The Rat and the Dragon- Chapter 2
Well... he cannot forget her... literally.
The elf exclaimed with joy when she found the source of the smell. After some chaos in the kitchen, he heard a sound right behind him. Every instinct made him shoot around so fast, he knocked the chair over loudly. His heart skipped a beat, reaching for his sword.
The eyes that stared back at him were the deep, ethereal blue of a glacier. If the creature had pupils at all, they were the same color as the rest of the eyes that glowed ever so slightly. The eyes were attached to a monstrous feline. Bigger than a tiger, its broad head was twice the size of his own and could likely fit his whole skull and shoulders in its mouth. Black as the night, there was not a speck of color in its thick, silky fur, the pincushions of whiskers as long as his arms, or the bumpy leather of its nose.
It had snuck up so close to him that it could have reached out and clawed him to shreds. Instead, the panther chuffed at him as though in greeting before its gaze moved toward the back.
“Yeah, yeah, hold on!” the elf called from the kitchen as if responding to the giant cat. “I’m not trying to take everything. You eat too much.”
Emerging from the kitchen, she carried the whole pot of steaming stew and set it before the cat, dipping a bowl into it for herself before the feline settled gracefully before it. “Be careful, it’s hot… like our friend here.” She winked at him with an enchanting smile that sent a tingling jolt through his whole body, making him scowl.
Without waiting, the cat stuck its long, vivid pink tongue into the steaming liquid before jerking up with a pitiful yowl.
“Are you serious right now?” the elf frowned in disbelief and shook her head with disappointment. “I just told you.”
Letting that tongue hang out a moment, Roan could clearly see the cluster of terrifying hooks that only became more intense the further back the tongue went. The glow of the cat’s eyes grew a little brighter as magic coursed through it, and it let out a relieved moan, flicking its tongue a few times before returning to its meal.
“What is that?”
Peering over at Roan at his exclamation, she grinned. “He’s my pet.”
The panther stopped lapping the stew and glared death at her. Its broad muzzle wrinkled with a soft growl. Claws longer than Roan’s fingers dug into the wood.
The elf twitched and her hand shot up to rub her temple with a sour expression. “Ow, fuck. Saipaki, you are being a dick right now. I was only joking.”
Another low growl from the panther rumbled through Roan’s chest before he returned to lapping up the entire contents of the pot.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Just as the elf opened her mouth, she twitched again, glaring at the panther that watched her back as it ate. Frowning, her face grew guarded before she answered. “A panther. Isn’t that what he looks like?”
His eyes narrowed, brow threading together in that irritation again. What was with this elf? He had just let a man die- the body still rigid on the floor- for speaking to him like this. Looking down at the immense cat whose magic nearly blinded his silver eye, he nodded to himself in understanding. What would dare to harm her?
“Not like any panther I’ve seen.”
She smiled sweetly and shrugged. “World’s a big place. Never know who you’ll meet. Or who you’ll forget.”
Finished with his food, the panther stood and stretched with a moan. Chuffing at his mistress, he turned away and silently padded towards the door, followed by the elf tipping the bowl back to finish her share.
Watching them go, Roan found humor in the practiced ease of the whole encounter. It bubbled out of him in a rough, quizzical chuckle. “I feel like I just witnessed a crime.”
The elf’s silvery laughter made his nerves tingle. Peeking back at him over her shoulder with a sultry smirk, she winked at him. “Don’t worry, dovlin. You won’t remember.”
Just as his brow furrowed and he opened his mouth, he realized he had no idea who he had intended to speak to. No one was there.
But, he could have sworn….
His silver eye began to glow softly. The swirling grew organized, focused, speeding up until it was spinning around a bright pinpoint.
Sniffing the air, he first noticed the smell. Like the deep woods, meadows in bloom, of clear rivers and gentle rain. It made him tingle all over.
An elf!
Drawing the remaining magic out of his mind, more and more of the previous moments tumbled forth until he was rushing out the door. Glaring around the dark, empty street, he cursed under his breath.
His eye had returned to its lazy undulations, leaving him with the distinct memory of the panther’s hypnotic purr as it had left. Certainly not like any panther he knew of. How could he have been such a fool?
Of course. The elf. He had let his focus slip. That enchantress. Probably had played that scenario out many times before. How many other Seekers could not recall crossing her path?
Shaking his head, he turned towards the stables where he had left his horse and decided chasing after the two wasn’t worth it. Clearly, they had meant no harm. They could remain a mystery. One of the many oddities of the world. Just like him and the magical eye he could not recall how he had come by.