Initiate Rine moved to the table on the left, and a couple of girls his age shuffled aside to make room for him. He said something, but I didn’t quite catch what it was, being so mesmerized by the plates of food. One of the girls laughed and put a hand over his shoulder, as she brushed his cheek with other.
I wasn’t interested in those weird human antics. I had work to do. I just had to figure out which of these humans was most likely to give me food, and then show them the widest eyes and the saddest face. It worked every time, even with the harshest of humans, excepting Astravar.
I approached the girl who’d brushed Rine’s face first, thinking if she was friendly with him, she’d also be friendly with me. I meowed up at her, and she edged away from me.
“What in the Seventh Dimension?” she said. “Rine, there’s a cat in here.” She sneezed, and her face went a shade of light red, which stood out quite comically against her bright blonde curls.
Rine looked down at me. “Hey stay away from Bellari,” he said. “She has allergies.”
The girl on the other side of Rine turned her head to me. “Aw, he’s so cute,” she said. “Here, kitty, kitty.”
I moved over to her, and she reached down and stroked me on the back of my head with a thin finger. She was a brunette with shiny and smooth hair and a small, snub nose.
“Why, thank you,” I said, purring. “Now, if you could kindly donate some turkey…”
Her jaw dropped, and her eyes went wide. “What, you talk?”
“Be careful, Ange,” Rine said. “He has warlock magic inside him.”
“You’re kidding, never? Well, you know the rules, talking or not. We can’t give you food, otherwise you’ll be less effective as a ratter.”
“I’m no ratter,” I replied. “I’m a Bengal, descendant of the great Asian leopard cat.”
“He seems proud of that,” Initiate Rine said. “Such an oaf.”
“Rine,” the first girl, Bellari said. “Get him away, I’m not joking. Really, I could swear the warlock’s magic is making it worse.”
“Fine,” Rine said. “Shoo, cat. Be off with you. And remember I’m keeping my eye on you.”
“Oh, don’t be so cruel,” Ange said, and she cast Bellari a hard look. “But yeah, cat, she does have allergies, so maybe you’d be better over there.” She pointed to a corner, and I looked at it, despair sinking in my chest.
“Rine’s not going to tell you twice, you stupid creature,” Bellari said, flailing her arms wildly in front of her. “Scat!”
I mewled, then I groaned, then I growled deeply from the stomach. Finally, I turned slowly away and slinked over to the corner they’d banished me to. I kind of wish I hadn’t understood them – it would have been easier that way. I would have just sat there looking up at the food, begging until either my eyes fell out of my sockets or I got a scrap of turkey.
But I was in the wrong world. No one here respected cats. No one here gave us food or looked after us. Nobody here cared about anyone but themselves.
Time passed as I watched the students carve scraps of meat off the dwindling turkeys at the centres of the table and lift them onto their plates. They laughed, and they chattered, and occasionally one of them squealed so loudly I wished I could cover my ears. All the while, my tummy rumbled, and I felt so sad.
What had I done to deserve this torture? It was as if I was living through the worst nightmare of my life.
That was when there came a clanking of metal against the floor, and a massive young man walked into the room. I recognised him as the same man I’d seen on the citrine dragon before. He’d taken off his armour, but he still wore his metal boots and the tabard with the symbol of the sun and moon emblazoned on its front. His long black hair flowed over two heavy-looking yellow leather shoulder pads.
An older boy at the far end of the room stood up and called out, “High Prefect Lars has entered the serving hall. Please stand up and show him your respect.”
27
High Prefect Lars
Quickly the rest of the students stood up, and they all clapped together. The young man known as High Prefect Lars bowed his head, and then he put his hand out, stretching out his fingers towards the room. Everyone quietened down. This prefect, whatever a prefect was, had a tired look in his eyes and though his face had lots of hard edges to it, it was also long. He took a place at the head of the central table, next to a group of students who also had yellow shoulder pads.
