"Oh, wonderful! I have some more of them right here!" Beist announced cheerfully and tapped a couple of the gold charms hanging from his hons. A feather with a yellow gem embedded in the middle and a curling ram's horn with a green charm in the center. The gems both turned white and two more large creatures materialized beside Beist.

The first was a large, fierce-looking griffon that stood nearly as tall as Beist used to, at almost twelve feet tall at the head. Her white feathers of her bird-like front half were pristine and her brown fur of her lion-like back half was silky smooth. She was very obviously well taken care of and Beist was very proud of her. Two little feathered tufts stuck off the back of her head like those of a harpy eagle. Her piercing yellow eyes were the same color as the gem in the feather charm had been.

On Beist's other side was what appeared to be a ram with green, fluffy wool and curly horns. However, this ram was also massive in comparison to an average ram. Though they weren't as large as the griffon, they stood taller than Zarius did, with their head being about level with the Fellblood's own and the wool on their back reaching well above that. Curiously, hanging from the collar around the giant ram's neck was a wooden pendant carved into the shape of a skull that didn't match their cute appearance at all.

"This is Dora, a griffon, and Leon, a Woolful. Both of you, this is Zarius and Eameia." Beist introduced them all, motioning toward the griffon and the ram in turn and then toward the two Fellbloods.

Zarius blinks as two more large animals appear out of thin air and tower well over him.

Aaaaaah, this is uncomfortable.

He takes a cautionary step back away from Leon since he's at perfect headbutting height. His last encounter with woolfuls was less than great and this one was massive compared to the ones he herded with another towering dog-man.

"They are very impressive creatures." Zarius keeps a wary eye one all of the, ready to dodge if he gets charged.

Eameia, on the other hand, looks up at Dora in awe since she is at no risk of being jumped. "Oh, she is gorgeous! Mister Beist you have such wonderful pets."

"That trick with the jewelry, is it your own magic or are those magic items?" Zarius asks, curious about how Beist can just poof his pets around at all. "Must be handy to be able to keep your companions safe."

"Does it work on evil cats?" Eameia interjects. If there was any way to get Ebony out of her hair, she would be more than willing to take it. 

Zarius rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"Oh, thank you. They are wonderful, aren't they?" Beist replied as he put a hand on Dora and Leon's heads and gave them both a rub. Dora raised her head in a regal pose, as if she was too dignified for head pats. She looked happy though, even if she was trying to hide it. Leon didn't try at all to hide that he was happy to be pet.

"I would never call them my pets though. They're my companions. We can speak to each other and understand each other. They help me a lot and I care for them. Calling them my pets just seems like a bit of an understatement to how important they are to me."

While Beist was speaking, Leon was staring ahead at Zarius. The Fellblood had taken a few cautious steps back to gain some distance from the woolful, but that had only proven to provide more room to charge forward. With their horns lowered to the level of Zarius's stomach, Leon suddenly rushed forward and rammed into him. The distance still wasn't that much, but it was more than enough for the force of the oversized woolful's charge to knock Zarius off his feet and onto his back.

Leon let out a proud bleat at their victory and then looked down at Zarius sprawled on his back and felt guilty. With another bleat, a soft green glow enveloped Zarius and healed him. Beist also looked worried for a moment, but couldn't help but find it funny. Leon let out another bleat, looking back toward Beist.

"Yes, you won. You're very tough, indeed! The toughest woolful I know." Beist replied, trying not to chuckle. Leon had a habit of trying to act tough, breaking things or ramming people, and then immediately feeling bad about the damage they'd caused. It was a good thing the woolful possessed some healing magic.

Beist looked down at Zarius with an apologetic look.

"Oh, my apologies, I did not mean to offend," Eameia gives a slight bow as part of her apology.

Zarius doesn't take his eyes off Leon as the woolful stares him down. He wasn't great with animals, but he'd been on the receiving end of a woolful's horns once before. He could tell Leon was plotting his demise.

"Do not even think about it," he warns.

Oh. Leon was thinking about it.

As the woolful lunges forward, Zarius scrambles backward.

"No, no, no, no, no!"

