all bleary-eyed, and I soon drifted off to sleep.
I was woken up by the thud of Salanraja landing on cobblestones. I rolled down her tail before I could open my eyes, and then I yowled out when I hit the floor.
“Sorry,” Salanraja said.
“Couldn’t you have landed a little more softly? I was having pleasant dreams.”
“No. Now just get up and see Aleam.”
I picked myself up to see that we’d landed inside Salanraja’s chamber. On the other side of the room, half a cow had been skinned and laid out for her. It wasn’t roasted yet and, in all honesty, I didn’t feel so hungry. I just felt dizzy, and a little nauseous.
“I thought you’d at least drop me off outside Aleam’s door.”
“What? Are you crazy? Dragons can’t land inside the bailey. It’s against the code.”
“Why? It’s not as if you’ll eat anyone.”
“We might,” Salanraja replied. “It hasn’t been unknown.”
I groaned, and picked myself up on all fours, my legs wobbling as I stretched. I half thought they wouldn’t hold me, and I’d just collapse here and die. My fur still had that green sickly hue, and it was getting even greener. What kind of disease did this, anyway? Ailments might affect a cat’s eyes, nose, and ears, but I’d never known of anything to attack the fur.
But maybe Astravar was delivering on his promise early. He already had his magic inside me, and he’d injected me with his poison. Soon, if he had his way, my skin might slink off my bones and my soul might drop out of me. By tomorrow, I could be reduced to a feral skeletal cat that skulked about Dragonsbond Academy by night, murdering every living cat that I encountered.
Then, the rats here would multiply, and Astravar would work even more magic to turn them into demon rats. Dragonsbond Academy could be doomed.
It was probably the fear of what I might become that kept me padding through the bailey, following the path that Aleam had led me over just a couple of days ago. As I walked, I passed men and women, some of them in common clothes, others in uniform. All of them stared at me disdainfully as I passed. Then they backed away as if I was carrying some kind of plague.
For all I knew, I might have been.
I kept my head low as I went, half expecting an arrow to take me down from one of the walls. Then I heard some shouting from the guardhouse at the gate, and three heavyset men in shiny armour stormed over to me, shouting something. But my head was spinning so hard, I couldn’t understand a word they said.
One of them lifted a sword into the air, and I was ready for it to come down on me and chop me in half. But a door opened behind me, and out of it stepped an old man in a brown robe, carrying a staff. Aleam, I recognised his voice, and he said something to the guards which calmed them down.
Aleam took me up in his arms, and he whisked me back into his study.
“What happened, Ben?” he said softly, as he stroked me under my chin. He lifted my leg and examined the cut there. “This is a Mandragora’s work. You poor thing. Don’t worry. The spell can be reversed if we act fast.”
He dropped me onto a rug, next to the warmth of a roaring fireplace. I glanced across the long room and I caught a glimpse of Ta’ra lying on the bench. She saw me, and stood up, then jumped over the top of the sofa and hid behind it. She peeked out from behind the edge of it.
Aleam turned to look at her. “Don’t worry, it’s only Ben. Not a demon. He’s been hurt.”
“Ben?” Ta’ra said, and she walked out from behind her sofa, but still kept a safe distance. “What happened to you, you idiot?”
But I wasn’t in any state to answer, because I felt a sudden wave of queasiness. The world around me was spinning, and I vomited on the floor. Shortly afterwards, I blacked out.
23
Food Is Not for Sharing
I woke up to the smell of salmon, and for a moment I thought that I’d awoken from this terrible dream and returned home. But I hadn’t, as it was Ta’ra’s breath I smelled. She lay snuggled up beside me on the rug, her face right next to mine, seemingly appreciating my warmth as the fireplace had run out of fuel. I leapt right on to my feet.
“What the whiskers are you doing there, Ta’ra?” I screamed out in the cat tongue. She opened her eyes and blinked at me. I remembered then that she didn’t speak cat, so I said it again in the human language.
Ta’ra yawned and then lifted herself up on all fours. She stretched, shaking as she did so, and she sat back down and gazed at me lazily.
“Oh relax,” she said. “Don’t you like having a pretty lady next to you?”
I arched my back. “Last time we were fighting, and now you think we’re chums?”
Ta’ra yawned once again and snapped her mouth shut. She shook her head, which meant that she either had problems with her ears or she hadn’t quite lost the need for that pointless humanoid gesture.
