Chapter Five - A Name

I sat back down after putting down all the snacks, waiting patiently for the boys to finish eating. Of course, with them being cats I also had to wait for them to wash afterwards. I nibbled at my snack, because now I was excited to hear what they had to say more than ever. My appetite had nearly vanished with the anticipation. Even with all my knowledge that my father had passed on to me, this was the one thing that still escaped my grasp. Not to say I had not searched my brain, because I did. My thinking here is that he named me, but in all the worry over completing his task, he never spoke of it while in my presence after I came into being and he must have never thought about it after that day. At least the cats knew it and that was all that mattered.

Finally the cats finished grooming, if you could call it that. Poor Spot couldn't reach all the places he wanted to wash and Bones was still scraggly looking even after a bath. You could see the love these two had for each other when Bones would help Spot with his bathing. He put on an indifferent air when it came to everything else but this. I don't even think he noticed it himself. It was these times that I found myself smiling inside and out, listening to the purring from both of them as they washed. I would never say anything about it, because then Bones might think twice about helping Spot in front of me. His need to be indifferent was that strong in my presence, but for the life of me, I did not know why. "Cats!" I thought to myself, "You just got to love them!"

Bones looked at me to see if I was ready for more of the story and I nodded a silent yes. "Our hiding place was where we sleep now, Mistress. We jumped up on the ledge and hid under some furs that were there. He knew we were there the whole time. I think he was amused that we were trying to hide from him and he took advantage of our fear. I remember hearing him chuckle out loud several times. Spot and I were so scared we were frozen in place, but shaking uncontrollably. I finally peeked out from under the fur and he was sitting near the lake watching us."

"I just remember thinking that we were going to be cat snacks for the dragon!" Spot chimed in. "I just wanted to go home!"

"Shh! I'm telling this!" Bones said as he cuffed Spots ear.

Looking at Spot still, Bones continued his story "The first thing I noticed was how big he was! He was huge and the light from the fire-lake made his teeth glitter. He stretched his wings and laid down, still looking at us."

"Well, it seems I have two curious kittens on my hands. What should I do with you?" he asked me.

At this point Spot peaked out and said "Are you going to eat us?"

"Now why would I want to go and do that? You're too small to make a good meal, besides I don't have time to stop and eat. I am too busy working for all this nonsense."

"He turned his head and looked at something in the other room. I swear I heard him sigh, but it sounded like a growl. When he made that sound I came out from under the furs and looked in the same direction. Curiosity won out over my fear of being eaten. Standing in the middle of the room was a huge white stone in the shape of a woman... you."

"There you were, not finished, but still the same, it was you. Only your face and upper torso were carved at that point and there were no smooth edges, except on your face. I must have said something because he turned to me and sighed again."

"Beautiful isn't she? I have been working on her for years, but now my time is getting shorter."

"My fear was completely forgotten and my curiosity piqued. Then the questions just poured out. What is it? Why are you making that? Is it real? Why is time getting shorter? What does that mean? I went on and on."

"He answered all my questions and it seemed he was delighting in them. By this time Spot had fallen asleep and the dragon and I talked for hours. It was mostly me asking the questions and him answering but it was most enlightening for a young cat such as myself. It never dawned on me that I should be scared, or that I was actually talking to a dragon. I was the student and he was the teacher. It was during this talk that he casually mentioned a name. He only said it once and it was while he was looking at you."

"Well, what did he say?" I asked with all the patience I could muster.

I had just asked him what he was carving the stone for when he turned to me and said, "Morrighan is going to be my daughter. Isn't she beautiful?"

"Well that fired off another round of questions..."

"Wait! That is my name? Morrighan? Oh! Its beautiful!" I squealed out.

"Yes Mistress, that is your name" Bones replied with what resembled a huge smile on his face.

Excited at finally knowing my name caused a sudden need to hug those two cats. I scooped them both up quickly and nearly hugged them to death. Bones of course sputtered his indignation at being caught off guard, while Spot on the other hand, was purring a storm.

