Mira Ashentail's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Mira Ashentail pressed her tail flat under her cloak and stepped into the market. She had walked three days to reach this town, hunting a safe place to build a home, a refuge for others who ran like she had. But safety needed directions, and directions needed trust. A woman selling apples caught sight of the fur on Mira's ears. She pulled her basket close and turned away. Everyone did the same. A man steered his children behind him. A fishmonger stopped mid-sentence. Mira asked one question—where might a person find quiet land, unclaimed and far from trouble? No one answered. They only stared, waiting for her to leave. So she stopped asking. She watched instead. Behind a weathered storage shed, an old man crouched in the dirt. He was trying to coax something out from beneath the raised floor. Mira crept closer and saw it: a cat with folded dragon wings and a long barbed tail, wedged tight against a support beam. Its wing had snagged on a nail. Every time the man reached in, the animal hissed and shrank deeper. "Easy," the man muttered. "I'm not going to hurt you." He sat back on his heels and rubbed his knees. He did not look at Mira. "Strange beast. Half cat, half something older. Folk here don't much like things that don't fit." His voice caught on the last word. Mira knelt on the other side of the gap. "Let me. It trusts small and low." She slid her cloak back. Her ears lifted. Her tail curled out into the light. The man went still. He looked at her ears, then her tail, then her face. He said nothing. Mira held her hand flat and low. She made a soft sound in her throat, the kind her mother once used. The winged cat blinked. Its ears turned toward her. Slowly it eased forward, and Mira worked the snagged wing free of the nail. The animal shot out, climbed the shed wall, and perched on the roof, watching them both. The old man let out a breath. "Twenty years I've fed strays behind this shed." He studied her openly now. "I knew a demi human once. Kind. This town ran her off. I never stopped being ashamed of that." "I'm looking for land," Mira said. "Somewhere no one will run anyone off." He stood, slow, and pointed past the last row of stalls, toward the hills. "There's an old stone cave out that way. Nobody claims it. Nobody goes near it." He met her eyes. "I'll walk you to the edge of town. After that, folk won't follow." Mira's chest loosened. For the first time in three days, someone had pointed the way. She pulled her cloak fully open and left her tail bare. "Marcus Aldwell," the old man said, offering his hand. "Come on. Before they change their minds about letting you go."