The Goddess's Gift

Lear stretched luxuriously on the bed. That was one of the nice things about being in cat form, any person-sized bed was absolutely enormous. The downside was that his magical abilities were limited.

His powers were limited even more than usual too, at the moment, thanks to the damn poison that still coursed through him. But between the rest he’d gotten as well as the magic, food, and water the young woman had provided, it was likely he’d be able to take on his proper form again.

Weak as the human girl was, she hadn’t been able to sense the poison he was struggling with. But she also likely wasn’t used to dealing with fey folk, which would have made it even more unlikely that she’d have taken note of it. Though in all honesty, it was very lucky he’d run into any kind of healer at all, this far into the human countryside.

The familiar, though…she was an unexpectedly potent being.

Unlike the filth that had gotten lucky in poisoning him, if it came down to who had the most powerful magic between him and Diana, he wasn’t sure he’d be the winner. That said, the cat was only a familiar, and really had no way to properly use the power she possessed. That’s why the young woman…what had they called her? Winna, yes, that was it. That’s why Winna existed. She had her own magic, of course, but the cat, Diana, provided a large sea of magic for her person to pull from.

Despite her immense power, Diana was still just a cat. That meant she couldn't get through the door that Winna had put between her and Lear, as she was quite small, not to mention she had a distinct lack of thumbs. Since that was the case, he was going to risk a transformation attempt.

Lear pulled for his magic, grimacing through the pain the poison that still polluted his veins caused. But its power was weakened just enough that he could slip some magic through and…

The fey man’s magic finally surged, as wild and restive as ever. Then he was standing, in his proper body once more, veins throbbing from the effort. He immediately sat on the bed, and examined his left arm, which had taken the poisoned dart, though he’d been in cat form.

It had been lucky that he’d transformed right when he had, otherwise the damage from the poison would have been much worse. But since his magic was lessened in his cat form, it had less overall damage it could do. Indeed the poison's presence inside him had already started to ebb away, albeit very, very slowly. He'd even been able to creep into the young woman's dreams the night before to tease her, though that really didn't take much magical effort to do, given how close dreaming was to magic anyways.

The wound had healed, thanks to Winna’s efforts. It hadn’t been a deep or serious injury, after all, no more than a thorn really. But the poison that thorn had carried would have been deadly to a weaker fey, and even he had gotten lucky that he wasn’t worse off right now. It would have left him totally incapacitated, and his opponent would have had no trouble killing him.

Lear studied his reflection in the full-length mirror. The brilliant green cat eyes, which he was famous for, glowed, though their usual mischievousness was somewhat tempered by the pain from the poison. It wasn’t debilitating or particularly bad unless he used magic, but it was enough to remind him that it was there.

The opalescent scales on his neck reflected the moonlight that streamed in the window with a satin luster. The patches of those scales on his back and arms were hidden by his clothing, but he could feel that they'd properly appeared as well. Normally, his pitch black wings would have reflected some of the light as well, rendering into a faint rainbow, much like oil. But he had the wings hidden for the moment, since the room was relatively small, and the enormous mass of feathers would have knocked everything over any time he moved much. Lear smiled, baring his venomous fangs, sensing that he'd transformed properly despite the poison in him.

A sudden noise caught his ears, and he spun, flicking his second set of eyes open and peering out the window. The heat presence of all living beings in his immediate vicinity were instantly visible. Noting nothing suspicious outside, the fey man turned again, this time more slowly as he searched out all the occupants of the house.

The four humans were all asleep. Two in the rooms nearby, the father and daughter, and Winna out in the living area where the son-in-law, Biren, slept on the floor. The normal cat, Lou, was asleep on the couch with her mistress. The familiar, however, was sitting outside the door of the room he was in, facing it and staring. What he’d heard must have been a floorboard creaking as Diana had come down the hallway to investigate, likely having felt his magic when he’d transformed.

Having found the source of the noise, he closed his second set of eyes. Though he’d had it his entire life, that second layer of sight could be very overwhelming, especially when he already wasn’t feeling particularly well.

“Relax.” He muttered, knowing Diana’s ears would pick up his words, “Believe it or not, I’m not here to hurt anyone.” Lear idly flicked the claws in and out of his fingertips as he spoke. He wasn’t perfect, but even he wouldn't repay the kindness he’d been shown with evil.

Walking into the girl’s dream hadn’t been cruelty. Or he hadn’t meant it to be cruelty, anyways. His curiosity had gotten the better of him, and he’d wanted a chance to see how she reacted to his poking.

