Trik watched Cassie out of the corner of his eye. She was incredible sitting there with sun shining on her blonde hair and smooth skin. He had never been so attracted to someone and it was all he could do to keep from pulling her into his arms and kissing that worried look off her face. He wanted to see her smile, to see the sparkle in her eyes. He stood up and reached for her hand. She looked up at him , the confusion of his actions written clearly on her face.

“I have a surprise for you.” He smiled at her as he waited for her to put her hand in his.

Finally she did and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She followed him through the lush forest, her eyes constantly roving over the life that was so apparent. A cool breeze blew across her face and raised the tendrils of hair that fell from her bun onto her neck. Trik stopped just before a small clearing appeared.

She started to speak but stopped when he raised a finger to his lips. Trik cupped his hands around his face and made a sound that Cassie could only describe as a cat growling. She cocked her head to the side as she watched him.

“Just wait,” he whispered as he pointed in the direction of the clearing.

Cassie tried to breathe as quietly as possible, but felt like the harder she tried to be quiet, the louder she became. After several minutes she began to see the leaves and grass on the other side of the clearing move. Her breathing stopped as she waited in rapt attention to see what was going to emerge from the lush foliage.

She let out a gasp and clamped her hand over her mouth as she watched two large white tigers walk smoothly into the clearing. They were looking around as if they were expecting someone. Without any word to her, Trik stood up and began to walk towards them. The tigers tensed. When Trik came into their view, they relaxed. Her mouth dropped open when one of the tigers playfully bounded up to him as if it were only a ten pound kitten rather than a two hundred pound tiger. Trik reached his hand out and the beast rubbed his head against it. Trik turned back to where she still knelt watching him. He motioned for her to come over.

She stood slowly and began moving forward, when the two tigers’ eyes finally noticed her she froze.

“They won’t hurt you, Cassie,” Trik told her.

After a moment’s hesitation she got her feet to continue on towards Trik and the beautiful cats. When they had first walked into the clearing, Cassie had thought their stripes were white, but the closer she came, the more she realized that their stripes were actually dark silver; and slightly shimmered when they moved. Their eyes were large, gold and lined in black as if they were wearing eye liner. She stopped when she made it to Trik’s side. The tigers where less than three feet from her and she stilled, waiting for what would happen next.

“Tyndril,” Trik spoke to the tiger closest to her, “come say hello.”

The tiger he had called Tyndril took slow steps towards Cassie, as if she understood her fear. She sat down on her haunches directly in front of Cassie and stared at her. Cassie reached her hand out and couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face as the large cat pressed her head into it. She looked over at Trik who was smiling at her.

“What are they?”

“They are called tiriths . They are the equivalent of your tiger species, only they are a little special.”

“Special how?” Cassie asked as Tyndril moved closer so she could rub her body against Cassie’s. She laughed as the large cat nearly pushed her over trying to snuggle closer.

“For one, they understand us.”

Cassie’s eyes snapped up. “What do you mean they understand us?”

“I mean they have a superior intellect and understand our language, and I have taught these two English.”

Cassie looked at Tyndril closely. “Can you understand me?” The large cat nodded its large head. Cassie’s eyes widened and her grin grew impossibly large.

“That is so cool!”

Trik laughed at her enthusiasm.

“This affectionate girl is Tyndril, and this guy is Tao.”

“They are beautiful,” Cassie walked around Tyndril towards Tao and reached her hand out to him. He stepped forward and bowed to her before pressing his head into her hand.

“What else makes them special?”

“They have a healing ability which makes them dangerous in battle. Their wounds restore almost instantly.”

“Wow, that’s impressive.”

“Their noses are about four times stronger than that of your tigers and once they have your scent it’s committed to memory, they will never forget you and would be able to track you to the ends of any realm.”

“They are really amazing. Thank you so much for introducing me to them.”

“Tyndril, Tao,” Trik addressed them and the two large tigers both looked at him. “What do you think of my Chosen.” He gestured to Cassie.

Cassie didn’t know what to expect but when both tigers stood, placed one leg out in front of them and bowed their heads to her, she knew that was not it.

Cassie looked up at Trik, her eyes wide in question.

“They honor you and are pleased that the Forest Lords have chosen you to be mine. It also means that they will always protect you against any threat.”

Cassie bowed her head in return. “Thank you. I treasure your friendship.”

Trik watched as the woman who held the other half of his soul, the woman not of his realm, accepted a part of his world. She took joy in the two cats. He hadn’t expected to be so affected by her presence in his realm, or by her reaction to it.