Love and Other Magical Adventures

six

Both of us leapt to our feet, Sylvie stepping between us, the sword at the ready as she faced it.

The creature stood inches taller than our waists, its shaggy fur a dark grey. Dried blood darkened the white muzzle, one side of which was curled up in a snarl. It held a mangled rear paw just off the ground.

Sylvie readjusted the sword in her hand. "Stay behind me," she commanded with her other arm out to keep me there, stepping forward, fearless.

"Wait," I said, impressed though I was into near speechlessness by her. The fluttering in my stomach was definitely not all due to the danger. "It will smell Grim any moment, and change its mind."

The wolf did indeed catch the dragon scent and dropped its lip, raising the stained nose to the air even as it stepped backward. 

"I'm going to heal it, if putting it into a trance doesn't frighten it too much," I told her. It wasn't easy to do with wolves as they were highly intelligent, but I couldn't let it leave with that injury if healing it was feasible.

She was taken aback but steeled herself. "Can I assist you somehow?"

I shook my head as I tossed an invisible net of calming immobility at the creature. It stopped in its tracks as fear exploded in it, but the tranquility helped and it seemed to sense I meant it no harm. I approached the cowering animal and cautiously touched a finger to the wounded paw, repairing it in a few moments before returning to Sylvie.

I removed my spell and it shook itself, then turned to examine the restored paw. Surprise was evident in the body language and it turned its yellow eyes upon me in something that was akin to contemplation. It then raised its snout to the sky and let out a howl that went straight through me, then beat a hasty retreat when it noticed the dragon touching down.

"Wow," Sylvie said under her breath as she processed everything.

"You'd better run," Grim said half mockingly after it, blowing smoke from his nostrils and stretching his neck one way and then the other before settling to change into his human form. He stood once more. "Now where were we?"

She settled back against her tree with the weapon near at hand and addressed Grimmer. "I suppose you have few enemies." She resumed her carving with barely noticeably trembling hands.

"You suppose correctly," he said cheerfully. He picked up the turkey he'd found while hunting and began expertly defeathering it. We would have no trouble using up the meat as he could eat great amounts, in either form.

Feebur had been awakened by the wolf's cry and appeared from his bag to zoom around the campsite excitedly. I tossed him a piece of jerky and he made it disappear. His next stop was Sylvie's lap, where he paused and sat purring loudly.

"A strange little creature," she murmured to him.

When we were finished eating a little while later Grim tossed a bit of meat to the side of the camp and a gnarmouse came scurrying out to grab it, neatly impaling it on its tiny horn. Rodent and meat disappeared into the undergrowth.

Did you see it? I asked him, forgetting to speak aloud in my excitement. I loved the tiny exotic creatures and we rarely spotted them.

"I did," he smiled, getting out his ukulele.

"A gnarmouse," I told Sylvie, tossing another scrap to the same spot.

She looked from him to me, realization dawning. "You share a telepathic bond?"

I watched the spot. "We do."

"Does it not become difficult, never having secrets from the other?" She couldn't help but be curious. Everyone unfamiliar with Questers was, and we were used to it. Which is not to say we answered questions on demand like a carnival curiosity. But hers, we didn't mind.