The table shook as the lion-man ran into it and slammed his paws down hard on top. The trio at the table were knocked back a few steps, and Osric cowered down and started shaking. This left Tobi the dwarf to square off against the giant lion. You could see the fear in the young dwarf’s eyes, but he gritted his teeth and took a step toward the towering beast, swinging his small blade.

“No! Stop!” the beast cried, sticking out his paw and placing it on Tobi’s head. His reach was so long he was able to keep the dwarf at arms length as he swung the knife. He turned to the others who were regaining their footing. “What am I?” he yelled at them. “I need help!”

Mathias adjusted his spectacles again to get a better look. “What are you?” he asked, quizzically. “You don’t know?”

The lion was still breathing heavily from his sprint, his eyes wide in horror. He opened his mouth to speak, but then Tobi got smart and drove his knife upward into the lion’s forearm. The beast let out the roar of a lion as he screamed in pain and stepped back, holding onto his arm.

Tobi made as if to charge after his foe, but before he could Lena stepped forward and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “What in the hell did you do that for?” she asked Tobi angrily, gesturing at the lion who was now hunched over and staggering around in pain.

“Ain’t never seen anythin’ like it!” Tobi yelled, trying to get her to let him go.

Lena sighed. “So we’re attacking strangers now?”

“Well… yeah! When the stranger is a fuckin’ lion!”

“He’s speaking native, you imbecile, calm down!” Mathias said sharply to Tobi as he stepped forward to try and calm the lion down enough to look at him. He held up his hands to show he meant no harm. “Friend!” he said, barely audible over the lion’s roars. “Friend! I am a healer! Please, let me have a look.”

The lion calmed down enough to let Mathias approach. “Ow! Ahh! Youch! Tell me you’ve got some magic in the dinky little satchel, old man!”

Mathias chuckled. “Not that kind of healer, friend. The magic kind tend to lurk in the dungeon kingdoms in the service of the Dungeon Lords. Especially now with the war going on.”

The lion held out his arm for Mathias to look at, still groaning from the pain. “Service of the what?”

Mathias reached into his satchel for some silverbane sap and a bandage to fix up the wound. Though his head was down, he looked up questioningly at the lion-man. “Dungeon Lords. Those in charge of the underground kingdoms. You… you aren’t from around here?”

The lion winced as Mathias pulled the sleeve of his tunic back to reveal the wound. “I…uh…I’m not sure,” the lion answered half-heartedly.

“Interesting. And what’s your name?” Mathias asked as he popped open the vile and dipped out some sap to put on the wound.

The lion let out another roar and Mathias pushed the sap into the wound. “I… don’t seem to know that either.” At this Tobi calmed down from behind Matias, and Lena set him down. Osric finally stood from his cowering position, and the three of them listened intently to the exchange happening before them.

A sad look fell over Mathias’ face. “Can you bend your head down real quick, friend?” As the lion got down into a kneeling position and leaned forward, Mathias ran his hand through the long, fluffy mane. He felt a clump of matted hair near the back and felt a lump. The lion winced when he touched it. When Mathias pulled his hand away, it was covered in crimson. Mathias heard Osric whimper behind him.

“You’ve had quite a head injury, friend, which explains the memory loss. Obviously the least of your worries at the moment, being a lion and all,” Mathias quipped, half smiling. The lion didn’t seem to find this funny. “What should we call you?” he added as he went back to the task of bandaging the lions forearm.

The lion just looked at him and shrugged, swaying a little bit from all the pain he was in. Mathias thought it to be a sad look on the creature’s face, though he couldn’t tell for certain. “Hmm, that’s better,” he said, finishing the bandage. “No more attacking our friend here!” he snapped, looking back at Tobi. “Our friend… Leo?”

The lion shrugged. “Not very original, but as good as anything else.

“Great!” exclaimed Mathias. “Now, if you would be so kind, my dear Leo, and come back to the office so we can get a look at that head of yours?”

