Chapter 25

Oh, what a wonderful feeling!

The longing for her distant home, the worry that she would never see her mother again - everything gave way to a deep calm that spread through her to the smallest cell.

"Mraaaaaaaawwwwww."

The last remnants of tension fell away from Myrim and a pleasant feeling of serenity spread through her.

She scratched her itchy ear vigorously with her hind paw and then followed her temporary provider into the hallway. The newfound security awakened her curiosity and thirst for adventure.

Myrim tilted her white-silver head to the side and turned her fluffy brush ears towards the mighty behemoth looming before her with interest.

“Mraawh?”

Her provider had already climbed the mighty back of the wooden creature and looked down at her with a questioning look.

Uncle Lawd!!! she called out telepathically. His left eyelid suddenly twitched at the address.

Funny! Myrim thought and called him again. Uncle Lawd!!! His eyelid twitched again.

"Teheeee!"

Yes, little one? Uncle Lawd finally replied. He sounded a bit like her mom when she woke her up from one of her naps to present her with one of her latest discoveries! The thought made her wistful for a moment, then it sank into the sea of serenity and she focused on the huge thing again.

A dragon?!

Is this a dragon? A brief smile played around Uncle Lawd's lips. He shook his head. No, Myrim. This is a staircase. A wooden staircase, mind you.

Wooden staircase? Myrim eyed the dark brown behemoth that stretched from the floor to the ceiling of the building. Because she was already a big girl, her mother had told her stories of dragons and other mighty monsters. In her imagination, huge creatures with long bodies like this one and mighty wings glided through the sky and —, Myrim paused and focused on the monstrous again.

No wings.

“Hrar,” she sighed in disappointment. She would have loved to meet a dragon! A real dragon like the one in the Frost Mountains that her mom sometimes told her about!

You can dream later, when we have a place to sleep. Come! Uncle Lawd brought her back from her reverie.

Myrim hurriedly followed him, who had turned his head forward again and continued to climb the mighty behemoth. She bravely jumped from neck vertebra to neck vertebra and finally reached the top herself.

“Raaaahhww!!!!!!!!!!!!” Myrim shouted triumphantly down into the dark corridor. She was met with silence and decided to take on the next challenge - unknown territory!!!

Uncle Lawd's whiskers twitched as he looked at her. He seemed to be amused by something.

'My Roar Is Mighty' indeed, he finally said, stepping into the long hallway.

“Wroh.” Myrim scratched her ear in satisfaction. She had lived up to her name, once again.

Fofoo nodded at her and grimaced. Was that a smile? Or a threat? Narrowing her eyes, she stared at her provider's subject. Human facial expressions were hard!

“Grouh,” she grumbled in frustration.

No tail, no ears and no whiskers!!! The first time she had seen a human, her eyes had almost popped out of her head!! How was it even possible to survive like this?!

She looked pitifully at Fofoo, who continued to bare his teeth.

Being human is hard, she thought, and decided to take good care of Uncle Lawd's subject in future. After all, he was a good human!!! Not like the bad humans!!!

The thought threatened to throw her off balance for a moment before it sank into the sea of serenity.

“Mraw.” Myrim nodded to Fofoo as well and then hurried after her provider.

Uncle Lawd!!! She looked into the empty hallway, no Uncle far and wide. She stretched her pink nose into the air to catch and follow the scent of her provider. But apart from old wood and stale air, she smelled nothing.

Myrim was confused. Every creature smelled, after all!!! She took another breath or two, her nose wiggling in the air, searching for the telltale scent of a monster.

Nothing.

Strange. Myrim scratched her ear again, deciding to rely on her hearing instead.

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She pricked up her fluffy brush ears and focused on the sounds they brought to her.

“Mraw!” She ignored the mice behind the walls, she would make time for the vermin later. Instead, she followed the sound of a licking tongue into one of the rooms off the long hallway.

Uncle Lawd!!! I found you! she giggled and jumped around the cat, who was cleaning himself extensively, wagging her tail. After two or three more laps, Myrim came to a halt and sat down next to him to groom herself as well. Every now and then she interrupted her grooming and looked over at him curiously. Finally, she asked the question that was burning on her mind.

