The Dragon's Daughter

Chapter 10

Saturday 1:00 p.m.

All of us screamed at the same time. It briefly flittered through my mind that I would get to tease Hector that he screamed at a higher pitch than either Jess or I, but then the thought withered up and flew away in the face of our imminent demise. Before me, stood what could only be described as a giant talking lion. Giant. Talking. Lion. His muscular shoulders were momentarily scrunched as he slunk the way only a cat could through the doorway. I backpedaled quickly. There was no other exit. My heart thudded and my breathing was accelerating fast. Little pants escaping me, like a small animal that knows it's about to die.

"Don't be afraid, little ones," the cat monster said. His giant teeth glinted in the light. His reassurances did nothing for me. Jess and Hector were beside me. We were all slowly backing up into the corner of the room. I bumped into Hector, and that's when I decided to give up all hope. I felt completely trapped. My legs crumpled beneath me. I didn't expect to be caught, but somehow Hector caught me and slowly lowered me to the ground for a safe landing. He sank beside me, slowly. I was going to die beside my greatest tormentor. Jess was still on her feet, and she leaned over to squeeze my shoulder. My friend was going down fighting. Good for her.

"You are absurd." The cat said, and he lay down where he was and just looked at us. I blinked at him. He blinked back. From my angle, he looked more like an orange house cat, stretched out on a windowsill in the sun. Except for the feathers and the wings. In my initial terror at his enormous size and the fact that, well, he was a talking cat, I had missed them entirely. Under his fur on the back of his shoulders was a kind of downy fluff sticking out at odd places, and he had full-on feathered wings that matched the colors in his fur, oranges, and whites. I let out a breath.

"I don't eat children." The big cat offered.

"What are you?" Jess was the one who finally spoke.

"Me?" The big cat almost grinned at us, showing his giant teeth again. "I am a very old thing. You may call me Fryral."

"Fyral," Jess repeated. The sound was like part purr, part growl.

"Yes," replied the cat.

There was a long awkward silence before the cat looked around at us again, then focused on me, "You are Raina, David's child. He has shown me your photographs."

I let courage bubble up from somewhere inside of me and spoke to the cat. To Fryral. "You know my Dad?"

"Oh yes, for many years." He made a rumbling purr for emphasis, "I knew your father from before the great fall, back when magic was everywhere."

The three of us looked at each other. What was the cat-bird talking about?

"Certainly he told you the stories about the old times?" The cat rumbled, "About the time before the fall?"

The others looked at me, and I shook my head, "I... I mean, my dad told me lots of fairy tales at night. He told me one story he called 'The Great Fall,' but it was just a bedtime story."

"If your father told you a story, kitten, then it would be real." the cat nodded his orange head.

"What did your dad tell you, Raina?" Jess asked

"Tell us too," Hector demanded softly.

"You should tell them." the cat encouraged, "the old truth should never die."

I still did not trust that cat not to gobble us up, nor did I feel that bedtime stories mattered at this exact moment. But what else could I have done at the moment? A giant feathered cat was looking at me expectantly. I released a breath. Why not? Let's go for absolute absurdity.