He glanced around before looking down, where a sleek black cat with piercing golden eyes stared up at him from the floor.
"What are you? And how can you talk?" Asher asked.
"You can hear me?" The cat was also surprised.
He nodded, still keeping his gaze fixed on the small creature. "I can. Now, answer my question."
The cat tilted its head, its tail flicking back and forth. "Talk about being lucky," it muttered, then spoke more clearly. "It's a good thing I tried talking to you... I was starting to lose hope. All these so-called sorcerers are too dumb and weak to understand me, and—"
"Wait!" Asher cut it off. He realized the cat was speaking directly into his mind, and he instinctively responded the same way. This particular spell was unfamiliar to him, which meant the cat was responsible for it.
'This is dangerous. How is it bypassing my mental defenses?' He made a note to develop a counterspell later.