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It was a Dark and Stormy Night…
Dustin and Amaya

The wooden window shutters rattled from the rumbling thunder. The room lit up with from threads of lightning finding its way past the wood slats. Dustin continued stirring his stew pot warming over the fire in the hearth. Despite the warmth of the fire, he still felt a chill of foreboding from storm raging outside.

He left the stew pot to check the animals on the other side of the room. He’d brought them into the one room house when the sky started to darken. They seemed to be weathering the storm in a calmer state then he was. The chickens clucked quietly in one corner pecking the straw in their makeshift coop. His cow, Daisy, lazily chewed her cud while tethered in the other. The cats were scattered around, some on the hearth, some in the rafters.

Dustin’s small stone house wasn’t a place he could ever expect to bring a wife to and expect her to be happy, but it suited his needs for the time being. It was spacious enough when the weather was good and the animals lived outside. With no one to help him build a barn, his brought his treasured livestock into the house for safekeeping during nasty weather like the storm that raged outside.

During a rather loud roll of thunder, Dustin thought he heard a knock on the door. He would have thought it just his imagination if the animals hadn’t quieted and turned their attention to door as well. Another rap, a little louder this time, made him hurry to the door to let in whatever poor soul was floundering in the watery torrent.

A hooded figure stood outlined in the doorway as he opened the door. “Come in, come in,” Dustin said hastily. “No one should out on a night like tonight.”

“Your hospitality is most appreciated,” said a gravelly voice. Hands, wrapped against the cold, pushed back the hood to reveal a lined face framed by dark wet ringlets.

“Let me help you with that,” said Dustin. “you looked to be soaked through.” The elderly gentleman allowed Dustin to take his cloak and hang it by the fire to dry. “Do have a seat by the fire. I have some stew in the pot if you’re hungry.”

“I’m afraid I was delayed and poorly judged the distance I needed to travel. Trudging all night seemed to be my fate until a flash of light revealed your abode. I would have been glad to simply find relief from the downpour on my head, but I’ve been blessed to find a welcoming fire as well.”

“My home is simple, but you’re quite welcome to share my hearth and dinner. It’s quite a good stew, if I do say so myself.”

“Then I would be pleased to try some. Your generosity is quite appreciated.”

After getting the gentleman settled by the fire, Dustin prepared a bowl of stew and a thick slice of bread for each of them. Sitting down with his own bowl in hand, Dustin was relieved to notice that the visitor didn’t seem to mind the presence of animals in the structure with them. In fact, he seemed pleased that the animals were well cared for.

Over the meal, the two shared news, the usual activity when two strangers meet. The visitor told of happenings far from White Wolf and Dustin shared the rumors of the small bartering town of Whitewolf. The conversation eventually wound itself around to the local feelings about the Kage. Whitewolf was one of the few areas where people accepted the Kage, even if they didn’t trust them. The old man seemed particularly interested in Dustin’s feelings on the subject. It wasn’t often that Dustin was asked to share his opinion so he was happy to oblige the visitor’s questions. Dustin was curious about the creatures, but like most that didn’t know much about them, he was a little leery of them. From the robes the old man wore, Dustin suspected that his visitor was a mage so sharing his feelings about the Kage seemed a safe thing to do. The Red Kingdom seldom sent anyone to the Whitewolf area anyway.

****

A quietness woke Dustin. He stirred on the blankets he’d spread before the hearth the night before. Sitting up he stirred the embers to bring them to life. He looked towards his bed that he’d offered to his visitor the night before. The elderly gentleman had gratefully accepted. His past nights on the road had only offered a hard ground for resting on. Dustin thought the gentleman still slept, but then he realized that it was only the blankets lying in a heap on the bed. He glanced at where he’d hunt the cloak the night before. It was gone. Going outside to see if the old man had gone out for a smoke, though he hadn’t shown an inclination for the tobacco the night before, Dustin found nothing but the bright morning sun. He walked to the road to see if the cloaked figure was heading to town, but no one was on the road. He sighed. He’d been looking forward to a morning conversation. He didn’t often have visitors and there was more that he wanted ask. Dustin realized how much he missed having someone who could answer when he talked to them.

Dustin wasn’t one to worry about such things for long. He busied himself bringing the animals back outside. The cats were already out looking for field mice. He led Daisy to her pen and let the chickens run loose. After cleaning up after the animals, he went to tidy up the rumpled blankets on the bed. Pulling the blankets off the bed, a gleaming white body with red and black markings was revealed. The blankets he’d intended to take outside hung limply in his hands.

His first thought was that the old man had transformed into a creature, but no, his cloak and other belongings were gone. Had the gentleman repaid his kindness by leaving him another mouth to feed? And what did he need with a pet dog? Even a hunting dog was no use to him since he didn’t own a gun.

The creature stirred on the bed, lifting its head to look up at Dustin. He gasped, stepping back quickly. Green eyes, he thought distastefully. A Kage? Just as quickly the eyes closed and the head dipped down. Dustin felt a sense of not being wanted. Could it hear his thoughts? Could it really communicate with him like he’d heard they could?

Dustin had seen the creatures in town when he visited for bartering. He’d been curious about them, but never dared approach anyone that was accompanied by one. And now here was one curled up in his bed.

“Why did the mage leave you here?” he wondered aloud.

I needed a home, came the reply.

As easily as that, he thought wonderingly. It talked to him. She talked to him. He suddenly realized the thoughts had a feminine touch to them.

If I’m not wanted, I will leave.

Dustin was still a bit dumfounded that he could actually hear its thoughts, but the sad tone that conveyed them touched his kind heart.

“Well, if the storm brought the mage to my doorstep, then perhaps you were meant to come here,” said Dustin. “I’ll not throw you out. Whether you be animal or… something else, you may stay here.”

Dustin couldn’t explain the feeling of hope that came over him. He knew Kage were brought to life with souls from the dead, but it never occurred to him that they had feelings too. Dustin felt that a need he didn’t know he had, had been filled.

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