“Such a typical cat. I thought you were having interesting dreams, and I wanted to watch them for a while. I had no idea so much could go on in that little head of yours. You’re very unlike the other cats here.”
I snarled at her, then I said, “Weirdo.”
“Whatever,” Ta’ra said and stalked towards her bench.
Aleam was standing over his desk, gazing into his alembic as the solutio
n boiled within. It had more of a green hue to it today. He was so engrossed in whatever he was doing that he didn’t notice me approach until I meowed at him. He turned towards me and examined me over his glasses.
“Oh, you’ve awakened. Thank gracious. I thought for a while we might lose you. Salanraja looked so worried, you know. She hasn’t eaten since dusk yesterday.”
“Dusk,” I said. “How long was I out?”
“The entire night and the morning after.” Aleam said. “But after a bit of sage balm and a little white magic, I managed to get the poison out of you. Fortunately, it didn’t go so deep. Just be more careful next time you ever have to fight anything like that again.”
“I don’t intend to,” I replied. “All I want is to find a way home.”
Aleam laughed. “I’m sure you will one day. Although you have to accept that it might take some time.”
The alembic apparatus whistled at him and some steam rose from a pipe at the top of it. Presently, some green solution dripped out of the tap at the end into a vial. Aleam picked this up and took it over to Ta’ra who was now sitting on the sofa. “Here, drink this,” he said, offering it to her.
She looked at the vial. “I’m not sure I want to. I’m starting to quite enjoy being a cat.”
“What? Nonsense. You were moaning about it yesterday.”
Ta’ra glanced at me, then looked away when she noticed me glaring at her. “Fine,” she said. “One drop won’t make much difference.”
Aleam raised the vial to her mouth, and I took the opportunity to jump up on the table. The alembic was the only reflective object in sight, and I wanted to get a good look at myself. I found a spot that had plenty of liquid behind the bulb, and I examined my reflection.
Aleam had done a good job. I had my leopard-style markings back, and my skin had that beautiful amber colour to it again.
“Hey, get down from there,” Aleam called out and shook his staff at me. “That’s Ta’ra’s cure. We can’t have anything happen to it.”
Ta’ra licked her lips and then examined her paw. “Whatever,” she said. Something had certainly changed about her.
I jumped down from the table and I walked over to her, then I looked up at her, licking my lips. “What?” she asked.
“You, you just seem different. What’s got into you?”
“I just thought that’s it not that bad being a cat, that’s all,” Ta’ra replied. “The food’s good. The humans think you’re cute. As long as I can talk to them, I can be their advisor or something. I’m sure they won’t assign me to catching rats.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and I did so in a very human and mocking voice. “You think you’ll ever learn to be a cat? You don’t have it in your genes.”
“Don’t have what in my genes?”
“The grace. The ability to balance. You don’t even know how to walk like a cat.”
“Of course I do,” Ta’ra said, and she jumped off the sofa and walked along the straight line between the floorboards in a particularly inelegant way. “See?”
“That’s not how you do it,” I replied. “Your feet don’t meet.”
She scowled at me. “What do you mean they don’t meet? I don’t want to be tripping over myself.”
I groaned, then I showed her how it was done. “Your back paws should hit exactly where your front paws land, like this see?” I walked in a straight line with my head held up high. I didn’t even need to focus on it – I’d been doing this since I was a kitten.
Ta’ra looked at me and blinked. “What’s the point of that?”
“It makes us harder to track,” I said, proudly. “It also makes us quieter. Although…” I looked down at her feet. “… you’re not going to be stealthy if you don’t learn to stand on your toes.”
Ta’ra tucked her head inwards. “Fine, I’ll practice,” she said. “Maybe you can teach me to be more ladylike.” She approached me and rubbed her head against my cheek. Then, she pattered over to Aleam, who was now focusing again on the alembic, and she meowed.
Aleam scratched behind her ear. Then he walked over to a high cupboard, reached inside, and tossed down some fish for Ta’ra. The aroma from it assaulted my senses. It was smoked trout!
“Hey,” I called out. “What about me? I haven’t eaten for ages.” I didn’t mention the feast of mutton that I’d gorged on before my flight back. Though, at least this fish wouldn’t taste of bitter guilt.
“Very well,” Aleam said. “You too.” He tossed some more pink fish down on the floor, a little away from Ta’ra. As soon as he did, though, Ta’ra walked over to protect it.
