“Now see here,” Josh scolded lightly, “this is a very important mission and I have to do it right! So it’s your job to hide me for at least an hour. I need a nap. You understand?”

The gargoyle stared blankly back at him, not moving. Of course it didn’t. It was a statue. Statues didn’t move. Also, Josh was a cat. Cross-species language understanding was only a trait of dragons. Josh stood on wobbly legs and climbed unsteadily into the nook of the gargoyle’s tail. The stone was a hard bed, but it was more important not to be discovered. Drakon before he was Drakon was in the castle somewhere, and that dragon would tear a little kitten up with a look. Josh was barely more than a mouthful! Wuuuu…

“The meeting is supposed to happen the night after his fifteenth birthday party,” Josh told the gargoyle. “If the magic is right, that should be in three days. But I’m so tired~! Ritual magic makes me sleepy.” He yawned, showing off sharp little teeth, and looked up the stone back. “And I’m talking to rocks.” It would get worse as time went on; after finding out the needed information Josh would need to survive on the edges of the world as time crept slowly forward. Time travel only worked one way; he would spend most of his life lonely and small as he made his future impact as small as possible. Maybe around 50 years or so as a kitten. A kitten! Not even a cat, because his magic was messed up.

People would notice a kitten that never grew up. It was impossible for him to hide in a normal household. Beastkin like Josh simply weren’t accepted. Life as a pet would be difficult, too, as he would need at least some time in human form to recover his mana and stay sane.

Josh’s ears perked at the sound of boots in the hallway. “Mr. Gargoyle, I need to move. I’ll be back for a nap!” Josh called as he darted away. “A map would have been nice,” he grumbled to himself, though really that was his own fault. Josh’s magic wasn’t normal and he couldn’t manage to keep items like maps, shoes, his glasses, or even his clothes when he changed between kitten and human. He was bad at memorizing things too, and even more frustrating: an accurate map didn’t exist in the future. But - pant, pant - why did this place have to be so big! Wah~! Josh was such a small little kitten with short legs and getting anywhere just made him tired.

“Did you hear?”

Josh froze. He’d darted under a side table with a long tablecloth, so he shouldn’t be visible. He also had on the special collar Polaris gave him to keep him invisible and silent. The cloth on the table still moved when Josh slid under the table though! Had they noticed? It was a female voice, so it wasn’t a knight, and Josh heard light giggles following the question.

“His Grace’s son took a legion of knights through the town on parade this time! Oh, Sir Easton was so handsome sitting beside His Young Grace!” Josh knew that ‘his grace’ meant the Duke, so ‘his grace’s son’ and ‘his young grace’ must both refer to Drakon. Did nobles throw parades on their birthdays or something?

“And did you see the newest knights with him?” the companion asked, just as soft as her friend. “They were so big!”

“Well they have to get all muscled up to fight those beastkin armies, you know. Those brutes are just mindless animals…”

Hmph! Josh, disgusted, poked his head out from under the table and scampered away when they wouldn’t notice. Knights were scary enough without all the big muscles! Even bears wouldn’t face a knight if they didn’t have to! And what army? Beastkin didn’t have any organization around this time, and village males banding together to protect their home could hardly be called an ‘army.’ Those maids were just mindlessly talking about Josh’s ancestors without knowing anything!

And what would they think when their precious ‘grace’s son’, Kit Morrison, became a beastkin himself? And not just any beastkin either! That bastard of a human managed to unlock the secret of the dragon transformation and became the emperor tyrant that brought the whole world to ruin! Kit Morrison would become Drakon, the bloody emperor, and would they still praise him for his parades then? No! They’d pee their pretty panties instead!

Josh shrugged his shoulders so the collar settled more comfortably around his throat. Polaris had buckled it a bit too tight and Josh had to fight the urge to just rip it off. He had a mission, and that mission would be harder without the collar! It was his job to find the place where the historic meeting took place, eavesdrop on the meeting to discover the secret to becoming a dragon beastkin, and then stay hidden until he could deliver that information to the Polaris of the future. He had to be in the right place at the right time or finding that information would be too difficult!

And Drakon wouldn’t want that information getting out. He’d be on the lookout for spies. Staying invisible was key to completing the mission safely. Ripping it off would waste precious mana and put him at risk of being seen.

“So uncomfortable,” Josh grumbled, stopping for a moment to sit and scratch at the band around his neck. It rubbed his fur the wrong way. He stood and shook himself before he tried another corridor, then tripped over his own paws when he almost walked face-first into a pair of the Duke’s knights. It was a mad scramble to stay out of the way of all those feet. Eeeeek! He was a small kitten, not a soccer ball!

“Three days!” Josh yowled to the pair of knights that couldn’t hear him. “Just don’t kick me for three days, okay! I promise I’ll run off and live in the woods alone if I can manage that long!”

“Huh?” one of the pair stopped, turning and looking down the hall where Josh huddled in the nook of an old alcove. Nggggg. His side was all bruised now! Dodging the feet had worked until the scabbard had knocked him sideways. Josh licked at his side until the fur laid down properly again, sniffing to make sure there wasn’t any blood.

“What’s wrong?” the other knight asked. Josh almost wished they could see him so they’d regret hitting him so hard. That would be bad, though, so Josh scooted further into the alcove.

The first knight shook his head. “Guess it was nothing. Just thought I heard something.”

“You hit something, stupid!” Josh grumbled. “Me! Now get out of here before I get really mad!”

The knights moved on without ever noticing him and Josh grudgingly stood and limped his way out of the empty alcove. He needed to find another one with a statue in it. Naps were in order, and this time he wasn’t going to let some silly maids scare him off!