Given that she'd only displayed a sweet, gentle disposition up until that point, he’d expected her to be frightened and wary of him. He'd presented himself as a somewhat threatening, shadowy figure, even if it was just a dream. Instead, she’d confronted him fairly confidently and been indignant at his prodding.

Then the familiar had appeared, and tried to warn him off. But it would take more than that to scare him away. Besides, he still needed to heal. As to leaping at the young woman, well, Winna had wanted to wake up anyways. He'd known that the moment he touched her in the dream, she would wake. Though he had intended to scare her a little, just for the fun of it. But Diana had intervened before he could reach her, scratching her mistress awake, likely uncertain as to his motives and not sure whether or not he could actually hurt Winna. Even if he had been able to hurt her in the dream, he wouldn't have. Still, the panic that had flashed across her face the moment she’d realized he’d leapt at her had been dreadfully amusing.

There was a soft maow from the other side of the door.

“I’m injured. It’s poison.” he paused, then continued. “I just want some time to heal. Then I can be on my way.”

Another low maow.

“If I open the door, please don’t scratch me. I’m in no mind to kill innocents right now.”

An annoyed hiss.

“Alright, alright.” he sighed, crossing to the door and opening it. He looked down at the little diluted tabby, who was loafing right in the doorway. “For such a powerful familiar, you have a very unimpressive shape.” But even he had to admit that she loafed magnificently.

Diana blinked her gorgeous, blue-green eyes at him. She really was a beautiful cat.

“Those eyes give mine a run for their money.” Lear admitted, slightly annoyed. He knelt to get closer to the familiar’s height. “I guess you and your mistress are really only healers, so there’s no cause for you to look intimidating.”

The cat’s ears twitched, and her eyes flickered.

“Yes, this is me. I do have my wings hidden, they’re kind of big.”

Her nose twitched.

“What do you mean skinny?” The fey captain arched an eyebrow coolly at her in protest, “I’m a soldier, I promise I’m not just skinny.” Indeed, he was considered the most available bachelor in the feylands, much to his own annoyance. Having a pretty face and a fair form, along with incredible power, would do that.

A bemused twinkle flickered through the familiar’s eyes, and she seemed to soften towards him.

There was a pause.

“So, can I stay?” he asked, tiredness washing over him. He wanted to get back to sleep, but needed to ascertain his standing with the powerful creature before him before he did that. “I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’d have remained in cat form, but I needed to see if I’d recovered enough to transform.”

She blinked once.

“Thank you.” he nodded. “Is it okay if I take my proper form, whenever your mistress is asleep? Just every now and again, most likely.”

Another blink.

“Thank you. Do you want me to swear aloud to my intentions?”

A soft maow.

It was Lear’s turn to blink. “Take my word for it?” he couldn't keep the surprise he felt from creeping slightly into his voice. “That’s not very wise, I am fey. Although I guess we can’t lie. But we are still very tricky.”

The cat snorted, and rolled her eyes a little.

“Whatever you say.” he muttered, wondering what her game was. “You’re a formidable foe.”

Diana stood, flicking her tail.

“Goodnight.” he nodded, standing and shutting the door as she turned and made her way back down the hallway.

-

“Thank you again, Winna.” Ena hugged me tightly.

“I’m happy to help! But it’s just as much Diana as me. She’s the one with the most power around here these days. I’m just the silly human that directs what she has. Gods know I can't handle much without her!" I snorted, shaking my head a little.

“Thank you too, Diana.” Ena laughed, waving at the sweet, diluted grey tabby.

Diana blinked her iridescent, blue-green eyes at them slowly, and bobbed her head in reply.

“She says you’re welcome!” I giggled.

“She’s a pretty cat.” Biren smiled tiredly.

“She really is!” Jedda agreed.

Lou maowed loudly, wanting attention as well, and the black cat watched with vague disinterest from the spot he’d claimed for himself on the corner of the fireplace.

“Oh Lou!” I laughed.

“This one is a very silly cat!” Biren laughed, bending and petting Lou with his un-bandaged hand. “She was running around before you’d woken up this morning like a crazy thing, trying to get the black cat to play with her.”

“Yeah, she’s goofy and playful!” I grinned, leaning over and scooping my Lou up, “Keeps life interesting! Everyone needs a silly cat like Lou and a sweet cat like Diana in their lives.”

“I want a kitty, Biren.” Ena pouted, linking her arm through her husband’s unhurt one.

