Deep in the forest, a small child collapsed, weeks of hunger and exhaustion eating at her feeble frame. Everything in these woods wanted nothing more than to kill and eat her, and with every passing moment the hope left her spirit. She lay in the leaf litter, face pressed against wet leaves, eyes on the verge of tears. It was hopeless. Her vision darkened around the edges and her breathing shallowed, what little will to live remaining slipping away.
Before she could take her last breath, soft, warm hands held her sides and a canteen of water perched at her lips.
A grandmotherly voice sounded in her ear, “Get up, girl. Life is not meant to be lived in fear.”
The child moved to rise, weak limbs struggling with every ounce of strength left in them before going limp. The warm hands caught her, and the voice said, “Rest. I will take it from here.”
For the first time in weeks, the child felt safe. In seconds she snored, deeply asleep.
Years later, that child sat in a room with the same old woman who had rescued her in the forest. The woman stood in front of a chalkboard and the child sat with a dozen peers, each of them dutifully scribbling on a slate. Light filtered in through the windows, illuminating the old woman, standing strong as an oak as she lectured.
“Knowledge must be defended. The Demon seeks knowledge, not to spread, but to destroy. If he has his way, we will be thrust even further backwards. We must not let that happen. At every turn, we must be there to oppose him.”
The classroom dissolved in inky splotches, replaced by visions of the same girl but older, fully realized as a warrior. She stared at a man standing opposite her, face trembling, on the verge of crying or screaming and unsure which to do. The man shook his head slowly, missive held lightly in his hands, and spoke. “The Demon’s newest lieutenant. I’m sorry. He’s your —“
The Seeker woke in a cold sweat. The dreams were becoming more frequent and more vivid. She stared at the cold ashes beside her, back pressed up against Yakhai. Her distressed psyche took comfort in the warmth emanating from his large, goat-like form.
She tried to fall back asleep, but failed, dreams churning over and over in her mind. Relighting the fire for warmth, she took to cleaning and cooking the bird she had caught earlier, setting it to roast over the fire. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a glow peeking out from behind debris in the crust. The glow ebbed and flowed, pulsing in a constant rhythm. A low buzzing noise accompanied it, sounding in time with the light.
Alarm bells went off in her head and she scrambled for Yakhai’s saddle, drawing her sword from it in one smooth motion, eyes never leaving the glow. Sword drawn, she approached, stopping a good dozen feet from the source of the glow. Never could be too careful with glowing things.
“Emerge slowly, fiend.” The Seeker called out.
A cat, coming up nary to the woman’s ankle, crept slowly from its hiding spot. Movements slow and smooth, it slid along the ground, eyes locked on the Seeker’s. It purred as it moved, skin pulled tight over its ribs, shaking mightily with every purr. The Seeker’s sword tip followed the cat, and she backed up as the little creature came out. Killing it then and there was the right thing to do, anything associated with the glow too dangerous to leave alive. Yet, she hesitated. Stories from her childhood floated to the front of her mind. Stories of Ahm Peer’s radiant feline priests.
“Hello, Seeker.” The cat spoke in a lilting, playful tone.
“Hello, cat. How do you speak?” The Seeker stood guarded, sword tip unwavering.
“With my mouth, Seeker. May I approach? I am cold and hungry, and the warmth of your fire is alluring.” The cat said as it crept forward, coming ever closer to the sword tip.
The Seeker stood stock still, thoughts racing before lowering her sword and returning to Yakhai, who sat observing the interaction placidly. “You may sit on the opposing side of the fire, but come no closer. I know well the danger of the glow.” Her sword slid back into its sheath on the saddle.
“Thank you, Seeker, but I assure you, my form poses no harm to you.”
“I would like to believe you, but I will not put myself at risk on your assurances, newly acquainted as we are.” The woman sat back down against Yakhai, blanket pulled up over her legs. She addressed the cat, “What shall I call you?”
“You may address me as Rebecca. How shall I refer to you?”
The woman paused, as if unsure of how to respond. Eventually, she shook her head and said, “Seeker will suffice.”
A shark fin of fur stood up on the feline’s back. She turned her head to the side and licked a paw with distaste. “Poor etiquette, Seeker. Asking for my name first and refusing to give your own is mightily uncouth.”
The woman flushed, eyes darting to the side. She started to speak but stopped, unsure of how to proceed. Starting again, she said. “I apologize, Rebecca, but the reason I did not give you a name is because I do not have one.”
Eyes widening, the cat nodded. “Apology accepted, and allow me to offer one of my own. I had not realized you are not yet a blooded Seeker. How close are you?”
“I am in the midst of my final trial as we speak.”
“What is your quarry?”
“The Demon.”
“Folly! To hunt the Demon is to devour the moon. And alone? You shall surely fail.”
“I will have his head or I will die sawing it off his scaly corpse.”
“Your resolve is admirable, if woefully naive.”
The Seeker scoffed before reaching over the fire and pulling a leg off the bird. Rebecca’s gaze followed, locked onto the juicy, sizzling flesh. “Oh, Seeker, if you wouldn’t mind…”
The woman tore off a sliver of the bird and threw it across the fire, the cat nimbly jumping to catch it in her mouth.
A comfortable silence overcame them. Together they watched the stars revolve overhead, the moon shining faintly as what remained of the bird dripped and spat over the fire. Every few minutes, the cat would intently examine the woman before inching closer, and every time the woman would stare at her out of the corner of her eyes, nerves heightening inversely to the distance between her and the cat.
