The next days just flew by as I straightened and rearranged the cave to my satisfaction. I didn't go out much as there was so much to do. The stores father had in place for me kept me well fed, and the fire lake kept the cave lit and warm. Most of the time I went over the scroll's father had in the cave. There was a lot of very interesting reading there. Father kept a sort of diary in those pages, but I had a feeling that it was totally unnecessary. The memories he passed on to me seemed complete and first hand, but for the moment were just a jumbled mass of knowledge. I still could not make sense of them.
The greatest and most exciting discovery during that time was a large book of spells. It was at the very bottom of the pile. I poured over it hungrily for something that I could use against the vile King Nepharious of the castle. Of course I found a few things but they were only temporary fixes and I needed something very permanent. The book was quite vast and I could not read it all in one sitting or several for that matter. I did decide, however, that I could make him and his knights very miserable during the mean time and set out to do just that.
I found one spell that I had a good laugh over and used it for my first bit of fun. I found a rusting spell that I chanted from the clouds on one overly stormy night. The next morning I flew over again during a rainstorm and could hear the knights complaining quite loudly and brashly about having to polish their swords and armor. I giggled all the way back to the cave. "Heh! Way to go girl!" I told myself as I sat laughing on my favorite rock above the cave. "I need to do this more often! Father would have loved it!" and with that thought I sobered a bit. Later, as the sun had started to set, I went back into the cave with a sad but full heart.
The next few weeks I played several little tricks on the knights and the castle. One time I turned their wine into vinegar as it was poured into their goblets. Another time it was bed bugs with voracious appetites. Then, I found a spell that could sway the weather and I used that one to keep a rather large storm cloud over the castle for two weeks that poured rain and hail the entire time. That one was particularly good when I went out for a quick fly over and heard some very strong words about the conditions in the castle. I was making headway and turning the knights away from their King Nepharious with finesse and subtlety. Meanwhile I watched over the peasants with opposite spells. I turned their water to wine, rid them of bed bugs, and kept the rains minimal during the daylight hours. I let it rain at night to keep their crops nourished. This was all good but I was starting to miss the company of another being. It would hit home the hardest when I watched the village from a distance. I could see the children laughing and playing and the smiles on their parents' faces as they watched them. Being alone is fine for some, but I needed more.
My next bit of business was to sort out my problem with learning about the castle. I couldn't exactly waltz in and scope it out in dragon form. The spell or curse, whichever way you chose to look at it, that kept me a dragon outside the cave was becoming a problem. I did not have enough experience or knowledge yet to know how to correct this, or for that matter how to look for a cure (my way of seeing it). I just knew that I was lonely and slightly frustrated at my lack of understanding of who or what I was supposed to be.
One thing I did learn was that impatience was a bad thing. When I went out on one of my flights, I was almost discovered. I still got a thrill from flying, and went out only under the cover of darkness.
On one occasion I got a bit cranky at not having found an answer to a particular idea I had. I wanted to place a large amount of rats in the castle and could not figure out how. This caused me to fly out of the cave in a rage. It was broad daylight and there were no clouds. Luckily I flew away from the village and castle or I would have been seen. When I realized what I had done I vowed to turn my rage on finding a solution to riddance of the king and keeping myself indoors. On that night I discovered I had a talent I had not known of before and it became quite useful.
I was asleep in my makeshift bed and was awakened by tiny voices. I heard them but could not see who or what was making them. I decided to lay still and see if they would come closer. Listening to them it was hard to suppress a giggle after I heard a loud crash as something was tipped over.
"Shhhhh! You're gonna wake her!" said one voice. The other came back with a quick "Well, she called us you dimwit! I think we are s'posed to wake her!"
"I don't think startling her out of a dead sleep is gonna put us on her good side." said the first voice with a small hiss at the end.
I startled both of them with a loud "Who dares enter my chamber in the middle of the night!"
"Yikes! (Crash) See! I told you we were going to upset her!" came the first voice again.
"Present yourselves and quit knocking things over whoever you are." I said with a barely muted laugh. Then it dawned on me. I could understand other creature's language! "Well this looks very promising indeed!" I thought to myself.
Rubbing my eyes to see better and sitting up in my bed I see two of the most bedraggled cats I had ever seen. One was skinny and solid black and the other was very fat with his black fur quite matted and a white spot right in the middle of his forehead. They sat down in front of me quietly, tails swishing back and forth in unison as if they had one mind.
"Well, you two have a lot of nerve waking me at this ungodly hour! Are you just going to sit there or are you going to introduce yourselves?" I asked.
The plump one sort of straightened himself up as best a fat cat could and replied with the second voice I had heard "Good Morning Mistress, I am Spot and this here's Bones."
When he said that the other just looked at him and said "The name is Sir Long Tail the Third but you can call me Bones if you like Mistress... ummm... What should we call you, Mistress?".
I laughed at this and said "Bones fits you very well Sir Long Tail the Third and much shorter. I don't know my name. I was never given one." I said sadly. At that I swear I could have seen a blush on that skinny cat right through his black fur. "Well you two, mind telling me why you're here disturbing my sleep?"
They both spoke up at once and then stopped looking at each other. Bones reached over and cuffed Spot on the nose with his paw. I gathered from this that Bones was the self-imposed leader of the pair. He then spoke for the both of them. "We are your familiars Mistress, we have been waiting for you to call us."
"Familiars?" I asked with a puzzled look on my face.
"We are here to serve you in any way needed, Mistress" Bones replied.
"And just how did I call you?" I asked.
"As you could hear your fathers dreams, we can hear yours and your thoughts." he replied and then said, "We have been listening and thought it best to wait until you really needed us. We did not want to frighten you."
"Well, you succeeded in giving me a jump but you didn't frighten me. I am happy to know I will not be so alone anymore." I yawned then quite largely and smiled rather sheepishly at them. Taking their cues, Bones and Spot jumped up on the bed and slept the rest of the night away with me.
The next morning I awoke with Spots tail tickling my nose. Sometime during the night he had moved up to lay right next to my head and was now wrapped around the top of it with his tail end towards my face. I suddenly sneezed and almost rolled off the bed laughing from his reaction. His body flew upwards, and he yowled and screeched, with hair sticking up in all directions. If he could have, I swear that cat would have stuck to the ceiling. I didn't know a rolly polly like him could move so fast or so high. I asked him if he was ok between the giggles and sneezes.
"Yes, uh yes Mistress! Sorry if I woke you!" He replied.
Then I broke out in another fit of laughter watching him try to regain his composure. He was desperately trying to reach around his back to lick his fur back in some semblance of order. Taking a bit of pity on him I stroked his fur down, and he showed his happiness by purring.
"Nope, don't think I will be lonely anymore." I thought as I pulled them both to my lap for some scratching behind their ears.
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