The seven trolls outside with spears slowly finished and stood in a line. Vulug walked up and down the line inspecting each of the spears. Some had carvings in them, others kept theirs plain. Two stood out. Horza and the guy who stood next to her. I assumed that was her brother, Dorz. I noticed their weapons and kept glancing back at them even though I tried to look away. It was weird.

Vulug eventually nodded and turned back toward the shop. My eyes widened, and I quickly made my way back to the counter. The cat had beaten me and he sat on top of it. “Is it time for the magic now?”

The cat nodded. “Get your brush ready. You will need to coat the tip of each spear. I will do the actual magic.”

The crock of paint was still on the counter and I moved over to the brushes that were in the place Betty was usually. Footsteps sounded near the door and I quickly grabbed a towel and a brush.

The trolls were all lined up one behind the other holding their spears with the butt to the ground. The first one stepped up and held out his weapon. I looked to the cat, who nodded. I dipped the paintbrush into the bright blue paint and slowly coated the pointed tip. The blue seemed to soak quickly into the blackened wood. The gold flecks had seemed to vanish. Once it was covered, Vulug and the one holding the weapon both whispered something as the cat touched it with his nose.

A bright white light flashed. The tip of the spear now had two gold lines running down the point on opposite sides of each other. The troll grinned. “It is done.” The cat nodded in response and the now-blessed warrior walked out of the shop. The next troll in line waited until they were out of the room before stepping forward. We repeated the ceremony four more times. Then it was the two siblings, Dorz and Horza, who were last.

This time when he held out his weapon the cat moved before I could. He sniffed at the point and all the trolls froze. He didn’t touch it but the swirls he had carved in a ring around the tip glowed as the cat hovered. “Paint it,” whispered the cat in my mind.

I carefully painted the tip of the spear, as the trolls whispered to themselves. The cat then touched it. Once the bright light fled, I gasped. The gold wasn’t just in two lines, instead it had spread to the swirls the young troll had carved. Dorz smiled widely at the cat and his gaze moved to Vulug, who nodded at him. He turned to leave the room and paused at his sister. He said nothing, but a look passed between them. They both seemed to be so happy.

Once he was gone Horza stepped forward. She had carved two distinct rings around the top part of her spear. One was like her brothers but the other was more geometric, like a band. Below that was a cord of what had to be leather wrapped three times around the wood and a string of 3 wooden beans dangling from the end. Words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself. “What do the carvings mean?”

Horza hesitated before she answered. “The first ring is for the magic of my bloodline, of my father. The second is the one I earned from winning the games at the clan gathering.” She paused then continued, “The beads are for my mother.”

I nodded like all of that made sense and held out the brush. While we were talking the cat had sniffed at the spear. He nodded to me. Again I painted the tip with the blue concoction. The cat touched it with his nose. This time the gold filling the designs didn’t shock me. What did was that the wooden beads had turned the deep blue of the paint. Yet Horza was frowning, and Vulug seemed confused as well.

“But my brother has the shaman magic?” asked Horza.

“You both have the potential,” answered Vulug. “You both are still in the running.”

Horza slowly left the shop after shooting a glance at the cat, but he didn’t respond. Vulug hung back.

“Could both of them be shamans?” asked the elder.

The cat took his time responding. “As you said, they both have the potential for strong magic from their father.”

“The clan won’t like this. We can only have one shaman.”

“So, only one can be the shaman? Why does it matter if they both have magic?” I asked.

Vulug shook his head but didn’t respond as he left the shop. The door stayed open behind him.

“Is that all?” I asked.

“No, they will go on the hunt and return. Hopefully, one will be a shaman and our duty will be done.”

“And if not?”

“Then this will repeat each year until they do.” The cat jumped off the counter. “How about lunch, while we wait?”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Wait, lunch? How can you be thinking about food? Who is going to be the shaman?” My voice carried after the cat into the kitchen but he didn’t respond. I rolled my eyes and walked after him. Having the door open made me nervous, and suddenly I heard it close with the rattle of the bells.

“Thank you!” Sometimes the cat was a nice guy.

#

Lunch was okay. I decided against anything fancy and I made hot dogs. If I knew how to roast meat, I would have roasted meat to keep with the theme, but hot dogs were the closest that I could do. I set one hot dog in its bun on a plate for the cat.

“What do you want on it?” I asked.

The cat stared at it. “What is it?”