“Oh fine.” he rolled his eyes, but was smiling.

“Two kitties. You owe me for scaring me half to death!”

“I’m not sure that’s how it works, but okay. Two kitties.” He agreed.

“Thank you!” she giggled, bobbing up to kiss her husband’s cheek, and he smiled fondly at her.

“We’d best be off now, kids.” Jedda said, ushering them towards the door.

“Come back a couple weeks from now and we’ll make sure it’s still doing well.” I told Biren, following them outside, but stopping at the top of the porch stairs.

“Yes ma’am.” he nodded.

“Thanks again, Winna!” Ena waved once she was in the cart.

“You’re welcome! Come see me soon! I look forward to trying out those recipes!”

“Sure thing!” she grinned at me.

Jedda flicked the reins, and the horses started off.

I waved until they were out of sight, then sighed.

It was nice to be able to help people.

Turning, I went back inside, and looked around my little cottage, hands on my hips. “Back to normal life, now, I guess! Although I hope we can all get acclimated to having a new friend around.” I smiled at the cats, who were sitting in various places throughout the living area.

The black cat was still on his fireplace perch, Diana was sitting primly near the entrance to the back hallway, and Lou was sprawled out in the middle of the floor by the heating rocks.

A giggle of joy bubbled up from me. Their personalities were evident even in how and where they sat. Diana was queenly, but kind and down to earth, and Lou was goofy with no dignity at all. The black cat was still wary, and preferred to watch from up high until he was used to the place, and also likely wanted to stay out of Diana’s way, given her reaction to him the day before. Hopefully they’d start to get along soon.

Stretching, I went to put away the now-clean breakfast dishes, as Ena had insisted on staying long enough to help with the washing up. It had been very nice to be in a family atmosphere again, and it made my heart ache a little for the years before my parents had passed.

I smiled sadly, and pushed the melancholy away. That was just the way of the world. Death was just another part of life, even though my mother should have had the same immortally young life as I did. But being immortally young didn’t protect from injury or illness. And though we were healers, there were some things that even magic couldn't fix. Certain illnesses were resistant to magic, and if an injury was bad enough, sometimes magic just wasn’t enough.

Fourteen years ago, there had been an earthquake, and many people had been trapped in the rubble, so my mother, father, Diana, and I had gone into town to try to help. Diana and I had been tending to a hurt child while my parents had been helping lift rubble from a partially collapsed house, which was trapping the child’s mother, when a small aftershock hit, and the rest of the house collapsed without warning. It crushed my parents, killing them immediately. I was sixteen.

In a strange twist of fate, the falling rubble that had killed my parents hadn’t struck the woman they were trying to save. Other helpers had been able to rescue her, and Diana had helped me heal her leg, despite the fact that I’d been bawling my eyes out at the time. The poor lady they'd died trying to save had been horrified, apologetic, and grateful all at once.

I shook my head, thinking of how awful she must have felt. What a complicated mass of emotions to feel, though it hadn’t been her fault.

I’d been heartbroken at the time, of course, but knew that I couldn't stop healing the other victims from the earthquake, since I was literally the only person around anymore that could. I knew that if I stopped to grieve, people would die. People I could save.

So I’d continued on. Only when I’d managed to get healing magic into every single person who’d been injured, did I stop and finally break down completely. I’d stayed with a close friend’s family for a while after that, just so I didn’t have to be alone.

It was at that time that Jedda had come and asked if I’d needed help with anything. I’d been having to go back to the cottage every morning and every evening to take care of the animals. It was a burden, going back and forth like that, but I’d also not wanted to live alone, given my grief, so I’d asked if he could maybe help me by taking the milk cows off my hands. He refused to simply take them, but had bought them from me instead, and then had helped me plan the funerals, which I used the money from the cows to pay for. He’d offered to pay for the funerals himself, as he and my parents had always been close friends. But in the same way Jedda had refused to take the cows as a gift, I’d refused to let him pay for the funerals, so we were kind of even.

Normally my brothers would have come immediately, but given the destruction they were facing from the earthquake, and the appalling state that the roads were in at the time because of the earthquake, they hadn’t been able to make it there until just before the funerals took place.

Once the funerals had happened, both brothers had insisted I move in with either of their families, but I didn’t have the heart to leave the family home. So they’d checked in on me frequently to make sure I had everything I needed. Although once I’d turned eighteen, they came less often, and now I only saw them once or twice a year. It was alright, though, they were both busy with their own families and careers.