I hissed at her, arching my back. “Hey that’s my food,” I said.
Ta’ra laughed. “No it’s not. It came out of my cupboard, and so it’s mine.”
“What do you mean, your cupboard? Is this your floor too?” I scowled at Ta’ra.
“Will you cats stop fighting?” Aleam said. “I’m trying to concentrate.”
Ta’ra looked down at the food, then she touched it with her paw. “Fine,” she said. “You eat it then. But remember, I’m doing you a favour.”
“And I’ll teach you how to eat it properly someday,” I called after her as she stalked back over to her pile of food.
Just as I’d taken a good mouthful of the fish and was starting to chew down on it, there came a banging from the doorway. The young Initiate Rine – that spotty-faced teenager – was standing there hammering the base of his staff against the floor so hard that it hurt my sensitive eardrums.
Aleam spun around from his alembic and glared at the boy. “Do you have to make such a racket?” he said. “I’m trying to work.”
Rine had a grin stretched across his face that was so smarmy that I wanted to slash it off, if only I could reach that high. “I’m sorry,” he said. “The Council of Three wanted me to alert you that they need your presence. Not you, Driar Aleam, the cat.”
He looked down at me with that same grin and a knowing look, as if to tell me he had learned of a secret of mine. But what that secret might be, I had no idea.
“Fine,” I said. “Just let me finish my food.” I took another mouthful of the delicious moist fish.
“No,” Initiate Rine replied. “I’m afraid they want to see you immediately, no time to eat.” He walked forward and shooed me towards the door with the base of his staff.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
“I said now!” Initiate Rine said.
I realised I had no choice but to follow him out of the room.
It seemed so familiar – being whisked away from my breakfast of smoked fish by an arrogant magic user. The sounds of Ta’ra’s laughter followed me out the door. I didn’t look over my shoulder, but I could swear she’d moved in at the first opportunity so she could go back to eating my fish.
24
Freshcat Ben
Salanraja was already waiting in the Council of Three’s courtyard when I ducked underneath the arch to meet them. She hadn’t spoken to me since I’d recovered, and I figured she was angry again about the mutton incident. Why she had to let things stew so much, I had no idea. Now, she had her nostrils flared out, was growling from the base of her chest, and I could feel her rage burning there as if it was my very own.
Really though, I didn’t understand what she was so upset about. We had completed our mission, so she would look great and get the praise she wanted. Then I would become an Initiate and I’d gain the favour of the Council of Three. After that, all I needed to do was find a nice man or woman somewhere in this castle who could summon a portal for me to go home.
“Why didn’t you just call me?” I said. “Why did you have to send that annoying Initiate Rine?”
“Because,” Salanraja replied. “All I could hear going on in your mind was food, food, food, food, food, and I knew I didn’t have a chance of dragging you away from your gluttony using just my mind.”
I turned up my head. “I would have come. The food will always be th
ere later.”
“Will it?” Salanraja asked. “Because I don’t think you ever quite believe that.”
I whined and then turned away from the dragon. I was having a good day so far, and I didn’t want her dragging me down with her negativity. This would be my moment of glory, and my opportunity to finally return home.
Driar Yila, Driar Lonamm, and Driar Brigel already had their staffs raised up to the crystal over their heads, and they were feeding their energy into it. The three Driars watched me as I moved further forward, and I looked at each Driar in an attempt to work out what they were thinking. But their faces didn’t register much emotion.
“You summoned me,” I said to them once I was standing right in front of their raised platform. “Here I am, and I’m sure you’ve heard that our mission went well. Now, if you—”
Driar Yila’s sharp voice cut me off as her expression melted into a frown. “We’ve heard very well about your mission, and it was a complete failure as far as we’re concerned.”
“What?” I said, and my eyes opened wide in shock. “But we defeated the bone dragon…”
“We defeated the bone dragon, Ma’am.”
I blinked at her.
“Say it,” Driar Yila said. “It’s about time you learned to speak respectfully.”
“Fine,” I said. “We defeated the bone dragon, Ma’am.”
“Good. Now, from now on, remember that you shall refer to all other superiors as ma’am and sir. Is that understood?”
“As you wish,” I said.
“As you wish, Ma’am.”
“As you wish, Ma’am.” I accompanied this with a reverent and sorrowful meow. Then, I walked up to the platform and put one foot on it, hoping that I could at least cheer them up by being cute.
A Cat's Guide to Bonding with Dragons Page 10
