Novel Jumper

Chapter Sixteen

 "Connor, you remember my wife," Winfrith said slowly. Connor, raising his eyebrows, nodded silently. Lilia was surprised as well. From Star of Winter, she had gotten the rough sense that Winfrith hated even approaching the topic of his dead wife. But although she was glad that he was able to talk about her, what did the deceased druid have to do with the Wizard of Improbability?

Winfrith took a deep breath and met Connor's gaze steadily. "You remember how she died, right?"

Connor inclined his head slightly. "A Crybbish," he murmured as respectfully as he could.

Lilia, not having any knowledge about that specific creature, remained silent, trying to remember if the book had stated the cause of Winfrith's wife's death. She didn't think so, but she couldn't be sure.

"Correct." Winfrith turned to Lilia. "Do you know what a Crybbish is? They inhabit the south, mainly, so I would assume not."

Lilia shook her head, confirming Winfrith's assumptions. "No, I'm not familiar with them."

"A Crybbish is a winged dog of sorts with huge, curved teeth, and..." Winfrith took another deep breath, this one slightly unsteady. This was obviously an incredibly painful topic for him, and he hadn't even spoken of his wife's death yet.

"...and they have the ability to secrete a scent that draws in almost every species of animals so they can devour them. Luckily, humans aren't on that unfortunate list. They're incredibly ferocious. My wife discovered an orphaned infant Crybbish and took it in, much to my protests. She raised it as gently as she could. It was the most amazing thing to witness. Her skills never ceased to astound me."

Lilia bit her lip. The pain in Winfrith's voice was difficult to listen to, and she felt her heart going out to the old man. She knew the story would only go downhill from here - after all, the woman was dead.

"One day, the creature went missing. My wife was terrified - any other humanoid would have killed it instantly if they found it, even though it had always been nothing but kind. She also harbored a small worry that it would return to its biological nature and begin killing other animals, and maybe people. Not that she would admit to that worry. She loved that thing like her own child.

"She went in search of it. For days, she left at dawn and returned near midnight, to no avail. Finally, she gave up and waited for the bad news to arrive, that the creature was dead or had started killing things. Then, one day, I heard screams from the garden as I was cooking. I rushed outside to find our pet, the creature my wife had bottle fed from infancy and taught to be kind and loving despite its species, ripping her apart. I had to kill it to make it stop, and by then it was too late." Winfrith's voice shook. " There was something about the whole situation, though - something even more wrong than my wife's death. The monster had been so different mere days ago. As much as I hated to even look at the Crybbish, I poked around its body. Found something."

"What?" Connor asked eagerly. Lilia shot him a disapproving look. This was plainly a stressful conversation for his friend - the least he could do was listen in respect.

Winfrith just continued onward regardless. "A necklace, fastened so tightly around its neck that the beast should have been long dead. When I took it off, there was this line of skin all away around its neck where the hair and the first few layers of skin had been rubbed off."

Lilia shivered, raising a hand to her own throat. Maybe the sheer pain had made the monster go ballistic. Who would do such a thing to a kind animal?

"I didn't recognize the symbol on the charm, so I looked around. Did my research. Pulled a few strings. I finally found out where the necklace was from."