“I wanted to start off by thanking every one of you for helping me tonight,” Salem said, slowly pacing in front of them. “During this Hunt, we will face off against our world’s greatest and most ancient enemy: Greebles.”
A shiver ran up the spine of every animal in the room, their fur standing on end at the mere mention of their fearsome foes.
“When mankind was born into this world, the Greebles began their relentless assault on our universe. At first, the humans themselves warded off the assaults, with ancient magics now lost to their kind. But thousands of years ago, when they took us into their care, we too took them into ours. We created The Covenant of Cats to protect them, along with the rest of the world, from extinction, and tonight, we honor this ages old tradition.”
The cats in the room swelled with even more pride than usual. Boris mentally noted that technically, dogs were the first companions and protectors of mankind, but as proud of a canine as he was, even he admitted that his kind simply didn’t hold the same natural magical affinity as cats. It was the cats’ Hunts, empowered by The Covenant’s magic, that truly enabled humans to live without fear.
“Tonight, we also have the honor of accepting Boris to the Hunt, within the bylaws of the Doggy Deal,” Salem continued, “and Craig, within the terms of the Pact of Pets, both ancient amendments to our most sacred of duties. Our honored guests will be equally bound by the magic of The Covenant and will bring their own, unique strengths to the Hunt. We will welcome them, and they will be treated with respect,” Salem’s eyes landed on Mittens with this statement, “because tonight, we are all fulfilling our ancient promise to the humans.”
Salem paused for dramatic effect, staring each of his companions directly in the eye before continuing.
“I’m sure that you’re all aware of the full extent of the danger you’ll be facing tonight. The Invocation of The Covenant will empower us with strength, speed, and senses beyond our current forms, but it will be up to us to use this power to track down and vanquish our foes. You will all be in danger, and before we begin, I wanted to give you all one last chance to back out before we begin our ritual.”
Salem paused again, admiring his friends. Not a single animal showed a trace of fear or hesitation. Each cat stood tall and proud, and Boris thumped his rump on the ground, raising his head high, signaling he was staying put. The force of it knocked Craig off the top of his head, but once he’d finished toppling down Boris’ back, he quickly scurried back in line, casting a dirty look at the canine next to him.
Salem’s tail floated up and started flicking with joy as he continued, “Thank you, all of you. Now, let’s get to business. I trust you all know the steps for performing The Invocation? Or did we want to go over it once for Boris and Craig’s sake?”
“No need to worry about that, Salem,” barked Boris. “We went over the steps in detail last night and rehearsed them again this evening before heading over.”
“Excellent, then let’s begin.”
With the three components placed in a triangle, the Pets formed a circle around the items and began walking clockwise around them. Using Salem’s pacing as a tempo, they began the chant in unison:
We are the guardians,
The protectors of humankind.
They feed us, keep us warm and safe,
And return, we find
Any shadows that lurk,
Or any monsters that hurt,
And destroy or banish their kind.
The Greebles from
Beyond the Gate
Can run, but they
Can’t hide from Fate.
And together
We will find them.
And forever,
We will find them.
We’ll keep you safe
Live not in fear
Throughout the nights
Your pets are here.
As the chanting commenced, an arcane glow slowly emerged from the center of the triangle, pouring out from the center of the triangle like a wispy smoke. By the second stanza, the items themselves had been completely covered in the glowing, effervescent fog, which continued curling outward until, by the time the last set of lines were repeated thrice and the chanting swelled to a crescendo, the cloud had enveloped the entire group. When the chant finished, the magic retracted back, not into the ground, but into the pets themselves.
They each felt reinvigorated, stronger and faster than ever. Mittens in particular stretched out as long as she could, not having felt this limber in years. But the true strength of the spell lay in the fact that the pets could now poke their paws through The Gate, so to speak. They couldn’t pass through it as the Greebles sought to, but they could reach through and affect what was on the other side. Without this, they couldn’t attack the Horrors until they’d fully crossed into this plane, and at that point, it would be far too late to stop them.
“Well done, everyone,” chirped Cricket, stretching as well. “Correctly completed on your first try.”.
“Yes, well done,” agreed Salem. “I think we’re about ready to get this Hunt started. I suppose I can start off by telling you what I know of the situation, and then we can split up and do some investigating after that. Does that sound okay?”
The group mumbled in vague agreement.