The Prince Who Fell From the Sky by John Claude Bemis Read Free Book Online Page B

spray of water. Sitting up, the child saw the cougar for the first time and screamed. Casseomae moved between him and the cougar and roared, angry spirals of saliva dripping from her teeth.
    The cat leaped to the side, but Casseomae bit down on his thick tail and slung him away. The cougar yowledas he came at her again, this time twisting in midair and landing on her back. He sank his teeth into her neck.
    Casseomae had fought cougars before. When it came to a carcass, she could drive the big cats away without blood being spilled. Cougars were quick to determine if they had the advantage and were not ones to take injuries over a simple meal.
    This cougar was not after something to eat. He fought too ferociously. And in that instant, she remembered Alioth’s warning and understood. This was the Ogeema’s assassin.
    Although she felt blood spilling down her neck, Casseomae wasn’t worried. Her throat was thickly armored with fat. She could withstand this assault a little longer.
    The cat clawed at her face, searching for her eyes. Roaring, Casseomae stood on her hind legs and fell back, hoping to break the cougar’s ribs. But the cougar let go before he landed and leaped away.
    Casseomae jumped to her feet. The child was running away, already out of the creek and climbing the embankment. He was fumbling for something in one of his pouches. The cat was right behind him.
    With blood in her eyes, Casseomae charged after them, knowing she would never reach the cub in time.
    As the cougar lifted a paw to strike, the child turnedand held up a small object. It flashed a bright blue light in the cat’s eyes.
    The cougar reared back in alarm. Casseomae fell on him, biting to the bone in the cougar’s back leg before pinning him to the ground with her paws on his back.
    “Did the Ogeema send you?” she roared.
    Dazed, the cougar rolled his eyes in pain and spat, “What are you doing, wicked bear? Don’t you see what danger it brings? You would forsake the Forest for this Skinless devil?”
    Casseomae flinched at the cougar’s words. In that moment, the cougar slipped out from beneath her. He scrambled to the top of the embankment and disappeared into the Forest, his back leg dragging.
    Casseomae sniffed the child for injuries, but he was unharmed. He sat on the embankment with the little glowing object still in his hands and stared at Casseomae. His sky-colored eyes filled with moisture and sent streams down his face. He chirped something to her quietly.
    “You’re safe, cub,” she breathed. “He’s gone.” She licked his salty face to calm him. The cub didn’t flinch from her, but he did wipe his arm across the place where she’d licked.
    “Cass,” Dumpster said as he scampered up from the creek bank. “You’re still in one piece. That cat was a nasty one! I haven’t seen another like him. Are you hurt? You’re bleeding pretty badly.”
    Casseomae turned her neck side to side and licked her long tongue across her snout. The wounds would heal. Pain barely registered for her.
    “The cub is alive. That’s all that matters.”
    “No, all that matters is that we get out of here,” Dumpster squeaked, “before he comes back!”
    “He won’t come back,” Casseomae said. “The Ogeema sent him. The cougar missed his chance.”
    Dumpster looked wide-eyed at the child before scrambling after him and Casseomae. It wasn’t until the three were winding their way through the massive trunks away from the creek that Casseomae realized the child was walking by her side. A feeling of satisfaction crept into her. He was acting like a good cub now.
    By nightfall, they reached a tree marked with deep scratches down the bark.
    “What do those mean?” Dumpster asked.
    Casseomae gave a huff of relief. “We’ve reached the border of Chief Alioth’s range. And if we’re leaving my sloth’s range that means we’re also leaving the Ogeema’s territory.”
    “But whose territory are we entering?” Dumpster