The road is going towards the fish lake where all the kittens normally try to catch their own fish. The forest is very green here, full of grass and big, old trees with lots and lots of green leaves which are preventing sunlight from entering the jungle. We enter the small hills on the left. There are green flowers…and dead skvaders all around us. Kis and Mis stop in front of the dead body of a skvader.

When I come closer Mis asks me, "Did you hear that voice?" 

"No, I don't hear any voice."

I guess my elixir was too strong. I move forward to take a closer look at the skvader, "This one was hit by a claw."

Kis, running to another, "And this one’s head is missing." 

"I’ve found another one here. Looks like it was stepped on and crushed into the ground." says Mis, then suddenly she looks up "Me, why me?" 

"Who are you talking to?" Kis asks even before I can. 

"Uh, I do not know. Just a voice…But, I have been chosen to protect Princess Meow. I cannot say anything more than this, so don't ask. Only time will tell."

My focus moves away from this when Kis yells, "This one is alive!" 

I hurry over to him. It is a skvader with wings. Its one wing is broken and an ear is missing. Blood is flowing out from where the missing ear was. 

I speak to this little fellow with happiness in my tone. "You are lucky today, I have just bought an elixir that can heal!"

I take some of the elixir and pour a few drops on it’s broken wing and injured ear and some more down it’s throat. It takes two seconds for it to start jumping around me lively.

"Look at it, hehe!" I laugh. 

Mis lifts it up, but this yarn ball just jumps flying between us and shows us it’s gratitude. 

Suddenly we hear some nearby kitties shout for help. The skvader quickly flies away and my little blue bird, making some noise, comes down to me. I think a fight is going to take place very soon. 

((END OF CHAPTER 1))

Chapter 2 - The Shadow-crawler

We arrive at the lake as fast as we can. Standing by the lake, the first thing we see is four little kittens running back to the Southern Fish Town as the creature is crawling behind them like a cat on a hunt.

"You! Stupid shadow crawler!" I yell so loud that my voice flows with the tide, reaching the ears of that creature. It stops to look at us. The kittens stop and quickly take cover behind some rocks.

As the elixir is still in effect, Kis also yells at it, "Come and play with us!" After that, he turns to me, "Meow, you have a plan, right?" 

"A plan? Of course, I don't have that. We are cats, right?" Hearing this, they start to laugh. 

"But, a little plan, actually, I do have. Just need to catch it with the power of Princess." 

The shadow crawler begins to run towards us. Now I can see why it is called a “shadow” crawler. It is as light as a shadow, running like that so easily on the water. Never seen anyone doing this before.

I quickly implant my stick’s one end on the ground, “Princess power, I command you, awake!” My staff starts to glow, emitting a golden light. “Oh magic tree, help me. Oh earth power, oh my dear forest, come, join me. Your princess is calling. Please, help me catch this harmful creature."

My Princess stick begins to shake. Calling out to nature is working. With one paw I hold my princess stick firmly, and with another I aim at the shadow crawler. The roots of the trees from the forest start flowing up. I can feel the heart of the woods responding to my call.

The shadow crawler is very fast. Again and again, the water splashes just fly away like bombs as it smoothly runs towards the side of the lake where we are standing. My only hope is the roots around us that came out from the ground. Never have I ever seen a forest like this. Roots come from all directions to catch the shadow crawler, but they couldn’t beat its speed. So quickly it casts itself over us and starts attacking. I just duck in time, but Kis doesn’t seem to be lucky enough. The shadow crawler’s tail’s sharp end, which looks like a knife, hits him hard in the heart and he falls down on the ground, immovable. Its long claws make a sharp screeching sound during their friction with the ground as it hits the break. The big animal's mouth is so big, and its throat is so long and thick. Again, I try to catch it with the roots, using the power of earth, but the creature is too fast. It even slaughters some of the roots with its tail. Between all these continuous fighting, I take a quick look at Kis. He is not breathing anymore. I could have done better and saved his life. But I failed him.

"Mis, my powers cannot reach it." 

Mis hurries to take an elixir from my belt right before the shadow crawler attacks us in the same way as before, again. We quickly separate and roll on opposite sides. 

"Meow, we need to take it down as animal to animal!"

I agree with her thought. We need to go on all fours and use our gift as cats to defeat it. We have claws as well.

"What are the effects of this elixir, Meow?" 

"If I’m correct, it should give you the power of your inner cat soul."

"Whoa! The voice was right!"

The voice? Again? What secrets is she even bearing? 

"Mis, I have never tested it." 

Ignoring me, she pours it all down her throat. I hope it won't kill her before we kill the shadow crawler. But if the elixir works properly then it will be my best one till date. 