Uncle Lawd - you don't smell at all!

“Huh?” The cat looked at her questioningly.

You don't smell at all! she repeated, slightly indignant. She found that highly unfair! What good was a good nose if some creatures had no smell! She looked pitifully in Fofoo's direction. So that's what it felt like when you couldn't rely on your senses.

Ah yes. That is indeed correct. Uncle Lawd smiled at her.

Wonderful that you noticed that, Myrim! A successful hunter does not question his senses, but goes in search of answers to anomalies.

“Tehee,” Myrim giggled.

Uncle Lawd was of the opinion that she was a successful huntress!!! Oh, Oh, she would show him HOW successful! With one ear she followed the tripping footsteps of the mice to their hiding place again. Tonight they would have a visitor!!!

“Teeheee.”

The thought made her smile and her pointed fangs emerged.

Uncle Lawd, Myrim will be the bestest huntress!! And the bestest watcher!! she said confidently. Don't worry about Fofoo. Myrim protects him!

Fofoo? Uncle Lawd looked at her questioningly.

Fofoo for Forbidden Food! She grinned proudly. Everyone needed a good name and she had come up with a good one for Uncle Lawd's subject! After all, his human name was far too short and meaningless!!

Forbidden Food? Uncle Lawd's whiskers twitched and his fangs emerged.

“Huh.” He grinned.

You have an excellent sense of humor, little one. Fofoo. Uncle Lawd shook his head.

Oh, Oh, if only mom were here to hear this! How proud she would —, her ear began to itch terribly again. Quick, scratch, scratch!

“Why are you scratching so vigorously?” Myrim looked up and gazed into two large golden eyes staring at her.

Uncle Lawd, it itches!!!

Her provider frowned. A moment later, she perceived with her magical senses how golden energy circled around her and wrapped itself around her like a warm blanket.

“Mraaaawh.” Cozy. Homely. Pleeaaasant.

“Oh.” Uncle Lawd's exclamation brought her out of her thoughts.

He had moved a meter away from her - when had that happened? - and looked at her with a complicated expression.

Uncle Lawd? she asked uncertainly.

Don't worry, Myrim - we will solve the problem quickly. But if I get my hands on these adventurers—, said Uncle Lawd, more to himself than to her.

He looked at her calmly.

You have fleas, Uncle Lawd grimaced briefly. You probably caught them from less reputable and unwashed creatures you met on the way here.

Fleas? Myrim became uneasy. What was that? Something bad?

Am I sick?

No, no. Nothing that can't be solved with a little magic and force, he reassured her. Just undesirable.

With a movement of his paw, the previously leisurely wafting energy started to move and ran through her fur. It brushed over her skin, grasping every loose flake of skin and embracing every single hair.

The itching subsided. At last.

Myrim sighed with relief.

The golden energy returned to Uncle Lawd's body as if nothing had happened. Only a small black pile on the ground was a reminder of the past few minutes.

Uncle Lawd looked at the pile with a wrinkled nose.

Disgusting. Small vermin with no added value other than serving as bird food.

These are fleas? Myrim approached the indefinable heap cautiously.

They were fleas, Uncle Lawd corrected her. Now it is biomass. And another item on Kryll's to-do list. If this goes on, we should ask for a bulk discount from the waste disposal companies.

“?lksj?dsksd#!?df.”

Fofoo stood in the doorway with the large candle in his hand and spoke to Uncle Lawd.

Her provider nodded and then turned to Myrim. There's enough space up here for everyone to have their own room. Look around and choose one.

A room of her own?!! She didn't even have her own room at home and had to share the space with her seven cousins!!

“Mraw!!!” Cheering, Myrim ran into the hallway to beat Fofoo to the search. Her first own room!!!!

*****

South of the Frost Mountains.

The vixen hurried through the forest. Relief, anger and worry alternated within her as she thought of her little cub. How alone it must feel right now, how frightened and insecure! She would not take a break until she had arrived. She had only one goal in mind - Minthral.