Birthright: Lord of Arda by Craig Cox Page A

of the sky they still had a few hours before sunlight and they needed more wood. He turned left circling the edge of the clearing picking up what small branches had fallen from the surrounding trees. About halfway round he had four or five decent size logsalong with a few smaller ones, it would do to keep them warm till the morning. Turning back to the fire he noticed something walking towards him, it was a stick, with golden eyes. Braden smiled as the cub walked up to him carrying a stick in it’s mouth. He reached down and rubbed the cub’s head then walked back to the centre of the clearing, how was he going to explain the presence of a small lion to Alex and Troy? Did he wake them up now or should he wait until morning and risk them waking up before him and spotting the cub. He placed three of the sticks in a tripod above the current embers before adding the two more he had and the third the cub had brought, then threw the smaller sticks on, they caught quickly and the fire grew. The cub just sat their staring at the flames as Braden lay back down by the fire.
    He sheathed his sword and closed his eyes and as he drifted off, he felt the cub nestle into his side and begin kneading his ribs with it’s paws.
     
    As the sun crept over the horizon and lit up the clearing Braden woke to the pressure of the lion cub sitting on his chest. He opened his eyes and the liquid gold irises of the cub stared straight back at him, it meowed before pushing its head into Braden’s face. He pushed back before sitting up the cub jumping down by his side. Alex and Troy were still asleep, he couldn’t understand how they were still tired, when he was wide awake even after the night’s escapades. He would now have to explain to them about the cub which sat next to him. In the light, he could see the full size of it. He was just under a foot tall at the shoulder and his fur was pitch black, the only colour was coming from his golden eyes and the white fangs which protruded slightly from it’s mouth. Braden pulled his legs up and crossed them. The fire was about to die out and he wanted to get underway shortly.
    “Alex.”
    He leant over and pushed his friend’s shoulder nudging him awake. Alex responded with a groan and what sounded like a few abusive words. He then leant over and did the same to Troy, who responded in a slightly more polite manner.
    “Wake up, we need to get moving soon. Plus I have something to show you.”
    “I hope it’s food.”
    Braden watched as Alex rolled over to face him, he immediately jumped back at the sight of the cub, which just cocked its head at him.
    “What the..”
    “Cool!”
    Troy’s reaction was the one Braden was hoping for. Alex recovered quickly sitting up and staring straight at the cub.
    “Umm. Braden where did you find that?”
    “In the forest last night. It came and stole the snake meat, I followed it back and found an adult lion and then the cub. It was no ordinary lion though it was bigger than any I ever saw at the Roost fair.”
    Troy was up on his feet walking behind him and the cub, Braden could see the excitement in his eyes. It was a welcome change after yesterday.
    “Is it yours's?”
    “Well, I don’t know, he just followed me back last night.”
    “What happened to the adult lion?”
    Braden looked over and saw a concerned look in his eye.
    “Dead, it looked like the Naga got him.”
    He watched his friend relax a little. Troy had got within touching distance of the cub and reached out a hand to stroke him, the cub jumped up startling the boy who fell back onto the floor. The cub was equally as startled but then padded over to Troy and rubbed his head against the boy’s hand.
    “What you going to call him?”
    Troy was now stroking and scratching the cub behind the ears.
    “I haven’t thought about it.”
    “How could you gain a pet lion cub and not think to name it.” Alex said.
    Braden turned back to his friend to see a sarcastic smile spread across his