Zarius scrambles backwards but the heel of his boot catches on a proud cobblestone which stops him from evading Leon's charge. He gets nailed in the gut and the hit knocks the wind right out of him before sending him tumbling back onto the ground a few paces away.

"Uuuuugh," he groans as he lies splayed out on the ground.

Eameia loses her composure once again and nearly doubles over laughing. Her astral projection flickers in and out, cutting off her laughing abruptly a few times as she can barely keep her concentration on the spell.

The healing helps take the edge off, but healing magic does little for wounds to the ego. Zarius debates getting up, but at the risk of being knocked down again, he just stays on the ground. 

"It has truly been a pleasure spending time with you, Mister Beist, but I do not know if I will be able to survive meeting any more of your companions."

Beist chuckled, but he had a hint of worry to his laughter.

"Oh, Leon just does that to everyone he meets. He did the same to me when I first met him as well! Right to the gut. And he couldn't even use healing magic back then. Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday..." Beist laughed, putting a hand on his stomach as he reminisced.

As Beist stared off into the distance, lost in his memories, Dora stepped forward and bent her head down to look at Zarius lying on the ground. With her big beak, she grabbed Zarius by one of his horns and lightly nibbled on it playfully.

"Oh, it looks like Dora likes you too! My, you certainly have a way with animals. Don't worry. If anything happens to you, I'll be sure to heal you again!" Beist chuckled as he noticed the griffon nibbling on Zarius.

Dora put one avian front leg onto Zarius's chest as she gnawed on his horn. Her biting wasn't hard enough to do any damage. She had a habit of doing the same to Beist's horns, though she was admittedly rougher when she did it to him. She'd often yank his head around a bit while she nibbled, but Beist didn't mind. He thought it was cute, like a kitten nibbling on his fingers. However, Beist was also far tougher than most people, even if he didn't consider himself to be.

Zarius groans as Dora steps on his torso and pins him down while she uses his horns like toothpicks. This was not the kind of day he was prepared to have, but little he could do about it without risking offending the griffon with its beak dangerously close to his face. Wouldn't take much for her to pluck off an ear or take out one of his eyes if he put up a fuss or made the wrong move. 

The ridiculousness of the situation is too much for Eameia to take, and as she bursts out laughing again the spell finally cuts off and her projection disperses into a shower of glittering sparkles. 

Zarius sighs, a quickly regretted mistake that he can't exactly take back easily as Dora's weight is pressed down on his ribs. 

"Mister Beist," he wheezes. "Can you please tell Miss Dora to kindly let me get up?"

As much as he just loved lying on the hard cobblestone street, he very much has gotten to the end of his patience at this point. Not to mention they were starting to draw attention again from passersby curious of the giant creatures and their giant owner.

A pair of guards even take a second look at the situation as they are doing their rounds. The confused expression on their faces are clear indication that they're unsure if a crime or altercation is occurring or not.

"Oh dear, what happened to Miss Eameia? She suddenly vanished. Is she alright?" Beist started to ramble, his voice full of concern for the young girl. He didn't realize she'd simply lost concentration on her spell from laughing so hard at Zarius's misfortune. He thought something may have happened to her to break her spell or she ran out of magic.

He looked back to Zarius as he wheezed from underneath Dora and became even more concerned. It looked like Dora's playing was too much for someone of a more average size and strength. He hadn't even thought of that, with how little he thought his companions were. Compared to him, they were. But for Zarius, Dora was huge and her weight on his chest was crushing.

"Oh, my apologies! Dora, would you please get off of him? I don't think he can take any more playing." Beist said, a tinge embarrassed at his carelessness. Dora mercifully let go of Zarius's horn and backed up, letting him breathe again as she removed her foot from his chest.

Beist finally noticed the crowd forming and the guards looking at the scene in confusion. Oh gods, they're going to arrest me! What did I do? I... uh... did everything his companions just did to Zarius count as assault...? Oh NO! He'd never survive in jail! He needed to explain the situation to the guards, tell them everything was fine, there was no need to arrest him...

Ah, he couldn't say anything. He was stuck like a deer in front of a carriage. He was panicking. Would they even listen if he was the one to say that he wasn't committing a crime? What was he supposed to do?