Leo nodded and started to follow Mathias, when a loud yell rang out. There was a loud crash, and Leo collapsed to the ground. “Ayyaaa!” screamed Thora. In all the commotion they hadn’t noticed her step back outside carrying a large metal cauldron they used to make soup in. Hearing the commotion of people outside, it appeared that she had glimpsed the creature bounding down on them and grabbed the cauldron to attack.

Looking back at the door, Thora spoke to the shocked looking patron in the gray cloak who had followed her out. “What’s up, dark and broody? I just saved your life!” The man gave a wide-eyed look towards the lion and glanced at the others standing around him, before bolting off around the corner of the tavern.

“Thora! What the fuck was that?” Tobi yelled at her, gesturing towards the giant, unconscious Leo on the ground. Thora just stood there, looking all the bit of the daughter who has just been loudly scolded by her father.

“Like daughter, like father,” said Lena, “You weren’t any better, you big oaf!” Lena stepped forward and bent down to examine Leo. “This poor creature has no memory, Thora, and your father stabbed him in the arm. Doesn’t look like his head will be getting better anytime soon.”

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“Aye,” said Mathias, bending down to check on their new friend. “Now who wants to tell me how we’re going to get a large, unconscious lion-man back to my office?”

Some time later, after quickly retrieving the death cart from Mathias’ office and hauling Leo up in it and back to the office, the group found themselves in the brightly lit healer’s office. They had worked as quick as they could to bring him here, covering the cart with a tarp for the trek back to the office, as the town had started to come back out from the church with curious, probing eyes, wondering what had happened to the beast. Tobi had gone back to tending the tavern, Osric had gone back to his farm to catch what was left of the day’s good light, and Lena had excused herself to go back to the woods and gather a more moonshade to make more of her famous healing potions. They worked wonders on physical wounds, and their new friend was sporting many.

In the office, three cots were spread out on which patients could sit or lie as Mathias ministered to them. A fire was roaring in the fireplace next to a long table full of cabinets and storage boxes where Mathias kept all of his herbs and medicines. Beyond this table was a staircase that led up to Mathias’ bedroom, and beyond that a ladder that led up to the rooftop study Mathias always bragged so much about.

Down in the first floor patient area, they had to push two cots together in order to lay Leo down, as he was such a wide beast. Mathias directed Thora to tend the fire and get some water boiling so they could clean the lion’s wounds. She had felt guilty for knocking the poor beast out, and had volunteered to stay and help him with his recovery.

“Where do you supposed he’s from?” asked Thora. “I’ve never seen anything like him.”

Mathias was bustling about his herb drawers, trying to find a draught that may help wake Leo up so they could find out more about him. “No one has seen anything like him, Thora. Least ways not in this lifetime. Magic like this hasn’t existed for centuries.” He glanced sideways at her to see how she reacted to this news. He could see she was looking concerned. “He came down from way of the mountain. No doubt related to that green flash last night. Magic,” he said in a serious monotone. “And trouble,” he added, shaking his head as if agreeing with himself.

Thora examined Leo closely for the first time as he lie there. He wore a splendid blue tunic with gold embroidery, and a brown fastening ribbon. His fluffy mane overflowed down the top of the tunic, so she couldn’t tell if he wore any necklace bearing a dungeon symbol under all that fur. His arms sported leather bracers, and out of the bracers where there should have been paws, were furry, beast-like claws that still seemed to function like a human hand. His brown pants led down to what used to be boots. Now they had fur puffing out of the top of the boot, and the claws had appeared to forcefully push their way out the toe of the boot. Though he had lion paws for feet, his legs were still straight like a person.

Leo gave out a groan as Mathias had pried his mouth open and dumped the draught he had found down his throat.

“Poor thing,” Thora said, reaching out and grabbing his paw. “I feel so bad for him.”

Mathias chuckled. “You of all people should, you’re the one who gave him a second lump on the head.” She frowned at this. Mathias glanced over at the fire to check on the water. “Thora, the water, dear. Can you grab it?”

