The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

again.
    “Grrrr,” Wolf replied. His fur stood up on the back of his neck.
    “Grrower!” Another animal answered, louder.
    “Spotted saber cat,” he whispered into the wind. The largest, meanest, hungriest wild beast in Coronnan. An adult male could grow as large as a gray bear. Its elongated front teeth equaled those of a wild tusker in length. And the beast sounded as though it stood in the opening of the cave where Brevelan was preparing breakfast!
    “Come, Wolf. Now. Brevelan needs us,” Jaylor urged.
    “Grroowower,” Wolf replied as he bounded toward the menace.
     
    Waves of anger washed over Brevelan. Pressure built behind her neck and eyes, pressure to move. Her eyes glazed under the impact of the anger and outrage bombarding her senses. The pressure increased. Air inside her lungs fought with the weight of the atmosphere outside her body. The compulsion to move weighed heavily on her limbs. Move.
    But where?
    She was encased in a red cage of emotion. Walls of suffocating red marched closer and closer. She couldn’t breathe. The walls threatened to wrap her in hot, airless, burning hatred. Block it out.
    I must turn my mind away. She forced a separation from the red walls. Gradually her eyes focused. She sought the source of the emotional upheaval and wished she hadn’t.
    In the opening of the overhang, between her and escape, stood a spotted saber cat. The beast could be the twin or littermate of the only other one of its kind she had ever seen. The bronze statue that had blinked at her in Krej’s hall. Its long teeth gleamed wetly in the early sunlight. Malevolence flashed deep within its eyes. That cat wanted nothing more than to use those huge teeth to rip her flesh open and taste her blood.

Chapter 14
     
    D arkness dwelt within the cavern. The campfire glowed near the entrance. Behind it no shadow moved. Jaylor couldn’t see Brevelan. Sweat clung to his brow and back. What if the cat had already killed her? Panic threatened to shatter him from the inside out.
    The huge cat stood in the entrance to the overhang, its eerie roar echoing about the hillside. Jaylor took one silent step closer. Orange and gray fur gleamed in the early sunlight, temporarily blinding him with its brilliance.
    “Grrower,” the cat snarled again. Claws fully extended, one huge front paw reached up to strike at something in the shadows.
    Each one of those claws was nearly as long as one of Jaylor’s fingers.
    One more step and he would be able to see if the cat’s intended prey was Brevelan. A tiny pebble rolled under his boot. It struck another, larger stone. The sound drew the cat’s eyes, eyes that were slitted with malice. The huge body remained between Jaylor and the cavern interior.
    He crouched to ease his rapid breathing. He had to get Brevelan out of the way.
    “Grrower.” Once more the cat turned his attention toward the shadowy movement in the dark recess.
    A rock that just fit Jaylor’s palm came to his hand. Without bothering to stand straight again, he flung the stone. It bounced off the largest gray spot just behind the cat’s ribs.
    “Yeehowl!” The beast protested as it moved sideways and deeper into the recess.
    “S’murgh!” Jaylor cursed.
    Another growl filled the overhang. Wolf stood beside him, fur on end, ears upright. He too was ready to do battle.
    Wolf bared his fangs and approached the cat. We must save Brevelan. His growls came close to words, their meaning clear in Jaylor’s mind. Yellow wolf eyes narrowed to glittering slits.
    There wasn’t time to puzzle out that moment of coherent communication. The cat slunk beyond the campfire toward Brevelan’s hiding place. Where was she anyway?
    “We need a weapon, Wolf.” His pack and staff were between the cat and Brevelan. He needed the staff as a focus for a blast of magic fire.
    Jaylor gathered the magic necessary for the spell. Which spell? He’d never used magic for offense, only as armor for defense. “I’ll think of something.” His mind drifted away from his body, watched himself from afar.
    Breathe in slowly, he told the body he was watching. Feel the magic essence roll and form into a tangible shape. An arrow of light and energy. Like lightning.
    Breathe out. Let the magic grow in power. Say the words and watch the spell emerge from the body.
    Nothing happened. He gulped back the panic. Once more he hadn’t been able to throw the proper spell. He could hear his teachers grumbling, the other apprentices laughing