Prompt: A barking bookworm must stop a village with the help of an army of monsters

Cadi heard the angry human voices and slunk behind the shelves. Hekba, her human, was arguing with the two men who had come into the bookstore, bringing cold air and wet snow and anger. Always anger.

Hiding beside the philosophers, Cadi rested her nose against one of her favorites, the green cloth binding and gold foil outline of the human and dog facing each other. She whined deep in her throat. The humans were shouting again, and she knew it was only a matter of time before their anger overtook even gentle Hekba’s kind nature and drove them to violence. It was always the way with humans.

Silently, Cadi slunk to the back door and pushed her nose and paw against the weak spots that released the latch without jostling the bells. She carefully nosed the door open and slipped outside, ruffling her fur against the bitter snap of the wind at her nose. It was dangerous, but she dared not wait. It was time to summon help.

Hiding in the evening shadows, Cadi ran swiftly through the small village where she had spent her last five lives. She snorted with brief-lived amusement at the humans' belief that only cats had more than one. This life with Hekba had been her favorite so far. She fought the uneasy feeling that it was about to end with fire and death. So much death. Worse than her third life. She shuddered and ran past the last house and into the dark forest.

There was no moonlight and no trail. Cadi opened her senses and felt her way toward the gadjibo. If she could find them. If she could warn them. Was it too late to save them? To save the humans from their own fears and hatred? To save Hekba, her favorite human since sweet young Dabo so many years ago?

Pain lanced through her right forepaw as she stumbled and yelped, then snapped her mouth shut in dismay. She sat on her haunch and held up her paw. Blood on the pad—she had stepped on something sharp. She glanced behind, but even the starlight her eyes drew in was not enough to reveal the culprit.

She could show no weakness to the gadjibo. She hoped the human stories she had been collecting would be enough. They might not listen. They might like her blood more than stories. They might tear her to pieces. Foolish pup, she snapped at herself. Wipe your paw and be on your way. You do as you must and they will too.

Cadi ran on. A ring of ancient trees around a rising barrow. Be brave, she exhorted herself, imaging Hekba’s comforting hands on her fur. She ran up the barrow and crested the top. She froze. So many gadjibo! As far as she could see in the starlight, their eyes reflected back at her. She swallowed a whine and shook her ruff. Her first bark sounded weak, even to her own ears. The eyes stared, unblinking. She stepped forward and barked again, then again, gathering courage to call the gadjibo to help her save the humans from themselves…

Note: Hat tip to the "Really Random Plot-o-Tron - Traditional Fantasy Edition" for the prompt!

Dogs in House	Brindle, Houdini
Music	Martine Kraft, Fragile Mind
Time writing	20 minutes
April word count	507