Chapter 4

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Chapter 4
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She paused in her tracks, swaying forward a bit from her sudden deceleration, but her balance was maintained by the extension of her tail. Her heart raced a little as her mind ensued a speedy race to make sense of the newcomer’s declaration.

“It couldn’t possibly be the same from my dream could it? But, this man isn’t a man at all! It could just be coincidence.“ she concluded, but she knew that a coincidence of that magnitude was highly doubtful.

“Are you well?” Draden inquired towards her with honest concern riddling his slitted eyes. “You look as if you were looking at the dead!”

“The dead?“ she paused, “That’s right, there was another person in my dream, Nathaniel, but he had sacrificed his own life for mine and Draden’s survival.”

“Not the dead, just a frightening future.” was her response. She spoke it quite softly and the sinking of the sun in the ocean of the sky did nothing to help the image of Cinthle’s foreboding expression.

“The future?” Draden inquired curiously, his ears perking up with interest. “Well that is no small matter we are discussing than!” he pondered a while as Cinthle remained motionless, staring blankly at some fallen leaves. “Come,” he volunteered a yellow hand out to her dark blue, “let us speak in more comfort.”

Cinthle’s head felt heavy upon her shoulders and she only lifted it high enough to make eye contact with the figure in front of her. She was about to accept his notion, had even put a hand out to take his, when she shrank back, ears folding down.

“How am I to trust you, a stranger to me, in such a time where I may bee seen as weak and feeble?” she asked him cautiously.

“Because I know the answers to your questions and I am presently the only one likely to give them to you.”

Cinthle looked at her surroundings noticing the truth that resided in his words. What choice did she have? She was alone and naive to this world. If had wished any ill will towards her he would have already done so. There were no witnesses to any crime that may be committed here, nor anyone that would respond to the cries of any unfortunate soul ensnared in some evil presence’s trap.

“I guess I have little choice then.” She observed to Draden as the last few minutes of sunlight were diverged by the gold parts of his coat. She marveled at his beauty internally, giving no audible comment for she was still slightly wary of him out of instinct, both new and human. The air grew cold, but her fur coat proved more than capable of warding off its bitter bite. A few stars started to dot into existence above the trees, winking between the few leaves that still clung to their perches. A few such leaves fell lazily and landed in the body of water that was beside Cinthle and Draden, causing small ripples to dance across its surface. The overall calm of the scene soothed Cinthle’s stressing mind and, after kneeling briefly to get a drink, put forth her hand to resume her acceptance of Draden’s invitation.

Draden flashed his sharp teeth in a quick grin. “Excellent! Just follow me then.” And then turned about quickly to continue on their journey.

“You still haven’t introduced yourself, by the way.” He commented with an inquiring look. Cinthle replied shyly, “Oh, my name is Cinthle.”

“That’s hardly an introduction,” was his curt reply as he turned his head back towards the path he was on, “But we will have time to exchange experiences soon enough.”

He continued to lead her through the forest’s depths to a place unknown to Cinthle, the familiarity of Draden’s name still echoing in her mind. They were traveling at a leisurely pace which allowed Cinthle to better examine and enjoy the wonders of the nature of her new home. She observed plants of every kind that you could imagine, all of which made their Earth counterparts drab and dull in comparison. Familiar and new varieties were introduced to her in extremely vibrant colors. After a time of observation and awe, she made a quick connection.

“It may not be that these plants actually contain more vibrant and extravagant colors, but that my eyes are livening the colors in a different matter than what I am accustomed to.”

She remarked at the intricate details that she was previously oblivious to. The tiny interweaving veins on the leaves, the visual texture of passing flower petals, or even the tree bark! Accompanying these sights were also extremely detailed smells. Everything seemed to have a specific smell uniquely defined by everything around it. She could hear every leaf rustle, every twig beneath her padded paws snap, even the faint stretching noise as week vegetation gave way to her long and graceful strides.

She looked up to the sky and encountered more stars than she cared to even start to think about counting. Spacious blue and dotted yellows covered the night sky spanning the whole horizon. This was the only indication to her that the night was even upon them, her eyes adjusting so precisely with the dark conditions that hardly any light was needed at all for her to see clearly at even great distances.

“So many new things about me” she thought to herself, looking down to her dark hands and clenching her fists while turning them at the wrists, stretching out her stressed tendons. With her attention elsewhere, she did not notice a large bramble sticking out from a small bush and, like the claws that their figure resembled, dug several shallow scratches into her right leg close to her paw. Cursing herself for her own insolence, she returned her gaze to the path in her wake, determined not to let the thorny vines catch her unawares once more.

The trip was overall not a cumbersome or tiring one, but the sight of Draden’s small encampment was a welcoming one indeed. It was nothing remotely luxurious for it only consisted of a single tent, a small extinguished fire, and a tree stump which could be used as a crude seat.

“Welcome to my humble abode!” Draden welcomed her as he slipped through the temporary home’s opening. He quickly emerged from the canvas doorway with a small kettle and some bread. He handed the latter towards Cinthle which she accepted gratefully. She didn’t realize how hungry she really was until the bread’s scent wafted up to her nose. She made quick use of the bread with her sharp teeth and strong jaws as Draden set the kettle down and started to get the small campfire going once again. She turned her attention elsewhere to take a quick glance at the stars overhead. She heard a faint crack and turned her gaze back towards Draden and was surprised to see his task completed and him humming contentedly to himself. Once everything was set, they got themselves situated beneath the wondrous night sky, both choosing to sit cross legged on the ground.

