Jefferson could see by my expression that I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, so he pressed on.
“Some young Mages found him scurrying around … hadn’t seen anything like him before. Sort of like a cross-breed between a couple of totally different species. Seems to have evolved or something.”
I nodded in understanding now. A new breed. A new species. We had been told stories as children of the animals who had evolved as well as the humans. My stomach gave an uneasy lurch. That animal was going to be sold, to god knows who, and for god knows what. It would probably be poked, prodded, dissected and studied by some Mage who craved the knowledge. I felt sad as I looked at the stationary box, and I wondered what it was … what it looked like.
“Can I see it?” I asked Jefferson hopefully, though I already knew the answer.
He chortled, “Best not.” He said opening the door for me, “And best not go sticking your fingers in those holes. He gets a bit vicious when he’s mad from what I can tell.”
I clambered into the carriage and Jefferson closed the door behind me before hopping up to take the reins. Within a few seconds we were moving again, trundling up the dirt road, getting closer to Frost Arch every second.
A new species. I was intrigued with what this box contained. Not only was this a new species, this was a creature that responded. That seemed to be learning. I licked my lips, suddenly noticing how dry my mouth was. I didn’t know what was going to happen to this creature. It was probably going to be sliced down the middle, and a Mage with a brain that could solve impossible equations in the blink of an eye would take a glimpse at the poor things brain, and try to create clones, replicate what nature had done.
I was overwhelmed with a sudden sadness. Why did this thing need to die, whatever it was? From what I had gathered it was absolutely harmless, curious, hungry, and learning from something as simple as a tapping on wood. My brain seemed to be working in overdrive. I could save it, whatever it was. After all, this box was only wood, not much of an obstacle for a Fire Mage. I could save it, hide it in my rucksack and disappear into the city of Frost Arch before Jefferson even realised it was gone. But what if it was dangerous? I bit my lip, deciding I might soften it up a little bit before I did any rescuing.
I pulled my lump of stale bread from my pack and broke off a bite-sized piece. Maybe this animal could be trained, I thought to myself.
“Okay.” I said seriously to the box, feeling rather silly, “I’m going to tap on this crate, and you’re going to repeat it exactly. Get it right, and you get some more food.”
Hesitantly, I reached my knuckles to the box, and gave three short raps. I waited. This was silly, I realised. I was talking to a dumb animal, there was no way … my thoughts were cut short.
Tap, tap, tap.
I abruptly poked the piece of bread through the hole, careful not to get my fingers too close. Not even a second had passed before, to my astonishment, the bread that I had inserted, was suddenly being pushed back out of the hole. It’s a picky eater, I thought.
I sighed and retrieved what chicken I had left. I suppose I didn’t really need it anyway. I popped some into the crate instead, and a scuffling and chewing sound reached my ears. I smiled to myself. This wasn’t so bad.
I put my knuckles to the wood again, this time doing a more complicated pattern of knocks, with different timing between each one.
I held my breath as I waited. Without a doubt, a tapping from inside the box could be heard, and it was the exact same rhythm I had just done. Grinning wildly to myself, I popped more chicken into the box. This animal was intelligent. It was thinking, hearing, and solving a problem to get food. But hadn’t Jefferson said that this animal was discovered by two Mages in the wild? Surely, if this kind of creature had never been seen before, it obviously wasn’t a trained pet …
My stomach flipped excitedly, a grin spreading across my face. I could save this amazing little creature, whatever it was. There was no way it was going to hurt me. Licking my dry lips I bent lower to the box and muttered to the creature inside. I could see its nose sniffing around the hole again, waiting to see if I was going to spoil him or her with more food.
“Okay, I’m going to let you out, whatever you are, but you have to promise me that you won’t attack me. Behave, and I’ll rescue you, and set you free in the wild.” I felt awfully silly talking to an animal, but I assumed that it had understood me when it gave an innocent sniff at the air hole again.
I sighed, “All right, when we get closer to Frost arch, I will burn the hole of the box so it’s big enough for you to climb out of. You’ll just have to wait silently, and perfectly still in my bag until we’re out of Jefferson’s sight, got it?”
There was an eager whine from the box, so I took that as a yes.