It had been three weeks since Drake and his cohort finished their fourth quest. Chad and Mike, with their dragons, were currently inside the tavern with Mayor Ivan, discussing the festival that would take place in two days.

Drake, however, was scouting the nearby forest, making sure there wasn't anything in place to hinder the festivities. He remembered the barrier placed around the town, preventing them from starting their first quest. He didn't want a repeat of something like that, not wanting to ruin the festival. If the town took over a month to prepare, it was special for them.

A week prior, he had met with Bren in the real world and collected mail. He had told Bren about the festival. Drake could tell that Bren wanted to go, but didn't ask to return. Drake wanted him to ask, but was also afraid that the dimension wouldn't allow it since he had been in the ordinary world for so long.

It was a cool day with a light breeze. Much colder than it should be. With every second, it became even colder. This worried Drake. He looked up at the sky. Thick clouds shrouded the twin suns, hiding their warm light. Drake could tell that they weren't rain clouds. They were snow clouds instead.

As he walked through the forest, a high-pitched whine echoed in the trees. Drake's gaze looked toward the sound. At first, he froze, staring in the direction, trying to see what was making the sound of agony. Whatever it was, the beast was able to hide its energy signature.

Jewel, who was resting on his shoulder, leaped off and soared through the trees toward the sound. Drake followed her, pulling out his whip, ready for battle. He didn't know yet, if the best was hostile or not.

The high-pitched whine continued. It sounded like a large kitten in pain.

When he reached the source of the sound, there was a small lump of pure white fur. One of the bones from its back leg had snapped and ripped through the skin. It was bleeding red blood, staining the pure white fur.

The baby beast didn't look that old; maybe less than a day, Drake couldn't tell exactly. Silky white fur covered the small figure. It was the size of a house cat, but it was clearly a beast that had just been born.

Jewel rummaged through the bush right next to the beast. Under the bush was a glowing white shell that was crumpled into multiple pieces. When Drake touched the shell, it burst into light particles, vanishing into nothing.

The small cat-beast whined again. Drake carefully picked it up and set it on his lap. Taking off his healing ring, he placed it on the small tail. There was no other area small enough for the ring to fit. It would only slide onto the tail an inch, but it was enough.

The ring began to heal the injuries on the beast's leg; the bone snapped back in place, and the skin sealed over the wound. The blood coating the white fur suddenly froze, then crumbled to the ground as if not willing to contaminate the beautiful silky white fur. As the kitten healed, the cool air began to warm and dark snow clouds evaporated into nothing.

It was easy to tell that the growing coldness was because of the injured beast.

Jewel continued to rummage through the debris under the bush. There were no more eggs, and the shells from the one that hatched were already gone. Jewel wanted to make sure there was no more.

Once the beast was fully healed, the familiar voice floated through his mind.

{Snow Cat discovered}

Drake carefully took the ring off the fluffy white cat, replacing it on his own finger. "Snow cat, huh? You weren't on the list of beasts of this dimension," he whispered to the cat. "I'll call you Neve because it means snow."

Jewel moved closer to the beast, sniffing at the baby cat-beast. She heard what Drake had called her. "Neve!" she chirped.

As soon as they both acknowledged the baby kitten, the eyes glowed from a crystal blue to a bright emerald green.

"I wonder why your eyes were blue?" he said aloud. He was speaking more to himself. However, the system answered him.

{Congratulations, you have obtained a guardian snow cat.}

{Snow Cats are magical guardian beasts and are not part of the beast level systems.}

{Crystal blue eyes are a sign of their magical power.}

Drake smiled, feeling like he was overflowing with beasts. He had allies, familiars, dragons, and now a guardian beast. He didn't care, though, because he liked having his beast companions.

Standing up, he carefully held the now-sleeping snow cat and headed toward the town. The baby purred softly as she slept in Drake's arms.

Jewel curled up and lay on the Neve, helping to comfort the baby snow-cat. The emerald crystal dragon had already become attached to the new member of their growing group and had already become protective of the kitten.

Drake entered the town and headed for the tavern, knowing that his cohort was already there. They had spent the last three weeks preparing for the upcoming festival, and now it was about to start. There were only two days left.

He looked up at the clear sky. The twin suns warmed the air. Drake looked down at the cat. "I guess your power is snow, frost, and extremely cold weather. At least that's what I'm guessing because the weather got better, though, after your injury healed."

Drake looked down at Jewel. "I need you to go inside and bring out Chad and Mike," he told his dragon. "I don't want to wake up Neve."

Jewel flew up and glided through an open window. After several minutes, the doors opened, and his cohort exited.

Ruby had returned to her hive to check on them, and Renn was playing at Nana's house with Nelly. It was only Mike, Chad, and the dragons that exited the tavern.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.