Given no one even seemed to realise I was here, I thought I’d listen to his conversation. This Lars figure looked important, and I figured that if I gained some information from him, I could use it as a bargaining chip for food. A young woman and a young man sat on either side of him, but they didn’t look the playful, youthful type like Rine and his two girlfriends. The young woman had short red hair, and the man had his hair cropped so short, I couldn’t make out the colour.
“What news is there of the demon dragon?” the woman asked. She had her back turned to me, so I couldn’t see her face.
Prefect Lars paused a moment, and he gazed towards the other end of the table, shaking his head. “It’s true,” he said. “Our dying Driar at Colie Town confirmed. He saw it with his own eyes.”
The short-haired man lowered his head. “Will Driar Forn survive?”
“He passed just before we left,” Perfect Lars replied, and he took hold of the young man’s hand. “I’m sorry, Calin. I know what he meant to you.”
“But, what of his dragon?” Calin replied.
“Callandras barely managed to get Driar Forn to the town before the burn on her flank took her.”
Calin’s face went white, and he let go of Prefect Lars’ hand and turned away from the table. He wiped his face with his sleeve and then turned back to Lars, bowed, and walked hastily out of the room without even touching any turkey.
The woman leaned forwards towards Lars and put a hand on his knee. “I’m sorry, Lars,” she said. “It must have been hard for you.”
“We just need to stop Astravar,” he said. “But no one knows where he might be right now. He flew off on a bone dragon right after he’d almost killed Driar Forn.”
“But where’s he getting his power from? He can’t use the life force of anything in this realm.”
“Demon rats,” Prefect Lars replied.
“What?” the woman replied.
I backed away from their table and hid under the adjacent table. It was me who’d summoned the demon rats, and so I felt partly as if I was to blame.
“Driar Brigel told me all about it on the way back. Astravar’s been experimenting in using creatures from other dimensions. He summoned a cat from the Third Dimension, which I believe is somewhere in this castle. Then he used that cat to kill the rats he summoned from the Seventh Dimension. They’re tough rats, as you probably know, but I hear it’s also a tough cat. After Astravar gained a large enough stack, he could use them for an even greater summoning.”
“It’s terrible,” the woman said, shaking her head.
“That’s not all,” Lars said. “Driar Forn discovered on his mission that Astravar has enough summoning power to call up a demon dragon.”
“A demon dragon? But you can’t kill them, can you? It will destroy us all…” the woman lifted her hand to her face.
“I fear a war is coming, Asinda,” Prefect Lars replied, then he lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “And, yes you’re right… It’s not one that we can win. Not if the warlocks have a dragon like that at their disposal.”
Whiskers, I’d heard enough. All those demon rats I’d killed, and at the time I thought I’d been doing someone good service. Not only did they taste disgusting, but Astravar was planning to use it to conjure the demon dragon that would destroy this world. Then, if they were right, the creature would also destroy my world.
But not just that, it would destroy the entire universe’s supply of food, and here I was, the creature who assisted Astravar in this deed. Really, I wasn’t surprised
that these humans hated me so much.
I pulled myself out from underneath the table, brushing against a female student’s bare calf who shrieked as if she’d just seen a hippopotamus. The young lady talking to Lars, Asinda, turned sharply around and glared at me through two intense cornflower blue eyes. I regarded her a moment, and then I remembered that I was the enemy here.
So, I dashed to the other end of the room, and I retreated back to the corner that I’d been banished to. I watched with sadness as the students devoured the rest of the turkey. I wanted to eat some, but at the same time I knew I didn’t deserve it.
Eventually, the students finished up, and they filed out of the room, leaving their plates bare on the table. An army of serving maids came in and quickly whisked the plates away. Soon, it was just me, Initiate Rine, and his girlfriend Bellari left in the room.
He kissed her on the mouth, and then he stood up and moved towards me.
“Not him again,” Bellari said.
“I’ve been assigned to look after him,” Rine replied. “What can I do?”
