“Why did you try to kill me?”
“You enslaved me,” it hissed.
“No, I didn’t,” Zollin said angrily. “I’ve never even heard of you or anything like you.”
“Your kind made me. I will not obey. I will die before I obey.”
“What do you mean?”
The creature shrieked angrily.
“Tell me what you mean!” Zollin shouted.
“I was made by a wizard. Formed and shaped long ago. Far in the south. A wizard made me. I hate all wizards. They are vile and cruel.”
“I’m not. It seems to me you were the one trying to kill me.”
“Yet, I am wounded, you are not.”
“That was self defense.”
The creature didn’t answer, it was still lying on the ground, still breathing heavily. Zollin waited, but the creature didn’t speak.
“What’s your name?”
The creature still didn’t speak.
“Tell me your name,” Zollin said firmly.
“Aberration.”
“Aberration is your name?”
The creature didn’t speak.
“You have to do what I say, don’t you?”
The only response was the creature closing its eye. It was an agonizing gesture, a look of total resignation and despair from the beast’s intelligent face.
“You have to do what I say,” Zollin said again. “Sit up.”
The creature rose slowly and painfully lowered itself onto its haunches. It was beautiful in a strange way. Its legs were covered in shaggy hair, its body with dark, glossy fur. At the neck the creature’s fur turned to dark feathers which covered the beast’s round head. It had bright, intelligent eyes. The beak was large and bone white, curing down into a sharp peak. The creature’s tail had no hair, but rather a tough, leathery hide. Zollin could see the muscles flexing just beneath the thick skin.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Zollin said. “And my only command is that you do not hurt me or Brianna.”
The creature called Aberration didn’t move.
Zollin walked slowly backwards, so that he was out of range of the beast’s tail. Then he turned to Brianna, who was standing tall at her perch. She had a arrow nocked and drawn. She was aiming it at the beast.
Zollin called out to her.
“Brianna. It’s all right now. I’m going to lower you down.”
Brianna nodded, but didn’t relax the bow or her aim. Even as she rose into the air and floated softly down beside Zollin she kept her bow trained on the creature.
“I think we’re okay,” Zollin told her.
“What do you mean?”
“It was made by a wizard. It has to obey me.”
“How do you know that?”
“It did everything I told it to do.”
“It could be a trick. How do you even know it understands you?”
“It can talk,” Zollin said.
“If it’s that smart it’s probably playing a trick. You can’t trust a wild creature like that.”
Brianna’s voice was strong, but her eyes were wide. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing and Zollin understood how she felt. He could hardly believe his eyes either, but there was something in the creature’s voice that told him it was telling the truth. He used his magic to pull the arrow out of the beast’s hind leg. It roared in pain.
“I’m sorry,” Zollin said, raising both hands. “I’m sorry. I’m just trying to help you.”
The creature hissed at them both, but didn’t come any closer. Zollin let his magic flow into the wound. The arrow had torn through muscle but didn’t sever any major arteries or pierce the bone. He knit the muscle fibers back together and then healed the shaggy hide.
“There, I healed you,” Zollin said. “We don’t want to hurt you.”
The creature stretched its leg but didn’t speak.
“Aberration, please tell us where you come from.”
The creature only hissed.
“Tell us now!” Zollin demanded.
“I was formed by the wizard Iccalis to fight against the Torr. But my master was defeated and I fled here.”
“Your master fought the Torr?” Zollin said in surprise. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know that anyone had ever resisted the wizards of the Torr. But that should make us allies. I too have fought the wizards of the Torr.”
“I have no allies,” the creature said. “I have no kind. I am an aberration. A magical freak.”
“You mean you’re all alone?” Brianna said. “Aren’t there other. .,” she searched for the right word to describe the creature, “animals like you?”
“No, I am not a beast of nature, but of magic.”
“What do you want?” Brianna asked.
“To survive,” it hissed.
Chapter 8
Zollin and Brianna were quiet for a moment. Zollin was surprised at how much compassion he felt for the creature. It was aptly named, a true aberration. He couldn’t imagine the effort it must have taken to transform the different animal parts into one, fully functioning creature. And there was also an element of magic that was totally foreign to Zollin. It reminded him that he still had so much to learn.
“I may be asking too much,” Zollin said softly, stepping closer to Aberration. “But I’d like to be your friend. I don’t need anything from you. And I won’t command you to do anything against your will.”
Aberration hissed. It was an eerie sound, one Zollin had heard frightened animals make before in an effort to scare away their attackers. It took all of Zollin’s courage to stand still.
“Prove it,” said Aberration. “Release me.”
“Zollin,” Brianna said quietly, “are we sure this is a good idea?”
“No,” Zollin replied. “I’m not sure, but I’m sincere.” He turned his full attention to Aberration. “I release you,” he said.
The creature stood up and shook its body, like a wet dog trying to get dry. Its tail curled up over its back, ready to strike. It looked at Brianna and said, “Tell her to lower the weapon.”
“Brianna,” Zollin said.
“I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“It’s a show of good faith,” he implored her. “We’ve got to show some trust if we want some in return.”
Brianna bit her lower lip. She was scared. Zollin had magical defenses. She had seen him attacked by the dragon and come through unscathed. She had no illusions that she could do the same. If Aberration attacked Zollin she wasn’t sure if she could anything to save him, or herself for that matter. But she trusted Zollin. He wouldn’t risk her life, or at least she didn’t think he would. She took a deep breath and then lowered her bow, letting the string come back to its resting position, but she kept the arrow nocked and both of her hands on the weapon.
“I didn’t think it was possible,” said Aberration. The creature’s voice was high pitched and hard to understand, but it lowered its tail and everyone relaxed a little. “I don’t have friends, but I will leave you in peace wizard.”
“May I ask one favor of you?” Zollin said.
When the beast eyed him wearily, the intelligence in the avian eyes was almost startling to Brianna.
“What do you want?”
“I have a dragon to find and kill,” Zollin said. “That is why we have come so far into the mountains. And I’m not sure what the future holds after that. The Torr still wants me, I suppose. But I would like to come back someday. I would like to learn more of you, of your history. Would that be acceptable?”
“If you come in peace,” Aberration said. “I will answer your questions.”
The creature gave a slight bow of its head and then it raced away, the wind from its passing making Zollin and Brianna tense up. It was hard to believe that any creature could move so rapidly.
“Well, we learned one thing,” Zollin said. “Your strategy for the dragon just might work. That was one amazing shot you made. I’ve never seen an animal move that fast.”
“It was a lucky shot, really. I just guessed and took a chance.”
Brianna had moved over to where her arrow lay. She picked it up and inspected it. It was stained with blood but still straight and in good shape. She put it back in her quiver.