Fangs and Fur- Sneak Peek
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Once he started thinking, he knew it was his ninth life. He couldn’t have explained how he knew. Most cats did not remember which of their lives they were living, but he knew it just as he knew his black fur was meant for the night. It was just true.
Knowing such an important thing about himself at such a tender age, he dreamed of things far beyond ordinary kitten dreams. Not that he didn’t dream of chasing bugs and catching his mama’s tail, or of the bits of string he’d once found in a dumpster, and the sunniest spot in the woods—of course he did.
But he also dreamed of things he’d never seen. He’d walked the walls of a giant monstrosity made of stone and molten metal that towered above the trees. In his dream, he knew it was a place called a “castle,” but he also knew he’d never heard that word before and certainly had never stepped paw in one.
He’d sniffed the carcass of a beast unlike any creature in his woods, rough-skinned and horned. He’d lurked in the shadows of a sun turned black. He’d slept on the dais of an altar, witnessed a two-leg woman give birth to four babies that all lived, and fled the calamity of battle alongside the family who had mattered most.
He didn’t know what many of the things he dreamed of were. He was a kitten after all, even if it was his ninth life. Perhaps he dreamed of things he’d seen in his past lives, or maybe he dreamed of things only a kitten who knew it was his last life could dream.
At first, he thought it would be best for his ninth life if he could be like his mama, as she was a most exemplary feline. His mama had taken her territory in the woods beyond town four years ago and had ruled fairly and fiercely, only hunting animals stupid enough to be stalked, and only taking what she needed to eat. Not a single rodent dared come within a mile of their den, and the crows always flew above the canopy when they crossed over her woods. She could jump very, very high, and she never, ever missed.
The two-legs in town were fascinated by her, just as the creatures of the forest feared her. They would constantly nag at her to come near, which is why she’d taught him to avoid their attention whenever he could, and when he couldn’t, to ignore them.
She taught him everything he didn’t already know, like how to tell which two-legs were kindly and which ones were faking. She also knew things like how to find the cleanest water and the safest spots to sleep. He imagined she must have been on her third life at least since she was so clever.
Which is all why it made perfect sense. If he could be as renown as his mama, surely his ninth life would be grand.
But his ninth-life dreams were too big for even the grandest feline fortune.
“What is magic?” he asked his mama one evening.
They’d hunted for hoppers in the tall grasses while she’d prowled for game that twilight. When dusk deepened into darkness, she’d returned with three mice for them. While his sisters ate, he couldn’t shake the curious dream he’d had during his afternoon nap.
She turned her sleek black head toward him, her orange eyes glowing.
“Magic?” She stared off into the looming gloom, thinking. “Magic is for the two-legs. We have no need of it.”
“But what is it, mama?” he asked.
“It is not our way,” she said patiently.
“But why?” he insisted.
His mama eyed him unblinking for a moment. “In town, there is a woman who lives on the corner with the leaning oak tree, in the house with the red brick fence. Do you remember her?”
“Yes, mama,” he said. “You taught us she is kindly. Sometimes she leaves out scraps by the back door.”
“Yes, very good. I’ve heard the two-legs ask her for magic. I’ve never seen it myself, but she knows,” she said.
That night, curled up next to his mama’s soft belly along with his six sisters, he dreamt of magic. Though he didn’t know what it smelled, tasted, felt, looked, or sounded like, and he didn’t remember it in the morning, he knew it had been a magicky dream.
The Fangs and Fur prequel will be a short novella from Toad’s POV set prior to the events of the series. It will be published before Volume 1 in the series, though an official release date is TBD.