of crumbling fortress. For a moment the spirit flames hovered, shimmering, flickering so intensely, that the boy could barely stand the brightness. He shielded his eyes with his hand just as the flames billowed together, ascending upward to vanish through a window.
A meow startled Rasson as the cat wove between his legs.
The boy bent to stroke Prosh. 'Are the souls returning to their bodies?' he asked, his fingers drawing comfort from the cat's soft fur. 'And shall Master, Mistress, and Cook live now?'
The boy started up the stairs, but halted as Prosh declared,
The cat led Rasson to a wide wooden door. The boy tried to raise the board barring the door, but it stuck. His left arm was sore and he dared not let go of the herb bag, but he tried again. He shoved hard, finally jamming the bar upward to unlatch the door.
Just as the boy pushed the heavy door open to let in a rush of sweet fresh air, a terrible wail echoed through the fortress, shaking the walls, and jolting Rasson with sheer terror. He wanted to race out the door into the night, but a yowl from Prosh spun him around as a pointed shaft of ice penetrated the cat's paw, spearing it to the floor.
'I won't leave you.' Rasson grabbed the ice spear; it burned his palms with cold, but he held on until he wrenched it free.
Horror gripped Rasson as he looked up to see shadowy, cavern-eyed figures floating down the stairs. He aimed the ice shaft at them and threw with all his might.
The spear passed right through the leader, who just kept coming. Behind them the ice hit a stair and broke into pieces. The soul robbers neared Rasson, emitting an evil that sucked at his strength and cloaked him in heavy dread. Teeth chattering, death moving ever closer, the boy drew his knife.
With frantic desperation, Rasson scooped a handful of herbs from the bag and tossed them at the spectral robbers. The herbs sprayed into arrows of fire, piercing the front three soul robbers with a kaleidoscope of sparks. Banshee wails shook the walls as the figures burst into flames.
Two more robbers charged forward. The boy threw another handful of herbs, leaving the bag nearly empty. The herbs flew through the air, transforming into burning arrows to bombard the moving targets. An unholy shriek ricocheted through the fortress as the figures exploded with magic fire.
Another shadow advanced.
Fighting down fear, Rasson emptied out the herbs. One chance. He watched the sinister figure approach, held his breath, and took aim. The herbs sparked and points of colored flame shot out. They hit their target to extinguish the robber with fiery death as a resounding wail echoed through the fortress.
All that remained of the soul robbers were red wisps of foul-smelling smoke. The boy watched the smoke dissipate. It blew away on a breeze gusting through the open door.
'We did it!' Rasson cried, turning back to the cat, who was licking the injured paw. There would be no walking on that foot, Rasson knew. The boy swept Prosh up with his good arm and cuddled the cat close. 'I shall carry you home, brave cat.'
Rasson ripped off the end of the cloth on his arm and very gently bound the cat's paw. 'Are you strong enough to travel home tonight?'
'You're so remarkable, Prosh,' Rasson said, stroking the feline. 'Sometimes it's hard to believe you're only a cat.'
Cat Prosh purred and nuzzled against Rasson's shoulder.
Ede's Earrings by Sasha Miller
The magician's house was not a happy place these days. The air fairly quivered with misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and-not the least of it-downright stubbornness on the parts of both the magician and his cat.
'Don't you clatter those things at me,' Ferdon said. 'Not another time! You're wrong, and there's an end to it.'
Ede glared at him and shook her head, causing the jeweled rings in her ears to jangle even more defiantly. Then she stalked off, head high, tip of tail twitching in annoyance.
'I'm going to do it anyway,' Ferdon called after Ede. 'There's no reason not to! There's no harm in it-' But he was talking to the air. With a last clinking of jewels, Ede had leapt to the window sill and vanished. 'Right. Go outside and sulk, you ridiculous cat. Who needs your help, let alone your interference? Next time I'll have a frog or an owl for a Companion, just you mark me well.'
But it was an empty threat, and Ferdon knew it even before the words were out of his mouth. Ede had come to him-as magicians' Companions always did-of her own will, already versed in Companion lore and already wearing the jewels in her ears. At first, appalled at what he conceived to have been cruelty to the cat, he had tried to remove the earrings only to find that there was no way to take them off, short of destroying them, and that method of removal he was instinctively loath to try. Nor was there a discernible weld in the two thin gold rings. They would have fit loosely on his thumb, and were strung with gold, emerald, and sapphire beads that clinked softly with every movement, and simply were there, as much a part of Ede as her blue-green eyes. She had a most unusual ruddy brown coat, each hair banded and tipped with black; a dark stripe accentuated her back while her belly and the undersides of her legs were creamy in color. Bands of dark tipping circled her throat like necklaces and the capital letter 'M' on her forehead-the mark of cats the world over-stood out vividly.
Ferdon was young, as magicians go, and Ede was his first Companion. Only when he had done some research in his extensive and as yet largely unread library had he discovered how lucky he was. He had bought the books complete with the house, from the elderly physician-mage whose practice he had taken over when the old man retired. Magister Grinden had accumulated a number of volumes over the years, and among them was a small book, bound in purple leather, a book he had not encountered at the Academy. The very finest Companions, according to the chapter he read in 'Arkane Magick et Jewells et Cartes' were cats from Egypt. This Ede undeniably was, for there were many colored drawings in the book and one, entitled 'Aegypttian Catte,' could have been a portrait of her. Furthermore, the best Companions always had rings in their ears. Sometimes the cats even had some magical powers of their own.
Ferdon discovered that Ede was a Companion with a strong sense of what was wrong and what was right. When he seemed on the brink of doing something of which Ede did not approve, she jangled the rings as a warning. She had saved him from several blunders in the past, such as the time one townwife wanted him to wither her neighbor's flowers. Considering what the neighbor's lapdog had done to his client's begonias, he had been ready to oblige her. Ede 's even disposition changed; she became terribly agitated, shaking her head and pawing at her earrings to make the beads jingle. He had to delay working the spell until she was in a more cooperative mood. Then he had learned how his client's son had unmercifully tormented the dog. Another incident, involving a farmer and the size of the litter he wanted from the sow bred to the local baron's prize boar, would certainly have had serious repercussions had he agreed to the farmer's wishes. But Ede had shaken her head, jangling her earrings,
