Blood dripped down onto my face, wet and hot, mixing with the felinoid's drool. I had just, just gotten my arm in the way of those snapping fangs. The cat creature worked its mouth, tooth scraping against bone and sending bolts of agony through me as it chewed on my forearm. My eyes locked with the wild, crazed, yellowed eyes of the beast.

"Does that taste good ghalis?" I spat the words out from bloodied lips, expelling some of my own falling blood from my mouth with them. The thing twisted its head, tearing at my flesh. A fresh wave of pain rolled down my arm, and I nearly collapsed. But if I did that, I was dead. And while this may not be my world, may not be my body - I was not ready to die.

Anger and defiance sparked another heat in my chest, one that clashed with the hot shards of anguish from the cat thing that was chewing on me. There was a flicker, a dance of light and hat sparked from nothingness, one that rapidly grew. Ruddy red light washed over the gaunt face above me, and I could see the moment when the creature saw its fate.

On one side of fire was the warm campfire, providing comfort and safety to weary travelers. But few claimed that was the only aspect of flame. No - on the other face of that coin was the ravenous flame, the fire that devoured and consumed, that scorched and devastated.

The sparking, angry red flames that had sprung to life bare inches from the ground by my shoulder were the first herald of that fire. A far cry from a raging inferno, they were still hot, hotter than the campfire had ever gotten. "Let me cook that for you!" I snarled defiance at the cat thing as I tore my arm free from its fangs, fighting through the agony that shot through me as teeth ripped gouges in my arm.

Before the thing had a chance to close its mouth I acted - almost in tandem with moving my arm out of the way in fact. A surge of will, driven by a desire to live and honed by my own anger at this thing, launched the ball of red flames forward, right down the throat of the beast that had decided I should be its meal.

The creature let out a choked, garbled cry of pain as it reeled back, trying to get away from the fire that had suddenly come to life in its mouth. My arm hanging limp, I sat up, another orb of fire springing to life above my shoulder, sparked into being by rage. This time the ball of flames smashed into the creature's chest, washing over the grimy fur as it did.

And unlike the campfire earlier, this time the flames caught on the fur. Before my eyes, the creature went up in a flash, red sprouting up the brown/black fur as it started thrashing about, trying to put the fires out.

I dragged myself over to my staff, and used it to force myself to my feet. The writhing creature wasn't even howling at this point. The orb of flames I had shot down its mouth as a chaser for my flesh had cooked its throat enough that all it could let out were croaks and gurgle. I staggered slightly, bloodloss making me sway on my feet as I stood over the thrashing, burning beast.

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"Go back to Kholis." I swung up, then down. The crack this time was much louder, heavier. Wetter. I slumped to my knees, holding myself up with my staff as I stared at the… Carcass. Nothing like this thing existed where I once lived. A cat the size of a large dog? No. But I didn't have time to ponder the thing that had attacked me. I dragged myself over to my knapsack, finding it from where it had been sent in the fight. Its contents were scattered across the ground, but that was actually a help to me now.

Made it easier to find the bandages before I bled out. I dropped my bow staff from numb fingers and picked up the roll of linen bandages. It took some fumbling, and I ended up biting the loose end of the roll between my teeth and letting it unfurl and fall to ground. Then I began winding it around my arm, trying my best to stem the loss of blood. I was lucky this thing wasn't any bigger - if it had been, I might not survive without burning my wounds shut.

I used the whole roll, winding the linen around my arm over and over again. It was a waste, but at this moment I didn't particularly care. I gathered up my belongings and shoved them back into my bag, then hooked the staff through the straps on one side of the knapsack before slinging the bag up and over my good arm and shoulder. That done, I stared at the cat thing. I could leave it here, but I had no idea if this thing was common, or some kind of abomination even in this world. I bit back a sigh and patted out the last of the flames that were now guttering out on the burnt fur, then grabbed one leg and started dragging it.

A cracking sound made me stop and look back. I frowned and cursed in the back of my head. The hells-taken stretching rack with the rabbit hide I had been working on had apparently been pinned beneath the felinoid when it was thrashing and burning. The wood and hide were now mangled and useless, burnt beyond any usage.

"Blasted cat." I started the trek to town. While I hadn't wanted to go into town in the dead of night - as it was, if I didn't, I would probably die out here. One foot in front of the other, I walked down the road, dragging the body of my attacker behind me.