It came from all around him. No, he corrected himself. It came from within. From within him. Soft and warm it was, with a fragrance of old fireplaces and hot stoves, of running water splashing in a sink and food baking in an oven, of well-worn furniture and fresh linen. It was the essence not of house but of home—which, as those who are privy to such secrets know, are two entirely different things.
Behind him, within the ardent radiance that emanated from himself, the abode of Susnam Evyndd was restoring itself. Curtains and walls, carpets and floors, windows and collapsed chimneys, all became as they once had been, reborn from the depths of his dog soul and memory. When all was at last once again as it once had been, his jubilant companions padded and slithered and hopped over to rejoin him.
"I don't understand." Oskar was gazing in astonishment at the miraculous resurrection he had unaccountably wrought. "What happened? What did I do?"
"It's an enchantment that resides within your transformed self," Mamakitty told him. "I thought it might be so. Don't you understand, Oskar? It's a thing you keep safe within you at all times. I heard the Master say it often, always with sincerity and feeling. 'Home is where the dog is,' he used to say."
"So we have a home again. That's a good thing." Cocoa gazed in contented astonishment at the reborn dwelling.
"You all do," Taj agreed, "but what about me?"
Mamakitty considered the vigorously radiating firebird, at once new legend and old friend. "You do present a problem, friend Taj. I don't think your old cage would suit you, and I don't believe I could sleep comfortably within a house knowing that you were dozing above me on a wooden and flammable roof. Surely we can find you a nice, cozy, incombustible cave that connects to the main cavern in the rocks and exits separately to the outside."
The firebird nodded sagely. When it did, flecks of flame fell like shorn whiskers from the underside of its blazing beak. "That should do me well enough. Speaking of doing, what are we to do with ourselves, now that we have carried out the Master's wishes and restored color to the Gowdlands?"
"Time enough to decide such matters." Cezer yawned enormously, his great leonine jaws gaping wide. "I'm not concerned with the immediate future, since I intend to spend it sleeping and eating. And maybe doing other things long put off." He lifted an eyebrow in Cocoa's direction. For once, she did not respond with insult or sarcasm. Observing the eye contact and correctly interpreting its significance, a host of conflicting emotions rushed through Oskar. He fought down the choking sensation in his throat. Magic or no, some things were not destined to be. Love was one intangible even the strongest sorcery could not always put right.
"Odd as it may sound, I think Cezer is correct." Mamakitty inspected the renewed edifice approvingly. "We can't exactly go wandering into the nearest village in these bodies. Perhaps, with time and careful perusal of Master Evyndd's restored store of knowledge, we can learn how to switch more efficiently between our animal natures and our human selves." Tilting back her head, she began to yowl.
It was a striking ballad of joy and triumph that she sang, one famous among cats. Cezer and Cocoa joined in. So did Samm, hissing euphoniously, his metronomically weaving head keeping time to the music. Taj, of course, had no difficulty participating, individual bursts of fire bursting forth from his throat as he warbled sonorously, singing fireworks as well as harmony, a veritable symphony of light and sound unto himself.
It was only when Oskar joined in, throwing back his head and letting out a piercing, crockery-rattling howl, that the others hastily ceased their chanting. The wolf-dog had always been able to carry many things, but a tune was not among them.
In addition to matters of the heart, there are some things even great magic cannot fix.
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Kingdoms of Light Page 35