"Mis, we attack together. You jump up and I slide under it." We go on all fours and our fur grows. We make a sound as we declare a war with our opponent, “Mijawwwww.”

The creature turns around and looks at us. We run towards our evil enemy. As I thought. It makes the same move. It jumps up a little from the ground to step on me. Mis, of course, jumps higher than it. Now it has to divert all its focus on her from me. The shadow crawler rises its tail against Mis, giving me enough space to slide underneath it. At the same time, I launch an attack on its stomach with my big claws, and Mis transforms in the air. She becomes a small cat, and the shadow crawler's tail passes by her, without hitting her. I quickly turn to watch my prey. Black blood comes out from its stomach and spreads all over the place. It even gets on my cape. It makes a sound I have never heard before. Then, falling on the ground, it keeps throwing its mighty claws and legs continuously, creating scratch marks everywhere. After the creature stops moving totally, I check on it to confirm that it's dead. The atmosphere gets quiet. I start to look around for Mis, “Miiiiiiis, where are you?”

I hear her happy 'Mijaw' as she replies to me, but all I see is her clothes on the ground. 

"Mis, are you under the clothes?" 

From under the clothes, another 'Mijaw' comes out first, and then a normal cat pops out and jumps on me.

"Holy mijaw! Mis! You are a cat! Not even a cat-cat’s soul, but a real cat! The one I have only ever had dreams of."

"Mijaw?" She tilts her head.

“Sorry, Mis. I do not understand what you’re saying.”

She bows to me, still knowing who I am. She has turned into a normal white cat, with black paws and a normal tail. The elixir does work and lets one get the power of their cat soul, but not in the way I hoped for it to work. I must figure out how to bring Mis back to her original form. 

We look at Kis. He’s lying dead on the ground in front of us. If only my elixir could bring back the dead to life instead of only healing the Injured.

"I am so sorry, Kis. I did not see that coming… your death will never let us forget how a shadow crawler attacks. Do you not agree, Mis?" 

"Mijaw" 

I close my eyes and search for inner peace as only a princess can do… 

"My wing wolf, please, don’t let this soul get destroyed. Take it to a new body. Save it."

A sudden sound gives me a shock. I quickly open my eyes and see lots of snowflakes continuously coming out of nowhere. All the flakes gather together and take the form of a wolfman. A real white wing wolf, with magnificent wings large enough to cover his whole body.

"Princess Meow, what have you done?!" he exclaims. 

"Me? No, no, Flake. It was…" I look into his eyes, and something tells me that I should not say any more. 

 "Yes, princess?" 

"Nevermind. Can you please take Kis’s soul with you?"

"Of course. You know, you always have my support as I always support the real alpha."

"What do you mean by that?" 

Flake walks over to Kis’s body to take a look at him, "As cats will say, purr fellow." He laughs a little over his own words as he comes closer to me and begins to whisper, "You know Thunder, right?"

"Yes, the old alpha of the wing wolves."

"Yes. He has fallen from the ‘Alpha of Wing Wolves’ post as he failed to protect the magic tree. But I tell you, I think Shadow, the new alpha is behind all this. He conspired against Thunder so that he could take over the power. Anyways, if you, ever, need only my help again, please, use this and say my name." He gives me a beautiful little blue stone, full of magic, I assume. Maybe I can trust him, but not all the wing wolves. 

"Thanks. By the way, Flake, it was a shadow crawler that killed Kis.” I point at the shadow crawler lying on the ground in a pool of black blood, "That one over there." 

Flake goes over to the shadow crawler, takes his big wings out, and does something. I can’t see what he is doing because of his wings. All I see is a shining light. Then he looks at me, "I shall take this lost soul back to the temple of souls. Thank you, Meow."

"One last question, my wing wolf. Mis here, heard some voices that speaks to her, was it you?"

"I heard it too. It was the voice of the white scroll. She has become the scroll’s animal. Now, take care, princess."

Then he disappears, leaving behind some magical snowflakes falling to the ground.

"Mis, did you understand anything about that?" 

"Mijaw…"

"Uh! Right. You may not tell me about the voice, my protector. Hehe." I bow to her. 

My quest is done here. I should contact my High Princess now. But that I shall not do here, better at home. Never know who might be listening.

"Come, Mis, we’re going home. Maybe the High Princess knows how to turn you back." 

"Mijaw." 

We walk away, leaving behind Kis’s and the shadow crawler’s dead bodies lying there on the ground out and cold.

Dear reader, thanks for reading the first two chapters of this novel. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did while making this world only for you!

It was just two little waterdrops of the sea.

We are hoping to release the book in 2024.

Please sign up to stay tuned!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lars_laustsen/

Discord: https://discord.gg/9JMUDTgBFz

Linkr.bio/therealmofthecat-people