After a few minutes of silence from everything except for the melodic crackling of the fire and the soft laments of nature, Draden decided to start up a conversation again.

“So,” he started, shifting his attention from the kettle he had placed on the fire back towards Cinthle, “what business brings you so far, and alone might I add, into the Karakaen Forrest?” he asked her.

Cinthle tried to come up with some reasonable excuse without exposing the true details, but in spite of her best efforts she felt that no matter what she told Draden, he would see its transparency. She decided that her best option would to just tell him the truth of her situation.

“Besides, what have I to loose by telling him what has actually happened to me? My dignity?” she scoffed at herself, “I am already sitting nude before him! Besides, he is the only person I have met. For all I know, this kind of phenomenon could be a meager mundane type of occurrence!”

She reasoned that her conclusion was a valid one and proceeded to describe to Draden, in full detail, the accounts of that day. From start to finish she was only interrupted once; by the noisy whistling of Draden’s steaming kettle. He poured himself a quick cup of whatever was inside and offered some to Cinthle. She did not know the contents of the drink so she politely declined his offer. Once they had settled on the grass once more, she continued her recount.

Most of the detail naturally went into her dream than the present day, except of her acknowledgment of her transformation that is, because of the importance the dream seemed to have. After her story was spent she fell silent, looking Draden in the eyes for the first time since she had commenced her tale. They sat there for a small amount of time, Cinthle looking towards Draden, awaiting his response. Draden inhaled a long breath and turned his focus to her.

“You have told me much that any normal person would not believe, but the truth of what you say is witnessed by me in your eyes. Besides, “he continued to reason, “you have no profit to gain from telling such things falsely.”

Cinthle was more relieved than surprised that Draden had taken her words for the truth that they were. She was just happy that he didn’t think her a fool, and that she might be able to call him her first friend in this world.

Draden flashed a sharp grin at her obvious relief. “But if what you explained in you dream is correct, than you have a great gift and a dark curse.” Cinthle grew solemn as Draden continued his explanation. “You have what we call the gift of The Present Future. Sometimes this gift if permanent, but usually it comes and goes with the natural presence of dreams and fantasies. Those that are truly gifted in this topic are able to conjure images of the future in their conscious state. Although the future may be told,” he informed her, “the future is not always solidified upon one outcome, for the knowledge of the future in itself changes that future.”

This fact gave Cinthle much to think about. Now knowing the future told in her dream, she may be capable of changing the terrible outcome. She was also relieved that she may not have the “gift” permanently. Cinthle enjoyed the mysteries of life and thought it wrong to have that mystery solved before its time was ripe.

The moonlight made her coat shine with an eerie light and her eyes shimmer with the troubles kept behind them. She shifted her legs as they began to cramp from staying in one position for too long. Draden did likewise, but stood up and went to obtain some more of his mysterious drink. As went to sit back down next to Cinthle, he noticed that one of her legs was scratched and dotted with a small amount of her blood.

“What ill will has befallen unto you leg?” he questioned her, pointing a finger towards her right paw. She followed his finger to the spot he was indicating and saw her miniscule injury. “Oh, I just scratched it a little on the way here. I had gotten preoccupied with looking at the stars and neglected what was lying in front of me.” She replied, feeling foolish for her small blunder.

“Well an injury is an injury and left unattended, even a small one, can result in unpleasant circumstances so I will need to heal it.” He informed her.

He made to approach her, reaching out his right arm towards her shallow scratches. He opened his palm, fingers spread apart and his arm flexed. His eyes seemed to burst into bright yellow and white flame as a small thin jolt of lightening arced from his palm to the base of her leg. If she had been given time, Cinthle would have jumped away from the terrifying sight, but the whole instant was over just as quickly as it had started.

After the startling ordeal was over, Draden looked towards her, puzzled by her reaction. “Are you alright Cinthle?” he asked in a concerned tone as he reached out a hand to comfort her. She tensed at the contact, fearful that what she had witnessed may happen once more, but her fear was proven false as his hand reached her shoulder with no accompanying shock. His eyes were his regular bright shining gold and his nose twitched slightly. Cinthle’s whiskers still buzzed from the electricity in the air as she asked Draden with a quavering tone, “What happened?”

At first Draden didn’t quite understand her question and after realization hit, he responded with a sudden chuckle. The chuckle steadily grew into a hearty laugh, his teeth flashing their bright white in the moon’s light as his shoulders shook. “What is so amusing?” Cinthle asked him, quite confused.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha!!! I… I’m sorry Cinthle.” he responded. He struggled to control himself and, after a minute more, sat quietly with an amused smile still crossing his muzzle. “I should have remembered, but I didn’t. I did no harm to you at all, in fact I just healed your scratches.”

She knew he was avoiding her direct question, but her curiosity got the best of her as she let her eyes go down to where her scratches were. Needless to say, she was quite surprised to find that the scratches had vanished, and that her fur had no trace of blood upon it.

“Wha-?” was all that she could muster out in her surprised state. She looked back to Draden once more as he explained, “I forgot that you were new to this world,” he twirled his left hand about indicating their surroundings, “so it must have been quite a surprise to you, what I just did.”

She let out a low growl, surprising herself and Draden, “All right Ill cut my talk to my point. I used Fenrah to heal you.”

Seeing her clear confusion, he decided to use a layman’s term instead. “Magic.” He stated bluntly.