“Please, just don’t get any of him on you. You know it’s not good for me. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” She kissed Rine on the lips again, and then rushed out the door.
Initiate Rine approached me, the sound of his footsteps echoing off the walls. “What are you looking so sad about?” he asked.
“Don’t you humans think cats always look sad?” I hadn’t known facts like this before I came to this world. But along with the language, the crystals had gifted me with a little knowledge of how humans think.
“You do,” Rine replied, “and I’ve never known why. So, did you manage to get any food out of anyone?”
“I didn’t feel like it,” I replied. “Besides, your girlfriend said no one was allowed to feed me. Aren’t I meant to be chasing rats or something?”
“Yes, about that. Don’t let Bellari get to you. She’s harsh sometimes, but once you get to know her she’s sweet, and she’s so beautiful, don’t you think?”
I blinked at Rine. “Are you really doing this?” I asked.
“What?”
“Apologising to me.”
Initiate Rine glanced over his shoulder towards the door. “I just thought you’d appreciate it.”
I meowed, and then I brushed my cheek against his trouser leg. It finally felt good to have some sympathy around here, and I thought that maybe if I could appeal to Rine’s soft side, maybe things would be a little easier. Plus, given how horrible his girlfriend had been to me, it made sense to get as much of myself on his clothes as possible. That would teach her a lesson.
He chuckled and then reached down and tickled me at the back of my neck. I rolled over on my back, and he rubbed my tummy. Maybe this boy wasn’t so bad after all.
“You know,” I said. “Maybe that Bellari girl isn’t as great a potential mate as you think.”
“I don’t think any of the other boys think that.” Rine winked at me.
“But what about the other one, Ange? I think she’s much more suitable. Her genes are better.”
Rine raised an eyebrow at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Think about it. Do you really want your children to grow up with cat allergies? You never know, first it might be cats, then dragons.”
“Don’t be stupid. No one’s allergic to dragons.”
“That’s what you think.”
He laughed again, then he lifted himself up and reached into a pouch on his hip. “You know, you’re quite entertaining. Say, I don’t usually do this. But seeing you over there, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for you.”
Out of the pouch, he produced a massive scrap of turkey, with the skin on it and all. I looked up at it and started meowing. He dangled it above my head, and I tried to bat it out of his hands with my paw. But he raised it out of reach whenever he saw me move.
Whiskers, it was so annoying when humans did that.
“Please,” I said. “I’m starving.”
“Okay,” Rine replied. “You said the magic word.” He dropped the turkey on the floor. I pounced upon it and tore it up into pieces with my tongue and my teeth. It tasted so good – the best meat I’d had for days. I don’t mean to say anything bad about Salanraja or anything, but she wasn’t much of a chef.
“Hey,” I heard someone call out from the doorway, and heavy footsteps stomped towards me. It was that horrible woman, Matron Canda. “I thought I told you not to feed the cats.”
Initiate Rine put his hands on hips and turned to her. “No,” he replied. “I believe what you said was not to let him eat off any of your plates. But look at this… He’s eating off the floor.”
“Fine,” Matron Canda replied. “Just hurry up out of here. I want to lock up and get a nap.”
It didn’t matter, because I’d pretty much finished eating. Initiate Rine shrugged, and I followed him out of the door.
28
Dormitory
It’s strange, I’d been so hungry back at the kitchen that I’d completely forgotten about that conversation Prefect Lars had had with his friends. But as I strolled with Rine through the corridors, at first looking up in pride as the boys and girls pointed at me and giggled, I started to feel guiltier and guiltier and I sank my head in shame. Like the mutton had previously, the turkey now left a sour tang on my tongue. Food just didn’t taste the same when you didn’t feel you deserved it.
Rine led me through the corridor and down a stone spiral staircase with steep steps into a dark corridor lit by lights that reeked of oil. By the time we reached the boy’s chambers, I found it hard to drag one foot in front of the other, I was so demotivated. My head, and my legs, and my stomach all felt like lead, and I wanted to curl up in a corner and have a good sulky sleep.
