Uthar

 

by Ann Marie R. Harvie

The day I met my new best friend started much like any other. I rolled out of bed, jumped from the shower into my clothes and nearly burned myself as I quickly filled my travel mug with coffee and ran out the door.

After screeching into the office parking lot on two wheels, I barely made it to my desk on time. Just as I put down my backpack, my boss strolled over to let me know I had a meeting with an important client at 12:30 p.m., cutting my lunch hour in half. I smiled and nodded, but when he left, I rolled my eyes. Darn! I had a lunch date with a guy I met while I was grocery shopping last night. He was handsome and seemed like he had a great personality. I wanted to get to know him better. But not this afternoon I sighed to myself as I dialed his number. However, my heart skipped a beat when I heard his silky, baritone voice suggest drinks after work. Maybe the day would be so bad after all!

My morning was productive but uneventful. My growling stomach told me it was time for lunch. The fact that my lunch bag what not sitting beside me because of the canceled lunch date reminded me that I didn’t bring anything. Not wanting my stomach to be a third party in my important client meeting, I ran down the street to the supermarket Sushi bar. Certainly not high-end, but fresh. I realized I was running out of time, so I clumsily ate my sushi as I walked. I was only halfway through with my lunch when I realized that I would have to run to make my meeting on time. I spotted an adorable grey cat sitting on top of small historical shrine situated between high rises just ahead of me. I take my left over raw salmon and I placed it on the shrine in front of the cat. “Today’s your lucky day, Kitty,” I said.

I gave him a quick pat on the head before depositing my container in the trash and sprinted back to the office.

As I opened the door to the office building, I stopped short when I saw the cat in front of me. “Do you know I’ve been sitting on that stupid shrine for 200 years waiting for someone to bring me an offering,” it said.

My eyes went wide. What was in that sushi?! I didn’t have time for hallucinations. Not really believing I just heard a cat talk, I gently nudged him away from the front door with my foot so I could open the door. “That’s all I have, Kitty,” I said as I hurried back to my desk.

I grabbed my folder with the project status report and hurried to the conference room where I was supposed to have a one on one with my client. When I got there, the client had not yet arrived – but my furry friend did.

“Ugh! Who let you in, Kitty?” I asked as I rushed to pick him up. “You can’t be in here. My client will be here any minute.”

As I looked around the room frantically for a window to put the cat out – we were on the first floor and only a foot or so from the ground – the cat spoke again. “My name is not Kitty,” he said with a touch of annoyance in his male voice. “I am not a cat. I am a God. My name is Uthar.”

I placed the cat down on the conference table and I plopped myself down in a chair in front of him, still not believing he was talking. “That sushi wasn’t as fresh and I thought it was,” I said to myself.

“I’ve been waiting 200 years…”

I cut the god off. “Yes, yes so you’ve said. Look I have an important meeting…”

The god then cut me off. “A god has decided to befriend you, and you tell him you have a meeting?”

I eyed the little furball. He was adorable. The apartment was lonely with just me, so I decided either way he was coming home. “A god, huh? Why would a god want to befriend me?”

Uthar swished his tail. “I had been cursed to sit on that shrine until someone made an offering to me. In all this time, I’ve been petted, teased, tortured and have had food thrown at me. But no one ever offered me food in kindness until today. You have freed me from my shrine and I will reward you with friendship.”

Stilling thinking I was having some psychotic break, I said, “Well, you’re welcome. You don’t have to of anything for me. Your gratitude is enough.”

“Oh, come now, I am a very beneficial friend.”

Before I could argue further, my client knocked on the door. Uthar jumped off the table and hid under the far end. “Thank you!” I whispered as I opened the door.

To my surprise, the meeting went well. The client was happy with the progress I was making designing his storefront and said if I kept up the good work, I would get a bonus.

I left the conference room with my new cat in my arms and hid him under the desk, offering him water until I got home. Uthar sure enjoyed tuna fish and milk for a non-cat. As I got ready for my date, I asked Uthar which dress he liked better. “The red one,” he said between mouthfuls. “I don’t see why you are leaving to be with a mortal when you can spend your time with a god.”

“Humans want human contact,” I explained while I put on my make up. “Although I love that I have a talking cat.”

“I am not a cat.”

As I patted Uthar on the head, the doorbell rang. I opened the door and my date walked through.

Uthar reacted, and not in a good way.

My non-cat cat’s back went up and his hair stood on end. His big, blue eyes narrowed into slits and he bared his teeth as he let out a mighty hiss. My date took a step back and gave out a little laugh. “Whoa, Kitty! Calm down. What a tiger!”

I eyed Uthar and told to behave himself as I left with my date.

Worst date ever.

I couldn’t get home fast enough. Just as my new cat could magically talk, my date magically grew extra hands, or at least it seemed that way. After threats of assault charges, he apologized for grabbing and groping me and offered to take me home.

