Page 16

Saure sniffled, raising her head slowly.
"I have the gift." she said. "I heard you cry the other day, and I came to help. It was you, wasn't it? You're hurt...."
"Aye, so I am. But I'm big enough to take care of myself." She heard him flop onto his side.
"Get you away before I change my mind and eat you."
She sat up cautiously, pulling her bag to her. She extended her palm and lit it with her inherited spell, standing. The cave had a high ceiling, and she could see glints of crystal in the walls reflecting her light. Saure looked upon the beast.

He was what folken called a puma, though he was no sort of puma we see on Earth. He had two long, saber teeth and a set of large, long ears like a rabbit's. These weren't short, though, like a rabbit's are, in relation to his body. These ears almost reached his flanks, as they were folded back. At the end of the puma's tail, there was a silky brush of long, white hair. He had no real mane to speak of, but his fur was fluffy and white under his chin and upon his breast. The rest of his body was covered in short, soft golden fur. He had lain facing away from her, so she saw his spine clearly outlined through his hide.

He turned green-flecked orange eyes on her and regarded her with stubborn arrogance. "Did you not hear me, girl? Leave me."
"Not until you show me where you're wounded."
His eyes narrowed and his tail thumped the dusty floor. "What's your name, girl?"
She smiled brightly and curtsied as best she could without a skirt. "Saure Fira, of the Western Noran kirns. Do you know them?"
"I know your places not, nor do I care. I have given up on your kind. All you do is kill and destroy that which you do not understand."
Saure hung her head, fidgeting with the handle of her bag in one hand. "Not all men are monsters." she said softly.
The puma only huffed, thumping his tail again and resting his chin on his paw.
Saure set her lip. She didn't like being ignored. It was rude. She set down her bag, and began tearing dry roots out of

Page 17

the walls. She made a neat pile of them and set them alight. The puma opened one eye to mark her progress.
Once her little campfire was made, she opened her bag and removed a blue and a green bottle. She unstopped the green one and stepped around the puma's flank. He lifted his head a little, one eye still shut in an almost-comic wink (as cats sometimes do).
Saure found his wound and poured some of the potion into it, carefully assessing the severity. The puma hissed again, suddenly batting her away with a massive paw. She was flung into a wall and dropped to the ground.
Saure choked, unable to bring air into her lungs. Her eyes bulged as she gagged, gripping her stomach. The bottle lay in shards, the potion splattered on the stony cave floor.
The puma grunted, rising painfully to his paws again. "I told you, didn't I? You should have listened." he scolded, tail swishing. Saure was unable to respond, hot tears of pain streaming down her cheeks and the end of her little button nose.
"Now... you brought that on yourself, you know... I was only responding... you should warn someone before pouring stinging solutions into their open wounds..."
She only coughed feebly in reply, trying to sob a breath.
"Oh, now, come on then!" the puma sighed, nudging her into a kneeling position with his muzzle. She gasped, heaving breath for a moment.
Once she had sufficiently caught her breath, she batted him on the top of the head, making him cringe as cats do when being reprimanded.
"Shame on you! You lie down and you hold still! Now!" She stood shakily, pointing a commanding finger. The puma was so taken aback by this that he did as he was told. He flopped onto his side and laid down his great head obediently.
"You're lucky I didn't kill you..." he muttered as she unwrapped her balm from the Aum leaves.
"And you're lucky I don't just let you die up here." she retorted, smearing a great gob of the stuff in his side, making him yowl.

Once she had his wound packed in balm and leaves, and dressed it with clean linen bandages, she set about investigating the rest of his large body for contusions,