Initiate Rine took a key from his pouch. It was the size of his hand – much bigger than anything I’d seen my master and mistress use in South Wales. He put the key into a wide keyhole, and the door creaked open to reveal his dormitory room.
We stepped inside, and I started to explore Rine’s territory, sniffing out every nook and cranny, as you should when you first discover a new place.
One thing I could say about my old place in South Wales was it had so much room for running around in. Even the child’s bedroom had a nice armchair for scratching and a tall double bed I could hide under. But Rine didn’t have any of that.
His room was boxy and as soon as I felt the air flowing out from the darkness against my whiskers, I could taste the mould in there. He had a single bed, neatly lain with a woollen grey blanket. There wasn’t much else in the room except a bookcase, a small round table with a candle on it, a heavy wardrobe, and a rack for placing his staff. Rine took a match from a box on the table and lit the candle, suffusing the room in a warm flickering light.
“You don’t have a bathroom?” I asked.
Initiate Rine cocked his head. “The bathhouse is upstairs. But I thought cats hated water.”
“Not a bathhouse. A bathroom. You know, a place where you can have a shower but also go to relieve yourself.”
“The latrine’s down the corridor. But it’s for humans only.” Rine shut and locked the door.
“But where am I meant to go if I need to relieve myself? You don’t even have a litter tray.”
“Don’t tell me you need to go already? I would have thought you’d do so outside.”
I groaned, and then I found a spot under the table that looked suitable. I rubbed against the wall there to mark it with my scent, so I’d remember it later.
Meanwhile, Initiate Rine had opened the wardrobe and was rummaging around inside it. He threw a few clothes out onto the bed, and then he produced a second blanket, looking just as dull as the first. “Here. You can use this as a bed. I think it will be comfortable enough.”
I purred and brushed against his leg, and he reached down and stroked me. He then placed the blanket underneath the table. “Not there, for whisker’s sake,” I said.
“Why not?” I wanted to tell him that litter spots were meant for cockroaches, not cats. But I thought it wiser to keep my trap shut.
“Nothing,” I replied. “It’s just I prefer this spot by the wardrobe. It’s cooler, and I have less chance of burning to death if someone knocks that candle over.”
“And why might someone do that?”
“I don’t know… They might get a little bored.” I licked my paw.
“You’re a funny creature,” Rine said, and he kicked out the blanket with his foot and then shuffled it over to the place by the wardrobe. I yawned as I watched him iron out the creases with his foot. I was starting to see a new side to Initiate Rine, and I liked it. When he wasn’t showing off around the girls, he seemed to know how to care for cats. If I could only find a human like him outside of this castle, maybe I could have a good life in this world.
I found I was so tired that I just stepped over to the blanket, padded the creases back into it again, and then I lay down for an afternoon nap. I dreamed sweet dreams of running through a field of long grass towards Salanraja and then jumping on her back. She took off into flight and we sailed through the sky.
Part of me expected to see Astravar in every cloud we passed. I expected to hear his voice in my head and listen to him gloat about how he was summoning a demon dragon using the otherworldly rats that I killed for him. It was strange. Part of me felt that Astravar belonged in that dream. But he wasn’t there. It was almost as if someone was protecting me from him entering my mind.
Still, my guilt caused me to sleep fitfully. I woke to see that the candle had been extinguished. But I could still see in here, due to a little light spilling in beneath the bottom of the door. Initiate Rine lay in his bed, fast asleep. But now I couldn’t sleep, and so I looked around for something I could use to sharpen my claws.
I tried scratching at the blanket, but I didn’t like the way it felt. I tried the wardrobe, but the wood there was too solid for me to gain any traction. Same with the table, and the chair, and the rack for the staff I could only just reach the bottom of. It felt unnatural almost, as if everything in the room had been augmented with magic to make it undamageable.
A Cat's Guide to Bonding with Dragons Page 12
