Chapter 19
Lord Mitten followed the inner connection to his energy through the forest until he reached a large deciduous tree. The wire basket and its precious contents were safely wedged in one of the forks of the branches, which was hidden by the thick leaves.
He quickly jumped up the tree and made himself comfortable in front of the cage while a pair of eyes watched him. The little fox girl seemed to have woken up in the meantime. Hopefully only after landing.
It's me, little cub, Lord Mitten said reassuringly to the cub telepathically.
Don't worry, you're safe here. He spread the comforting blanket of golden energy further over the little monster child to reinforce his promise.
Golden almond eyes met blue beady eyes and silence spread for a brief moment until it was interrupted by the hooting of an owl.
Hoo-hooo Hoo-hooo
Infected by the plaintive call of the bird of prey, the fox girl began to whimper again.
WoOhH wooHhh!
He should have punished the two men directly, regardless of whether their behavior was legal or illegal, Lord Mitten decided at that moment. After all, the legal classification was irrelevant to the pain felt by the little creature.
He sighed and opened the door to the cage. What should he do with the fox girl now?
Hopefully the mother is still around and I can get rid of it quickly, Lord Mitten thought, eyeing the silver-white creature in front of him helplessly.
Thousands of years ago, he had made a conscious decision to be a bachelor and not have any offspring of his own. Young animals simply overwhelmed him, the mighty ex-Guardian, with their needs. He had always preferred to be the venerable uncle who appeared from time to time, gave presents to his friends' children and then disappeared again.
Come here, Lord Mitten finally said and let the vixen float out of the cage to him. At the same time, his magical energy spread out and searched the forest for a desperate mother.
Nothing.
I was afraid of this, he thought, grumbling. Arctic foxes had their territory in the icy north of the continent, many days' journey from his current location. The likelihood that the little one's mother had wanted a summer vacation to let the sun shine on her far too thick fur for that - close to zero.
What now? he thought, while the fox girl hovered in the air in front of him and continued to whimper.
We could just leave it here. Her mother is probably already looking for her and until she's found, she'll be fine herself! said the voice inside him, which was concerned to get through life with as little labor as possible.
Lord Mitten stared mentally at his work-shy part with non-existent raised eyebrows.
You don't believe that yourself, he replied dryly to the voice he usually liked to agree with, while he swept a snake from the tree that had approached the supposedly easy prey in the meantime. For the second time - snakes were terribly stupid animals. Given the choice, they had opted for venomous fangs instead of brains ages ago. A choice they would still regret today if they weren't too stupid for that.
We could dump it on Glacial Doom! After all, ice and ice go well together! replied the voice, which had not yet given up hope of being able to quickly rid itself of the unwelcome responsibility.
We won't be dumping anyone on Glacial Doom! Especially not a cub, Lord Mitten replied firmly and banned the voice from speaking for a day.
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I already lose enough friends through natural and less natural deaths. I'm definitely not going to scare off the few I still have myself.
He paused for a moment.
However, on further reflection, the idea actually had some merit.
Not the dumping, of course, no. Lord Mitten snorted briefly at the thought. But in fact, no one knew the Frost Mountains as well as its long-time inhabitant Glacial Doom. And perhaps she had already learned something about a missing fox child through her contacts. Or could find out something if he asked her to. She wouldn't turn down the request to help reunite mother and child. An idea worth pursuing, he decided with satisfaction.
But first he would have to take care of the little pile of misery.
Lord Mitten cleared his throat briefly to get the fox girl's attention.
Don't worry, I'll take you home again, he tried to reassure the cub telepathically. The little fox girl fell silent and looked at him with wide eyes.
Do you know where your mother is? he asked cautiously.
The young monster's face twisted again. Moooommmy!
Lord Mitten's left eyelid twitched.
Maybe it'll manage on its own after all, until —, he cut the thought off decisively.
He looked for the, admittedly underdeveloped, nurturing part of himself and asked it for help.
Shh, shh. I'll find your mama little cub. Don't worry, he assured the foxgirl again and wrapped her body tightly in the comforting energy blanket.
And you'll be safe with me until then.
Lord Mitten looked into his pocket dimension and cleared a small corner of the room. Shortly afterwards, a large golden cushion manifested there.
Do you trust me? he asked the fox girl.
She nodded hesitantly. M-hmm.
Wonderful. I have a place where you can rest for a while. I'm on my way to a town and it's easier to transport you in my pocket. When I get to my destination, I'll get you out again and we'll see, shall we?
The fox cub stared at him and Lord Mitten suspected that she had only really understood half of what he had said.
M-Hmm. Tha-Thank you, the fox cub answered him shyly.
Fortunately, the monster child seemed to agree with his suggestion, even if she didn't quite understand it.
That was a start, Lord Mitten thought contentedly, before he suddenly thought of a potential problem. Was his pocket dimension actually suitable for living creatures? It would be highly unpleasant if he were to lose a monster child in his care due to negligence.
He frowned.
Very unpleasant and embarrassing indeed!
After a quick check of the relevant indicators, he exhaled with relief. There was nothing standing in the way of his plan. He quickly invited the fox girl into his space before she changed her mind about the whole thing.
Lord Mitten sighed with relief when she materialized in his pocket dimension and lay down exhausted on the pillow to sleep.
And now for the solution to my fluffy little problem.
Lord Mitten once again released a small portion of his energy, this time connecting it to a fraction of his mental consciousness. The golden strand formed into a small swallow, which circled him once before settling on the cage.
With another thought, a small rolled-up scroll with a message to Glacial Doom materialized at one of its feet. Lord Mitten nodded to the swallow in satisfaction, whereupon it rose and flew swiftly away. The shard of consciousness would sufficiently empower the bird when it came to making simple decisions and show it the way to the dragoness.
Of course, the lifelike representation of a swallow and the scroll were not necessary to inform Glacial Doom. He could have just sent a magical blob. But magic was art, after all! And who would prefer a blob to an artistic energy being?
Nobody! thought Lord Mitten with conviction.
He didn't think much of mages who reduced magic to its pure utility. Where was the finesse? Where was the art?
I digress, Lord Mitten realized once again, while he noticed suspicious movements out of the corner of his eye. For the third time, he swept the unteachable snake from the tree, but this time he had taken the time to tie it into a knot.
Let's see if it learns anything from this. He was not overly optimistic.
The rest of the way to Minthral passed without further incident and soon Lord Mitten was standing in front of the city gates, looking at the high walls. At last.
It's impressive what humans are capable of building in just a few years, he thought appreciatively.
On the other hand —, the immortal part of him argued dryly, they didn't live too long either. So if they wanted to get something out of their own work, they would have to work at a faster pace, for better or worse.
Lord Mitten had a sneaking suspicion that the short-lived races might have a problem with his oldest self. It wasn't exactly sensitive when it came to the transience of some of Keleth's inhabitants.
On the other hand — it was right. Lord Mitten shrugged and turned his attention to more important matters.
He focused on the drop of energy he had attached to Kryll and followed it into the city. No one refused the inconspicuous tomcat entry and, fortunately for everyone, no one had the idea of teasing or petting it.