Page 19 of Scarred

“I do not mind witches.” Rown said. “Maybe my mate will be one.”

“Never know.” Amma smiled at his eager look. “How about we get that fire started before Suni returns.”

“I will do that.” Gar said. “Suni would know if we slacked off.”

“We can’t have that, can we.” Amma turned to duck into her cave when she heard a high squeak, and the small running form of Mike almost knocked her on her butt. She dusted herself off and turned to find Rown with his bow drawn and an arrow notched. “Hey! Put that away.”

“I wasn’t aiming at you,” Rown said. “What are those things? I have never seen anything like them. I didn’t know if they were going to harm you.”

“Please don’t shoot my friends.” Amma picked Mike and Sam up. They tried to burrow into her chest as their little bodies vibrated. “They are from my world and are harmless. We call them ‘squirrels.”

“Squirrels? Are they good eating?”

“No,” Amma hugged her boys tighter. “They are not food. I raised them since they were babies.”

“I am sorry.” Rown put his weapon away. “I was only trying to protect you. They are safe from me and my brother.”

“Thank you.”

“What type of witch are you?” Gar asked. “The same as Mia or like Julian?”

“I don’t know what their magic is, but mine lies in Zoopathy.”

Gar and Rown both cocked their heads to the same side and their ears flicked. They looked like confused puppies. So cute.

“What is that?” Rown asked.

“It means I can communicate telepathically with animals. Most times when you see me talking to myself, I’m not.” She smiled at the little friends in her hands. “I find that if I speak out loud, I can keep who’s talking straight.”

“You can talk to animals?” Rown dropped into a squat and stared at her like she hung the moon. “That is an awesome ability. Can you talk to all animals, or only certain ones?”

“On Earth, which is my world, I can. Well not insects, per say.”

“If you can talk to animals, do you eat them?” Gar asked.

“I do. I get that question a lot. I won’t eat my friends for obvious reasons, but I eat meat.”

“If you can read animals’ minds, do they think like we do?” Rown asked.

Amma smiled. “I can’t read their minds. I can hear them when they talk to me. From what I understand, their needs and wants are usually a lot simpler than ours. Food. Fight. Mate. Survival. That’s it.”

“That is all my brother thinks about.” Gar knocked his brother on a horn with a closed fist. “Get up, we need to get the fire going.”

Rown flicked his brother away as he climbed to his feet. “Mia told us we look like beasts from your world.”

“You look like monsters from mythology,” Amma said. “Trust me, if you went to my world, women would be chasing you down.”

“Why would they chase us?” Rown asked. “We would not run unless they were trying to harm us.”

“I mean that girls would find you attractive and try to outdo each other to get your attention.” Amma explained, then snorted at their wide eyes. “I’m serious. There are hundreds of books written about women finding love in the arms of other species. While they are all fiction, I’m sure women will still line up for an otherworldly love if given the chance.”

“We still have not gone through our warrior trials,” Gar said. “Why would they want a male who has not proven himself?”

“I think it’s because human men can’t even start to compare to you guys.”

Gar flicked an ear and smiled. “Maybe we should visit your world. We could catch witches of our own.”

Amma chuckled. “Not all humans are witches. How about we get this camp set up before Suni returns with dinner?” She left them and ducked back into her cave. She hummed as she picked up her discarded sewing and placed it in the basket at the back of the cave. She checked her food stores and was disappointed to see there weren’t enough berries to make a sweet treat for the males. Maybe she could make one next time. If they would even try it. Amma snorted. She was so lonely she was already counting on the males returning to visit. With a firm shake of her head, she returned to find Gar and Rown finishing the fire pit and laying logs as benches.

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