"Mistress! Don't you want to know the rest of the story?"

"Yes I do!" I replied with a silly grin on my face. "Just let me relish my name for a bit first! Morrighan... mmmm just kind of rolls off the tongue very easily, don't you think?" I asked as I put Bones down. I kept Spot in my lap as he was still purring a storm from all the attention he was getting.

"I am glad you like it Mistress." Spot purred out as I scratched him behind an ear.

"I do Spot, I really do!"

"Ok Bones, I will let you finish now." I said turning back to him. "Tell me more about my father and that day."

"Well Mistress, he was quite the dragon." Bones replied between trying to lick his fur back down. "As I said we talked all night. I asked him to tell me more about you. He told me that he was making you so he could bring you alive. I asked him why he was doing that and he told me that he did not have long to live. He said he knew long night was coming and he had to finish you before that happened. He got up several times to carve some more on you while we talked. He told me about the knights coming in and bothering him on orders from King Nepharious. He also told me that he was going to wreak havoc on the castle before he went into long night, but sadly he never got the chance. He talked about spells and potions and how he was going to use them to make you come alive."

"Towards morning he became quite tired. He looked at me and told me that we could come and go as we pleased as long as we didn't tell anyone where we were and what we saw. He said that he needed some spies outside the cave so he could get more done without interruptions. He asked that we come and tell him immediately if we saw any knights headed towards the cave. It was almost morning when he stretched his wings again, laid back down closer to the lake on his pile of jewels and fell asleep. I curled up with spot on the furs and was asleep within just a few minutes."

Bones looked up at me with his beautiful eyes and said, "That is when we became familiars, although we did not know what that meant until almost the time for him to make you come alive. We lived at home in the village for a while, but after a few months had past and we became bigger we moved up here. We helped him do small things while he worked on you. We kept the rats out of the stores and cleaned up the dust and rocks that came off of his carving. We only had one incident with a knight while we were here with him. He didn't have much patience by that time and flamed the knight before he could finish his sentence." At that thought Bones shuddered a bit and stopped talking. I could tell it was not a good memory, but one I knew very well.

He shuddered again and then began to talk again. "The old Lord became quite irritated after the knight came. He flew out of the cave in a rage and flew to the castle. We heard about what he did from some of the castle cats. He had roasted a few cows, and set several rooms inside the castle on fire. He burned some fields of hay. He flew over a village near the water and burned it to the ground. He had also set all the boats on fire. When he came back he was exhausted and didn't eat for days. Spot and I kept at him. We brought him food and water and pestered him until he finally ate. We kept reminding him that if he didn't keep up his strength he would not be able to finish you. I think it was reminding him of you that finally brought him around. After that he stopped talking to us. He worked on you non-stop and we, well... I never got a chance to talk to him again before he went into long night."

At that Bones sighed. "I miss the old Lord, Mistress. We had become friends, if you could call it that. He would talk to me and teach me things. I am glad you are here now so I have someone to talk to again."

At that statement, Spot jumped off my lap and actually reached out and cuffed Bones. It was so unlike him that I had to stifle a giggle. Bones was caught so off guard that he fell over. Spot pounced on him hard and they got into a wrestling match. The whole time Spot was fussing at Bones.

"What am I? You can't talk to me? Who is SUPPOSED to be your best friend!" Bones was hissing and laughing at the same time.

"Stop Spot! You know what I meant! You ARE my best friend, you dolt!"

They finally stopped wrestling and I had to suppress a yawn between what were now very loud giggles. Bones and Spot both noticed it. They both jumped up into my lap and started purring.

"Don't mind us Mistress, we fight like that a lot. It keeps Spot on his toes. The lazy puss!"

Spot cuffed Bones one more time for good measure. All three of us got comfortable and fell off to sleep. Thing were the same as usual, Bones at my feet and Spot next to my head, except now I had a name and a considerable grin knowing it.

Chapter Six - Ashryal