Thora turned and grabbed the cauldron of water by the handle and lifted it off the hook, bringing it closer to the bed. Mathias readied his rags as he waited for the water to cool enough to touch, and watched as Leo came around. Finally, when the lion opened his eyes to look around, Mathias was able to dip the rag into the water.

“Stay still, my friend. I need to clean your head wound,” Mathias said as he pulled the dripping rag out and walked around to the head of the cots.

“Wha… What happened now?” Leo asked, looking around the room, dazed.

“Well,” said Mathias, “our dear Thora over here thought you were a hideous, monstrous beast and clobbered you upside the head with a cauldron, much like the one she has right over there on the ground. So best to be on your best behavior around her.”

“Thought I was a hideous beast?” Leo jested lightly. “Wonder what gave her that idea?”

Thora leaned into Leo’s line of sight. “I’m so sorry, sir. I thought I was protecting my andre and his friends. We’ve never seen anything like you.”

“Imagine my panic when I saw myself,” Leo said, letting out a half laugh, half slight roar. “What is this place? Ouch!”

Leo winced and Mathias dug the rag in a bit deeper to clean out the bloody head wound. “My office. As I stated before your last unfortunate incident, I am a healer. And by the way, you don’t happen to remember your name or where you’re from, now do you?”

The lion paused for a second before he answered. “I…uhh… no, nothing.”

“Hmm… was hoping that second jolt to the head would have at least jogged something, but apparently brute force isn’t the cure for your amnesia,” said Mathias.

There was a creaking noise from the stairs and they all turned to look, but nothing was there. “Ahh,” said Mathias, “those valley winds have this old place creaking all the time, nothing new.”

Thora nodded in agreement, as the bar always gave eerie creaks at night when she was closing it down for the day and she was there all alone. “Mathias says you came from the mountain. Did you see the green light last night? Is that why you’re like this?” she felt his mane as she spoke.

Again, Leo took a pause. His head hurt something fierce and trying to think about what he remembered hurt it even more. “I… the only thing I remember is waking up next to a tree. There was a rock slide nearby, so I assumed I’d slide down the mountain. Imagine my surprise when I held my hands out and saw these giant claws,” he held them up to show them. “I bolted to a nearby creek and looked in the water… the beast was staring back at me… I was staring back at me.”

“So you weren’t always a beast?” asked Thora. “You remember that?”

“Yeah. I’m definitely supposed to be human, or at least my mind thinks so. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been such a shock, right?” Leo looked as though he was lost, and Thora felt bad for him.

“Almost done here,” said Mathias, reaching for a bandage for Leo’s head wounds. “Thora dear, a little more water before I stitch him shut, please.”

Thora quickly raised the cauldron, and then dropped it in shock as something metal zinged off the side. The cauldron hit the ground with a loud thunk and water splashed up. They all looked down and saw a dagger laying next to the cauldron on the stone floor. They all looked in the direction it came from, and saw a shadowy figure standing on the stairs.

In an instant the figure jumped over the railing and bolted towards Mathias, another dagger already in hand. Mathias yelped as the dagger made a cut across his right cheek. Leo made to get out of the bed, but by the time he made a move, the water cauldron went sailing through the air and down on top of the assailant’s head. The figure didn’t even utter a sound as he dropped to the ground, but his dagger did as it fell from his hand and clattered across the stone ground.

“Assassin!” Mathias hissed, spitting on the man’s body, and standing up. He feelt the red hot blood pouring down from his cheek. “That dagger was aimed at you my friend,” Mathias said pointing at Leo with his reddened finger.

Leo sat up on the cot and slowly made his way over to the figure sprawled out on the ground. He didn’t recognize who it was, but even if he’d known him in the past, he wouldn’t know who he was now either way.

“Oh no,” said Thora, setting down the cauldron. “Dark and broody! How could you?” She recognized the patron in the gray cloak from the bar.

“Apparently our friend Leo here isn’t the only newcomer to town,” said Mathias. “And you,” he said pointing at Thora. “If we ever find ourselves in a war, dear, remind me to make sure you have a cauldron to fight with.”