“A hot dog… Tubed meat with a bread bun,” I continued, “I usually put ketchup, mustard, and relish on mine. If I was being fancy, I would have made chili and melted cheese.”

The cat stopped staring and sniffing at the hot dog to turn and look at me. I was pretty sure that was his confused face. “Do whatever you do.”

“Okay.” I grabbed the condiments and copied what was on my two hot dogs. I couldn’t bring myself to put two of them on his plate. “Eat up.” My stomach growled, and I started eating my first hot dog, but I tried to monitor the cat. He took a bite out of the end of the hot dog. He didn’t get any of the bun but he got mustard on his nose. I kept eating my lunch to remain quiet.

He didn’t eat like a normal cat. He’d take a bite and it would be gone, no chomping, nothing like that. It wasn’t even like a human where you chew. Just a bite, and it vanished immediately. My brain hurt watching him so I glanced away to finish my food.

“Hot dogs are okay,” stated the cat loudly. I took a sip of my water. His plate was clean and he must have cleaned up his face already since the mustard was gone. “Better than your breakfast.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I motioned to the front of the store. “How long is this going to take?”

The cat tilted his head to the side. “It depends on how long they take to find one of the big animals they hunt.” I glared at him. “Fine, it should be soon. We shouldn’t be here more than a few hours more.”

I leaned back on the stool careful to not fall over. “How do you know where we need to go?”

“It is part of my job.” The cat moved on the counter so his back was to me and he was facing the entrance to the hallway and then the store. “We should go back to the counter.”

If he thought that was going to stop my questions he had another think coming. I put both of our plates in the sink and then finished my water. A pitcher of iced tea was in the fridge and I filled my glass with that. It was my only caffeine source since my poor espresso machine was gone. I made my way to the front of the store and the door was open. The cat was sitting in the chair by the window and I moved to the door.

“So, how did you get the job?” I asked the cat.

The cat shuddered. “I will not speak about this. Do not ask me again.” His voice was icy and I couldn’t help but shiver. The store darkened, and I heard a shout from outside the door. Peeking outside, I saw a line of trolls marching toward the store. They were a distance away but many of them were dragging a large sled behind them.

“Ah, the hunt was successful.” Every trace of coldness was gone and the normal cat was back in place.

“Can you see that far?” I couldn’t make out faces, only that it was a large group.

“They killed the animal, and they partially butchered it. They will need to finish that tonight.”

“What about the siblings? Are they different?” My curiosity was bubbling inside me. I needed to know more. Then again, what happened to the curious cat? I peeked back at the cat. Did his curiosity get him in trouble?

The cat took a moment to respond. “They are both near Vulug and have been painted. You will need to ask.”

“Painted?” I leaned forward and ran smack into the barrier that prevented me from leaving. I jerked back, stumbling. My nose hurt, but at least didn’t break. I had misjudged by a few inches.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine,” I grumbled rubbing my nose. By the time I moved back to the doorway, the trolls were much closer. Vulug marched toward the door and I jumped back to give him space. The cat sat next to me, near my feet. Vulug entered with a giant smile.

“The hunt was a success! We have a shaman and 6 new warriors.”

“That is success indeed, Vulug.”

“Who is the shaman?” I asked.

“Dorz is a shaman. His sister has talents but decided that she will focus on being a great leader for our people. We will paint stripes on her horns. They all fought bravely.”

“This is it then,” said the cat. That drew my attention. “This is farewell.”

Vulug’s eyes narrowed. “I invite you, cat, and the shopkeeper to the great gathering next year when we present our shaman to the clans. I name you guests of honor and honor must be fulfilled.”

The cat said nothing, only bowed his head. Vulug gave me a nod and then strode out of the shop. I caught a glance of Horza, her arm wrapped around her brother's shoulders, both laughing at something. Then the door closed. I blinked, and it was gone.

“Cat?” I hadn’t seen a shift before, where the store moved. Outside the door was a street now, nothing like the campfire and gathering of trolls. The cat still had his head bowed, and I crouched down on the floor. “Hey, cat…” I ran a finger along one of his ears and he trembled. Something the troll had said did this. Without thinking about it, I scooped him up in my arms.

“We will figure it out… Don’t worry.”

It only took a few moments before he jumped back down out of my arms. “That is done. Tomorrow will be another day.”

As he walked off, I knew that there was a lot more to this than just a magical bookshop. Even if that was saying a lot. And despite the fact that the cat was sometimes annoying, I wanted to help him be at least a little happier when I could. Somehow.