I woke to a large orange paw directly in front of my face. Razor-sharp claws scraped slowly across the front of the enclosure, sending shivers down my spine and leaving scratches on the surface.
The paw shifted and was quickly replaced by a massive green eye. It stared unblinkingly at me, following me wherever I tried to move.
All of a sudden, the orange paw peeked over the top of the enclosure and slashed through the air, just missing the top of my head. I fell flat on my stomach.
Where did this grasking fela1 come from?
I raised my head slightly. In front of me, the massive bulk of the largest fela I’d ever seen filled my vision. It eyed me hungrily.
Determined not to be this fatso’s main course, I backed away from the eyes until I was pressed into a tight corner on the far side of my clear prison.
With one fixed on the fela, my right hand drifted down the side of my snai-skin2 to the sheath on my left leg and pulled out my blue steel skeen3.
I knew I had zero chance of survival if this thing decided to pounce, but I swore I was going to make it suffer for its meal.
The fela’s tail began to twitch back and forth, moving faster as it raised on its back haunches. I brandished my skeen and prepared myself for the worst.
Before I knew what was happening, two beefy hanuk hands grabbed the rotund fela and effortlessly lifted it out of my line of sight.
Then I heard a booming hanuk voice say,
“Get away from him, Blenda. That’s not a snack, that’s my friend.”
I heard the fat fela yowl as the hanuk opened a door, put the creature on the other side, and shut it kindly but firmly in the animal’s face.
A huge hanuk face filled up the front of my cage.
I tensed for a moment but, once again, I failed to die. Man, this Maras4 is a grecking joke!
The hanuk smiled and started to speak rapidly.
“Hey, little guy,” the hanuk said. “Are you okay? My name’s Jake. What’s yours? The cat’s gone, I promise, do you want to come out?”
Instead of answering his questions, I asked one of my own.
“Not so fast, Jake,” I said. “Why am I here? Why did you grab me? What do you want?”
The hanuk called Jake squinted at me, leaned closer to the cage, cupped his ear, and said,
“What?!”
Oh, for greck’s sake.
Kefita for cat.
Snai is the kefita word for squirrel. Snai-skin is leather made from squirrel skin.
Kefita for a short blade.
See chapter 1 for the definition of maras.