I stupidly accepted. Once home, I tried to close the door, but my date was right behind me and forced himself inside. He grabbed me, but I got away. I ran to the other side of my small, open concept apartment. I rushed past Uthar, who laid on the kitchen table. As soon as he saw me, he jumped up and resumed his protective, threatening stance. My date stopped advancing and regarded Uthar with a laugh. “Are you kidding me? Your killer cat is going to try to save you? I don’t think so.”

Uthar hissed once more, but it seemed much louder and more guttural than before. I eyed my cat. His teeth seemed way bigger than I remembered them earlier. Actually, he seemed a lot bigger.

Right in front of my eyes, my sweet grey kitty morphed into an obscenely large grey wolf. His pretty blue eyes were blood red, and one of his fangs were the length of my hand from fingertip to wrist.

My date also noticed the change. The color left his face as he fell over himself trying to get out of my apartment. Uthar bit his backside and tore a large hole in my date’s pants as a personal memento of the evening.

Once the real monster was out of the apartment, Uthar changed back into the small grey cat. That was it – I was convinced. My new cat, my new best friend, was really a god. I stood staring at him while he cleaned his faced with his paws. After a while I said. “Wow. Thanks, Uthar.”

He stopped cleaning himself and regarded me. “I am Uthar, God of Battle,” he bellowed. And then added matter-of-factly, “I told you I wasn’t a cat.”

And so began our life-long friendship. I’ve got to stay, it’s nice having a God as a BFF.

End.

Copyright 2017 Out of this World Publishing.  Photo courtesy of pixabay

Dragon Catchers

By Ann Marie R. Harvie

                Nine gaped at the giant, winged creature flying towards his single person space fighter.  “That’s a dragon?”

                The calm voice of his teammate Osto  echoed in his headset.  “Yep, that’s a dragon.”

                Although he was still a good distance away, Nine could see the 50-foot dragon begin to fill his cockpit window.  It’s leathery, bat-like wings flapped furiously in pursuit of its dinner.  The sun hid behind thick, rolling clouds, but he could see the shine of the beast’s brown scales as it came right for him.  And those teeth – Nine wasn’t expecting such large, pointy teeth.

                Nine banked a hard left as soon as the dragon got too close.  The instruments in the cockpit flashed several different colors.  Alarms began to sound.  The special forces pilot was used to a state-of-the-art, five- person warship.  Unfortunately, his ship would be too large for the dragon to want to eat.    Maldar’s Royal Air Force gave him one of their smallest spacecraft.  Nine soon discovered they lent him a piece of junk.   The dragon swung around and was right on Nine’s tail.  “Are you ready?” he asked anxiously as he flipped several switches to recalculate his radar.

                “Almost,” replied Osto.

                The mission seemed straight-forward enough – capture the dragon the Wardon Empire sent to terrorize the floating Kingdom of Maldar.  Now as Nine tried to dodge the giant reptile, it all seemed decidedly less straight-forward. Osto would be flying above the kingdom with the net cannon.  Nine drew the short-straw when he agreed to be the bait.

 He dipped the fighter down into the mist and banked left to try to lose the monster.  He caught a slight glimpse of the creature’s yellow eyes and gnashing teeth.  His blood ran cold.  The thick metal of the cockpit and the protection of his helmet could not completely shut out the dragon’s high-pitched screech as it protested angrily about missing the kill.

                Nine zigzagged his fighter towards the Maldarian Kingdom.  The white marble structures with various black peaks and roofs sat situated on a large island that floated above a misty abyss protected from enemies.  Unfortunately, this enemy came in the form of a dragon.  The beast  had done considerable damage to the structures, not to mention the population.  Nine’s attention turned back to the advancing dragon.  His cheeks burned with anger.  The dragon was not supposed to be able to outrun the fighter.  Another lie told by the Maldarian Air Force.  Nine swore under his breath.  What else did they lie about?  “Ready or not, we’re coming in!”  he yelled into his communicator to his teammate.

                “Acknowledged.  The cannon and I are in place,” said Osto.

                As Nine reached for the thruster, he felt an impact and a shudder come from behind the fighter.  The dragon had the tail of the fighter in his teeth.  “Oh come on!” Nine shouted in frustration.

                He flew in jerking motions to try to free the fighter  from the dragon’s mouth.  Osto’s voice came over the speaker in his helmet.  “Nine, what’s going on?  My scanners indicate erratic movement.”

Nine’s temper flared.  “That’s because the dragon is eating me!”

Osto’s voice indicated his annoyance.  “I can’t get a lock on the dragon when you fly like that.  Stop fooling around and get over here.”