When Rebecca was halfway around the fire she rolled over, basking in the warmth of the flickering flames. The Seeker stared at the cat’s underside, awestruck by a symbol in the fur. On the cat’s belly a triangle of white fur stood in stark contrast to the gently glowing greenish-gray fur around it. The Seeker bowed her head, each hand forming an “L” with the two hands pressed together at the fingertips and thumbs, forming a triangle. Under her breath, she gently murmured “Praise be the delta.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
The Seeker’s gaze followed Rebecca, but the suspicion formerly clouding her gaze had been replaced with reverence laced with caution. Rebecca inched closer and stretched deeply before speaking in a languid tone. “Toss me some more of that bird you’ve got roasting there. I am feeble and in dire need of sustenance.”
The Seeker halved what remained of the bird, rising to rest it gently only a foot from where the cat lay. She lingered, hand inching toward the cat’s soft fur before jerking back, and she returned to rest against Yakhai, to whom she gave the other half of the bird.
The cat licked her chops, sizing up the slab of meat almost the same size as her. “Thank you. I will repay your generosity ten times over.”
“Watch your promises, Rebecca. I will hold you to them.”
“I would expect nothing less.” Rebecca spoke before tearing into the bird with relish, her whole head disappearing into the steaming flesh. She emerged sopping wet, fur spiked and mouth chewing in exaggerated yawning motions. “I’m coming to like you SMACK SLURP and I don’t want to see you throw yourself to your death against the Demon CHEW so I’ll throw you a bone.”
“However do you mean?”
“Deep in the undercrust to the southeast, there is a library as of yet untouched by scavengers.”
“Hah! Surely you jest. Such treasure troves no longer exist. So called “libraries” are myths anyway, legends that faded into dust centuries ago. Even if any books remain, they would have turned to dust by now.”
“Do you think the Seekers are alone in their fight to retain knowledge of the Human Age? Many have come before you, and while most of them failed, some succeeded in hiding tomes away from the Demon. It is a library of reproductions, no more than a century old and well preserved, hidden deep within the undercrust behind a series of narrow cracks. I can squeeze through, puny as I am, and I have seen the books myself, hundreds of them! CHEW CHEW I can lead you there, if you wish.”
“Hundreds, you say?” The Seeker’s eyes lit up, full attention focused on the wet, noisily slurping cat. “That is a tempting reward, but I cannot so easily abandon my hunt for the Demon. There is more than just my trial at stake. The Demon captured someone close to me. Someone I must rescue. I will not stop until I have freed them and killed the Demon.” Conviction bled through every word, her jaw set and shoulders squared.
“Speaking such a thing into existence is dangerous. Words are powerful bonds. I already feel the ties that bind us growing firmer, leaving the ethereal to become more deeply rooted in reality.” Rebecca sighed, whiskers twitching and brow furrowed. She dove into the bird before speaking again. “I fear I may not have been clear enough the first time. CHEW. SMACK. You are woefully unprepared to face the Demon. In your current state, you couldn’t even approach his lieutenants, much less the Demon himself.” The glow surrounding the furry figure strengthened, becoming too intense to look at directly. Rebecca straightened from the bird, locking eyes with the Seeker. “If you continue on this course undeterred, you will die. That is a fact, as sure as the rising sun. You need time to grow, to change into something capable of facing the Demon’s band. This library will provide just such an opportunity.”
“You know nothing of me.” The Seeker snapped.
Rebecca scoffed. “I know you are weak and a coward. You would crumble in the Cave of Kharsas.”
The Seeker frowned, affronted. The cat’s words had a ring of truth to them, resonating deeply within the Seeker’s psyche. She sat quietly thinking, I never mentioned the cave. The cat knows things. Useful things. She turned to speak to the cat, but failed to find an adequate rebuke, and all that came out was an angry, “Puny cat, what do you know!”
Rebecca mewled, a sigh disguised within. I cannot let her rush to her death. She provides food. Yummy food. “Let me show you how weak you are. Approach me.”
“I will do no such thing until I have determined if you are dangerous.”
“If you won’t approach me, I’ll make you.” Rebecca, refueled by bird, moved in a flash, grabbing the Seeker’s whetstone from the saddle resting on the ground. She took it in her mouth and threw it into the air before catching it and spitting it onto the craggy dirt before her, making a show to rile the Seeker.
“Hey! Give me that!” The Seeker rose, towering over the cat. She moved to step toward the feline, reaching for her whetstone, but found herself repulsed, her movements slowing to a crawl as she neared the furry form. The cat’s glow flared until she became difficult to look at, and even indirectly the light was so bright as to be painful. The world felt syrupy, every muscle filled with pins and needles, tingles racing over every inch of skin. She tensed her whole body, struggling to gain mere inches until she hit a wall of force, unable to move any further. She stopped, defeated, and sagged to the ground.
“What trickery is this?” She spat, furious at the cat’s deceit and frustrated at her own weakness, apparent for the first time. She looked down at her arms, brows furrowed in disbelief.
“Can’t tell you. Find the library and find out.” Rebecca batted the whetstone to the Seeker, sliding it over the rough ground. She shook her head, licked her paws, and dove back into the bird carcass.
The Seeker stood staring at the tiny feline, mouth agape. So small, but with such power. I must learn her ways. “You have convinced me. We shall go to this ‘library’ and report our findings to the Sanctum, but the Cave of Kharsas comes immediately after. Agreed?”
Rebecca mewled in contentment, pleased. Her sticky head rose from the carcass, and a guilty look crossed her face. “Agreed. There’s just one problem. The only way into the library, barring crevices your giant body is too large to fit through, is via a pincher nest.”
The Seeker’s face split into a savage grin, pointy pearly whites shimmering red and orange in the firelight. “Worthy quarry indeed. A perfect trial, then.”