CHAPTER 40: 40: RENN

It was the morning, and Drake was the first one awake. Chad and Mike were fast asleep, snoring softly. He had gotten up early. It was barely starting to get light out. The sky was turning red as the twin suns rose up into the sky. He was trying to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to wake up his friends as he was moving around, trying to prepare for his day in silence.

Exiting the room, he remembered the level 1 beast. He pulled out the map to see if the beast was still there. To his surprise, it was. Along with the two white dots and his own green one, there was a yellow indicating it was a level 1 beast. He thought that it would have given up and left. He worried that they would be stuck inside the cabin all day. That would put a real damper on their quest. They needed to finish it, and things kept getting in the way.

Drake pulled his whip out and carefully removed the bells from the door, trying to prevent them from ringing. The slightest movement could alert the beast. Gently laying them in the basket by the door, he slid the lock.

The room was silent, the only thing Drake heard was the sound of his own breath and the soft snoring coming from the other room. When he opened the door of the cabin, he peered out the crack. He had only opened it an inch to see the front porch.

To his surprise, the beast was lying like a house dog on the porch. His yellow eyes were open, appearing to scan the area for threats. Drake didn’t know if that’s what the wolf beast was doing, but that’s what it looked like to him. The beast was watching the trees with narrowed yellow eyes.

Slipping outside, Drake closed the door behind him, not wanting his friends to wake up and startle the beast. As soon as the door closed, the wolf beast looked up. He watched Drake for a second, then put his head down, resting it on his front legs, ignoring him.

’Okay...’ Drake thought, confused. The beast didn’t even flinch. It didn’t attack either; it just lay there looking into the trees.

Drake let his eyes glow a bright emerald green, then looked in the direction the wolf beast was looking. He didn’t see anything.

When he looked down at the wolf beast, the beast looked at him. His rat-like tail wagged back and forth like a happy puppy. As Drake dimmed his glowing eyes, the tail slowed. When he let his eyes glow brighter, the tail wagged faster. "I guess I’d better keep them glowing, huh?" he told the wolf beast.

The beast’s ears perked up. It was clearly listening. "Maybe I should keep you as a pet. Would you like that?"

The beast’s rat tail wagged faster, and the ears perked up. It stood up and padded toward him, making Drake flinch. The beast seemed to notice because it stopped immediately and lowered back down on its paws. Only its eyes looked up, giving him sad puppy dog eyes.

Drake stared at the beast who was staring at him. It was a stare down, each deciding what to do.

It was the beast that acted first. Staying low, it inched forward, then lay back down. Drake stared down at it in shock. The beast wasn’t attacking or being aggressive in any way. It was acting like an ordinary dog trying to gain the trust of someone.

"How about I name you..."

The wolf got excited again, starting to stand up, but decided against it. Its rat tail wagged faster. The wolf beast seemed to like the idea of gaining a name.

Drake thought about it for a moment, then decided on the right one. "How about Renn. I’ll call you Renn."

The beast was too excited when it received the name. It stepped forward, nuzzling its massive head on Drake’s shoulder. Somehow Drake could tell the beast wasn’t trying to hurt him. He reached up and scratched the beast’s large head. It was a reflex when petting affectionate dogs. The streaks of yellow fur fluttered with the touch and began to glow; the color changed to green.

{Congratulations, you have been imprinted with a level 1 wolf beast. She has become your familiar}

{You have gained a new member of your cohort. Renn}

{Your cohort grows stronger}

{As your wolf familiar, Renn will protect all members of your cohort}

Drake grinned. His cohort had just received a boon. He looked down at the massive beast and rubbed the top of its head. "Keep watch, and I’ll bring you some water and food." He told Renn.

Renn immediately went to the edge of the porch and watched near the forest for any sign of a threat.

Drake went inside the cabin and found the largest container he could find. It was a five-gallon bucket for hauling water.

After filling the bucket and going through his food stash, he pulled out a slab of dried meat and took it outside for Renn. Renn drank the water greedily. She was thirsty. He gave her the meat, which she immediately lay down and began to chew on the large slab, still keeping watch of the forest.

"I need to go back in; you keep watch. I need to inform my friends about you," he told Renn.

Renn made a weird barking sound that was between a bark and a howl, then went back to her meat.

Going back into the cabin, Drake cooked his friends something to eat for breakfast. Just as he set the food on the table, Chad and Mike came out of the room.

"You cooked?" Mike asked. There was a wide smile on his face.

Before Chad could say anything, Drake cut in. "I need to talk to you. There have been some new developments, and I don’t want you two to freak out on me. Both of you, sit, eat, and I will explain what happened."

Mike and Chad exchanged a look. "Is the beast still here? Do we need to deal with it?" Chad asked.

"No one touches the beast. In fact, it’s about the beast that I need to discuss with you."

Mike and Chad exchanged another look and sat down slowly. Drake had finished filling their plates and took a bite himself before starting.

"Do you want the short version or the long version?" Drake asked.

"Short..." they said in unison.

"Short version is... The beast is now a part of our cohort, and what she kills we all gain from it. She will protect all members of the cohort...and her name is Renn." Drake said, smiling. "That’s the short version. Even my system declared her to be part of our cohort."

Chad stiffened. "She’s a level 1 beast. How are we going to tell her apart from the others? We’ve only encountered wolf beasts."

Drake’s smile widened. "I imprinted with her. She is my familiar, so everything that was yellow on her turned green; Emerald green to be exact. As you saw on the map, there is no green colored wolf beast. It will be easy to tell her apart from the others."

***

"You’ve got to be kidding me!" The blond archer shouted in disbelief as he watched the computer screen. The three boys were walking down the road toward Dragon Head Mountain. There was a wolf beast with emerald green patches mixed in with its pitch-black fur.

The Dimension Master heard his friend. "What’s wrong?" he asked, tensing up. The last time there was an issue, Drake nearly died. He had just walked into the room with a tray of coffee for his friends. One of his friends was in the hall bathroom, taking a shower. He refused to go home, not wanting to miss what was happening on the screen.

"See for yourself. I don’t even have anything to say about it, but I haven’t seen anything like it before. Nor have I heard of anything like that before." The blond stated, confused.

The Dimension Master looked at the screen, dropping the cups of coffee he had held on the tray as he took in what he was seeing. "It can’t be," he whispered. His face turned pale as he watched Drake stroke the head of the giant beast.

The blond looked up at the Dimension Master. "Is that bad? He has a beast with him, isn’t that a good thing? I mean, it’s green, so it’s obviously Drake’s. It can protect him, right?" Then he paused, "Has that ever happened before. He seems to have tamed it or it imprinted like some dogs do."

The Dimension Master fell heavily in his chair. "It’s his familiar and now part of his cohort," he started. "There is a prophecy about a Dimension Master that will one day have a legion of beasts. The prophecy states that he will either destroy the dimension or save it. If things keep happening to him, he’s going to hate the dimension to the point of its destruction. Our duty is to protect it." He turned to his friend. "He may be the one who destroys it."