The panther leapt and brought him down. When she had him on the ground she bit his forearm. Lasgol could feel her sharp fangs piercing the leather protections, and the strength of her bite on his arm.
Ona. Let go.
She opened her jaws obediently and moved back.
All right. Maybe we ought to try a more subtle approach.
Ona looked at him blankly and gave a little moan.
She not understand. I not too.
I mean by disarming the opponent without bringing him down. Just to go for the weapon.
Understand, Camu transmitted.
Right then, Ona. Let’s try again, but this time attack me from the side and go for the weapon first.
Lasgol did not need to explain twice, because the panther understood at once. She stalked Lasgol from behind, crept close, then with a sideways leap went for his forearm and closed her jaws tightly on it.
Well done! he told her, at the same time shaking his arm to ease the pain. Not even all that protection was enough to protect him from his panther’s fangs.
Camu meanwhile was flexing his four legs. Me. Me.
Are you sure?
Yes. Sure.
Okay then. You go too. He showed him the knife in front of his own chest.
Camu gave a huge leap, imitating Ona, as if he too were a panther, and bit Lasgol’s forearm. As he had expected, Camu’s tiny teeth failed to penetrate the protective layers.
See? Your teeth can’t bite.
Bite no, Camu transmitted, and went on biting Lasgol’s arm.
Well, there you are … you’re not a panther … you’re a reptile … or something like that… Lasgol was trying not to hurt the creature’s feelings because he was unable to bite like a cat.
I can pinch.
Pinch? All of a sudden Lasgol felt a tremendous pressure on his wrist.
Camu? What are you doing?
The pressure grew stronger, and he began to feel an intense pain. It seemed that his wrist was about to be crushed by the tremendous pressure Camu’s jaws were exerting on his forearm and wrist.
He was forced to drop his weapon. “Ouch!”
Camu opened his mouth and freed him. I can, he transmitted triumphantly, and began his dance of happiness. Ona joined him, pleased at her partner’s achievement.
Lasgol shook his arm and wrist, which were now useless and painful. Every day he found out something new about Camu, and it was always something amazing. With the use of his arm still not fully regained, he set off toward the mission which awaited them, and which in all probability would have a few more surprises in store.
Chapter 3
When they arrived at the outskirts of the village of Isverien, Lasgol stopped to survey it from a distance, together with the winding road that led to it amid fields. It was quite a large village, and if it went on growing, it would soon reach the size of a small town. Unlike Skad, it was not a mining village; its inhabitants cultivated crops and were cattle-farmers on a small scale. It was in the far northwest of the realm, and one of the chief grain-producers for the West. It was said that if Isverien had a bad harvest, the adjoining regions would go hungry. Lasgol had always wanted to visit this area and enjoy its cultivated landscape, but had never had the chance. This mission was offering him the opportunity, and he did not intend to waste it.
As he stared out at the buildings on the horizon, he knew that bringing Ona into the village would not be a good idea. There were too many people there, and the three of them would get into trouble. The best thing would be to leave her with Camu.
Ona, Camu, go around the village without being seen. We’ll meet at the other end, the north side.
Not come? Camu transmitted, sounding disappointed.
Best not to take Ona there. People get frightened and nervous when they see her. And when they are a lot of them, they act stupidly …
Attack Ona.
Lasgol nodded. That’s right. I want to avoid an accident.
Ona defend.
Yes, that’s exactly what I want to avoid, either them hurting her or her hurting someone in self-defense.
I understand.
I’ll see you on the other side as soon as I’ve spoken to the village chief.
We wait there. Camu transmitted. Ona gave a mournful moan.
It’ll only be for a short while, he promised, and the two friends went into the forest to the east.
Let’s go, Trotter, Lasgol transmitted to his faithful pony, and they set off to the entrance of the village past the fields. Lasgol, who was not used to seeing such large expanses of cultivated land, looked at them with interest. He wondered what the farmers had planted. It was not long before he saw several men intent on their daily tasks. A farmer’s life was always hard, which was a constant through the whole of Tremia, but especially in Norghana, because of the hostile climate. The farmers had to work their land without pause to feed their families, particularly during the productive times of year. Once autumn, and then in particular winter, reached the North, the farmer needed to have his barns well-stocked to survive the icy winters. Unfortunately, this was not always the case. Lasgol remembered these lessons his father Dakon had taught him when he was a child. It was curious, he thought, how the mind worked, making him suddenly remember things like this as he watched the farmers working in their fields.
He exchanged greetings with a couple of them as he passed. He would have liked to have stopped and asked them about their work, but as they seemed very busy, he went on. He guessed it must be cereal crops that they were planting, although in some places he could see vegetables and even some fruit trees.
When he