Nine shut off his communicator and a flurry of swears left his lips as he continued to try to shake off the dragon.  The instruments beeped furiously.   The damage to the tail increased.  He had no other choice.  He reached for the thruster lever and pulled back as hard as he could.

Fire spat from the back of the fighter and burned the dragon.  It screeched in pain and finally let go.  It dipped down into the mist and disappeared from sight. Nine kept the thrusters on and headed straight for Osto’s position.

As Nine expected, the dragon reappeared on his radar and once again rapidly approached the rear of the fighter.  Nine frantically scanned the area for Osto.  He found him on the floating, single-stand cannon.  The barrel of the cannon pointed in Nine’s direction.

Nine turned his communicator back on.  He lowered the nose of the fighter slightly to align exactly with the cannon.  “I’m in position,” he said.

“Understood.  Pull up on my mark.”

Nine could hear the dragon screeching angrily behind him.  The sound seemed laced with pain and fury now.  Osto’s voice snapped him to attention.  “One.  Two.  Three.  Now!”

The special force’s pilot pulled on the controls as hard as he could.  Before his cockpit windows filled with clouds, he saw a giant net shoot out of the barrel of the cannon.  He leveled out the fighter and hovered over the kingdom to assess the situation.  Osto netted the dragon and safely lowered it into a field inside Maldar’s marble walls.  Dozens of Maldarians shot tranquilizers into the dragon.  It lay still soon after being struck by the tranquilizers.

“Great job, Nine,” said Osto.  “The scientists will take him back, study him and set him free on one of the nearby uninhabited planets.”

Nine breathed a sigh of relief that the whole thing was over.  “Nine the Dragon Catcher,” he said with a slight laugh as he turned his fighter back to base.  “I kind of like the sound of that.”

Temple of the Raven Sisterhood

By Ann Marie R. Harvie

                Neptune stepped out of the boat and onto the rocky shore.  She looked up and marveled at the floating islands above her.  The guide smiled at Neptune.  Her gorgeous ebony complexion contrasted beautifully with her white temple dress.  Neptune smiled back and the guide turned and placed her staff into a crevice in a rock near the water.

                Soon Neptune heard a creaking sound.  She glanced up and saw a wooden staircase begin to emerge from the mist.  After a moment, it’s decent ended at their feet.  The guide silently began to climb the stairs and Neptune followed.  She breathed in the cool, misty air scented by the surrounding mountain range and felt a peace and contentment that hadn’t been present in years.

                The women continued to silently ascend the staircase.  Neptune could hear the sound of the waves lapping onto the shore grow fainter the higher they went.  She licked her lips and could taste the salt on her lips and feel the mountain mist dampen her face.  What a stark contrast to the choking smoke-laden battlefield she had left only 12 hours earlier.  The only smells in the air then were of burnt flesh and freshly splattered blood.

                The Temple of the Raven Sisterhood lay situated on the larger of the two floating islands.  A long stairway of cobblestone led up to the large but simple temple.  On either side of the stairway were levels of greenery where Raven Sisters tended various types of vegetation.  As Neptune walked up the stairs, the sisters briefly stopped their work to gaze at the stranger, only to resume their gardening after she passed.  The scent of mint on one side and basil on the other wafted through the air as Neptune approached the temple entrance. 

                Neptune’s guide went no further and silently motioned her to enter the temple.  Neptune turned to look at the other small island that connected to the Temple Island with small foot bridges.  Simple huts stacked on pillars that covered the island.  Neptune smiled as she heard children’s laughter coming from the huts.

                Glancing out over the mountain peaks, Neptune now knew that the battle between the Federation Chain of Life and the Wardon Empire to save the work was worth it.  She stepped into the temple and walked across its stone floor.  Images of ravens in various sequential scenes of battle and serenity decorated the otherwise plain slate walls.  She stopped at the bottom of another stone staircase and glanced up.

                A woman with ebony skin dressed in white and gold robes sat in a high-backed chair sat at the top of the stairs.  Neptune took the long, thin parcel she had been carrying on her back to the front and unwrapped it.  When the woman saw the golden staff with the raven on the top, she let in a quick breath.  She made her way down the stairs to meet Neptune, who bowed and reverently offered the staff to the woman.

                When the woman laid her hands on the staff, great black wings emerged from her back.  A high priestess ruled over the land once again.  Neptune straightened. Sadness washed over her face.  “I’m sorry the other high priestess was killed on her way to petition for membership with the Federation Chain of Life.  We fought long and hard to get the Staff of Power back to where it belongs.  I hope now that you are ruler you too will consider membership.  I hope this proves that we are on your side.”

                The high priestess’ wings expanded and contracted.  “You are a worthy ally.  What will your reward be for returning this to me?”

                Neptune shook her head.  “No reward necessary.  Coming here even for just a short while is enough.”

                With another deep bow, Neptune silently left the temple.