Beist glanced down at the stack of flyers still in his hand. He grabbed one off the top and held it out to the nearest person in the crowd.

"Ch- Charon Summer Festival!" He shouted louder than he'd meant to, a bit of panic still audible in his voice.

It's a massive relief when Dora finally steps off of his chest and allows him to breathe. 

"Ugh, she is fine. She just lost her concentration on that spell of hers," he explains as he gets up off the ground now that Dora has so graciously allowed him to.

He dusts himself off, though it still doesn't do much for the layer of fuzz left behind by Sorbet earlier. Truly, he will likely never be free from the hairs and will be picking them off for weeks to come. 

With a sigh, he looks back up at Beist. "Well, your companions are very impressive. They also seem quite happy and healthy."

Even though Zarius is not really an animal person, he can tell that Beist has kept his companions in the best condition. It's also clear they respect him greatly, at least enough to listen to him when he asks them to not cause someone else bodily harm. 

The guard's attention doesn't go unnoticed by Zarius. He's not too worried about them causing trouble, but it is still probably best for Beist and himself to not draw any more attention to themselves. 

Beist seems to have the same concerns and makes a laughable attempt to divert any suspicions. He can't help but snicker at the large man as he tries to act like this is a totally normal part of handing out fliers. 

It works well enough as the guards turn and continue on with their patrol since there are no shouts for their interference. 

"Mister Beist, I think it would be best if I let you get back to work. It has been nice catching up with you and meeting your companions."

"Oh, I see. Well, that is a relief. As long as she's alright." Beist mumbled. It was good that nothing was wrong, but he wondered just what might have caused her to lose her concentration like that.

"Thank you. I try my best to take good care of them. They can be quite the handful sometimes, as you've... experienced. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one that can take care of them." Beist replied, looking at Dora, Sorbet, and Leon with great affection. He gave them each a gentle rub on the head that they leaned into happily.

Truly, with how large many of his companions were, it was probably entirely accurate to say he was the only one large enough to take good care of them. Most would probably treat them like monsters or be too afraid of getting crushed by them to be so close to them. Beist considered the effects of his potions to be on par with the curse he'd been trying to cure, but sometimes he wondered if it was a blessing in disguise. If he ever did manage to become human again, would he still be able to care for all of the lost and abandoned animals he'd taken in? Would he be able to care for them as well as he could now?

Beist sat down with a sigh as the guards walked off, not arresting him or causing any trouble. He kept handing out flyers to anyone who came near, most of which just came up to try and pet the big fluffy creatures he was surrounded by. Dora and Leon also lied down on either side of him and Sorbet nestled happily into his lap to sleep. It looked like he might be stuck here a while. It was sad to hear Zarius had to leave, but he couldn't force him to stay.

"Thank you for spending time with me. I very much enjoyed your company, as well as your sister's. Please give her my thanks when you see her. It was very nice to meet her and catch up with you as well. Oh! Also, to answer the question of the charms. They are magic items, but they require a spell to activate, so I suppose they are both an item and a spell. If you'd really like one for your cat, I might be able to make you one. They are a bit difficult though. I don't even have one for every one of my companions. I mostly only make them for my larger companions, like Dora and Leon here."

"I certainly would not be able to care for them as you do." 

Course part of the reason for that is that he wouldn't WANT to care for them AT ALL. But he wouldn't say that out loud. Clearly, Beist is more suited for having such companions compared to the shifty fellblood who can barely keep a tiny void kitten out of trouble. 

"Of course. I will let her know," he replies. 

He tilts his head at the explanation of how the charms work. Handy, perhaps he should look more into them for other purposes. Containing Ebony was just not something possible even through magical means. 

"If you come across one, do let me know. I would be interested in acquiring one at least for one of my companions." 

Giving such a thing to Shael would make it much easier for the young drake rider to draw less attention while in more urban areas. Explaining why there's a massive silver storm drake wandering around was not always easy, hiding it is even more challenging. 

Zarius gives Beist a nod. "Best of luck with the fliers. I am certain we will cross paths again."

With a slight bow to the giant beastman, Zarius makes his departure from the scene, quickly moving around the corner of a building and disappearing from sight.