Free Pools of Darkness by James M. Ward, Anne K. Brown

the light of the fire.
    The flames of the campfire grew brighter and crackled louder. The woman relaxed further. Her hair was nearly done. The fire would soon be ready to cook supper. After cooking, she could collapse into her bedroll. What a day it had been. The fire warmed her sore muscles and lulled her tired mind.
    The crackling fire was enough to obscure the sound of leaves rustling in the brush behind the sorceress. A great cat had made its way to the clearing and made no other sound as it watched her. It sat back on muscled haunches, eyes wide, contemplating its next move. The cat sniffed the air.
    The animal crept soundlessly to the edge of the small clearing and stopped. Tawny fur glowed golden in the firelight, and green eyes stared at the woman’s silhouette against the blaze. The murky daylight was nearly gone except for a pink smear on the horizon. The cat circled the clearing until it was behind its prey.
    The huge feline was in position. It silently dug its back claws into the earth, twitched its haunches, and flared its nostrils. In the span of less than a heartbeat, it was airborne. Over two hundred pounds of feline launched through the air without the sorceress ever hearing a warning.
    The next thing the woman felt was a great thud against her back and the whump of her chest hitting the ground. It nearly knocked the wind out of her, but her instincts drove her to roll quickly to face her attacker. She saw white fangs and piercing green eyes, felt the cat’s hot breath on her face. She gasped for air, then spit out the words as fast as she could find them.
    “Will you cut that out? How many times have I told you not to pounce on me like that? By the gods, one of these days, Gamaliel …” She propped herself up on her elbows, removing an enormous paw from her chest. The cat leaned in, touching his damp, pink nose to the sorceress’s cheek. He purred at a volume the woman found both ridiculous and infuriating.
    “You are such a … a … a cat!” Undaunted, the huge feline rolled off his mistress and lay on his side in the grass, exposing the ivory fur on his belly. Stretched out, he was longer than the woman was tall. He touched her lightly with a paw.
    “Oh, so now you want your tummy rubbed. I don’t know why I put up with you sometimes.” Although she ought to ignore the cat, her hand automatically moved to his great chest and began rubbing. The cat rolled onto his back, still purring at a tremendous volume He stretched, then relaxed, four paws flopping in all directions. The woman laughed at the sight. He lay with his ivory belly exposed, his dark brown paws hanging limply. A bright pink nose shone from his deep brown muzzle. The heavy gold chain with the jade pendant around the animal’s neck accented the richness of his fur. The sorceress thought he was a beautiful cat, with his tawny body and dark brown ears, face, tail, and paws.
    “All right, you ferocious beast. You’ve had your fun. Time for supper. I’ll set up the bedroll, and you can find us some dinner.” The cat lay motionless, blinked, then flipped over and stood. “And Gamaliel, we’ve had fish the last four nights. Do you think you could find us a nice rabbit or something for a change?”
    The cat stared at his mistress as if offended. His words found their way to her mind. If you’re dissatisfied with my hunting, mighty sorceress, perhaps you’d like to provide us with some dinner. I’d like to see you hunt in the dark. Besides, I happen to like fish. The cat turned his head and sniffed at the breeze.
    The sorceress leaned over and scratched the cat between the ears. “You know I’m not complaining about your hunting. We’ve never gone hungry, even in the barest climes. But if it were up to you, we’d have fish for breakfast, fish for lunch, and more fish for dinner. We humans like a little variety. So how about a change of pace? I think you owe me after that prank of yours. I just combed all the twigs out of my