Being naturally curious, Tragar dropped by to visit Roshel and see for himself just what this living the good life entailed. Roshel, a very dark tabbi with tan stripes on a black coat, taught him to switch to a lower mental frequency to converse with the magin. "Humans can't hear in minds tabbin talk. Roshel, Tragar switch to low talk. Hear thoughts, see pictures humans keep in heads. Most humans can't hear tabbin, only magin hear tabbin--when tabbin want magin hear tabbin."
Roshel's mage, Theor, was a kindly old human male, always gentle in his treatment of Roshel and then of Tragar when the latter visited. Tragar wanted to stay, but Roshel made it obvious that, although he liked Tragar's visits once in a while, he'd certainly not tolerate Tragar's constant presence. The older male felt more than a little proprietary toward Theor. Theor was his mage and that was the way it was.
Theor and Roshel told Tragar about another mage, Jozlyn, who lived up in the top room of one of the other towers of this human den they called Draygon's Keep. She'd didn't work with a tabbi, although she'd had the training to telepath with tabbin. It turned out that Jozlyn would be happy to have Tragar work and live with her. So the tabbi moved in and was grateful to Jozlyn for treating him nicely. He started working with her and, just like Roshel had told him, humans were interesting indeed.
During this same early spring three years ago, Tragar picked up the scent of a deliciously stimulating female tabbi. She was new in the neighborhood of the forest and fields surrounding Draygon's Keep. Only a year and a half old, it was the first time her body had produced the odors that attracted the males. Tragar had found her first, but had to fight a skirmish with another wild male, who decided not to risk any more damage to his throat after Tragar got a good grip there. And then Tragar wooed her. She told him her name was Hepbeth. He attended her night and day, until one day she stopped resisting what he wanted to do.
After that he didn't seem to be very interested in constantly attending her. Hepbeth had noted this, but he did visit her almost every day in the lair she'd dug into a hillside behind a boulder. He told her about the human mage he was living with and how interesting he found this. But she didn't understand, having never lived near a human den. He also taught her how to lower her telepathic frequency, so if she ever met any humans, she could switch to their frequency and listen to their thoughts.
Summer followed spring and Tragar continued to alternate his time between working with his mage and visiting Hepbeth. The female grew rounder and fuller in girth until by mid-summer her belly almost dragged on the ground. She felt uncomfortable. Occasionally Tragar even caught some musktoon and other small animals for her to eat, as she had some trouble running fast enough to catch enough for herself to eat. He couldn't understand why she seemed to crave such prodigious amounts of food.
One day when he visited her, he couldn't persuade her to come out of her lair. She told him she didn't want any food, either. Her sides pained her from time to time and she was panting heavily. Well, that was enough to concern Tragar. He went in search of Jozlyn. If she could help humans when they didn't feel well, perhaps she could help a tabbi.
Jozlyn agreed to follow Tragar to Hepbeth's lair. He telepathed to Hepbeth to lower her mental frequency so she could tell Jozlyn what was wrong. Hepbeth did.
Tragar told her, "Hepbeth trust Jozlyn. Jozlyn kind mage. Tragar like work with Jozlyn. Mage help Hepbeth."
So Hepbeth permitted Jozlyn inside her lair. When the mage took one look at the female tabbi in her cramped quarters, she knew exactly what was wrong. In fact, nothing was wrong! Jozlyn helped the tabbi birth her first litter of cubs, four little naked, musktoo-sized, mewling pinkies. After Hepbeth had licked them clean and dry, Jozlyn positioned each at Hepbeth's teats.
"Hepbeth, would you like to bring your cubs to Draygon's Keep and live in my tower room there? Tragar lives there now and I really enjoy working with him. I'd love it if you'd consider living and working with me, too. I can come back tomorrow with a basket to carry your cubs, so you won't have to make four trips to get them resettled."
"Hepbeth come live in big human den," Tragar urged, telepathing in the human frequency range so Jozlyn could hear him. "Life much easier there."
"Tragar, how about catching some musktoon for Hepbeth to eat? I'm sure she's hungry. Birthing takes a lot of energy. If you catch some food for her, she won't have to leave her cubs so soon." Eager to please Hepbeth and Jozlyn, Tragar bounded off. |