The executioner - Voices of cats and birds

On a cold night, after finishing the day at the Maiden's Tavern, Dom was almost home when, in the middle of the empty street, he heard a comment. "Filthy and stinking pig." The hoarse voice had come from something close behind. Dominique pulled the axe from his back and, in one leap, turned towards the man who would soon be a corpse. His axe now consisted of a buloke handle, the strongest wood in Pangea, and a double platinum head, a white metal that always gleamed in the sunlight before being used, as if it awakened to that purpose. But what he saw was astonishing: nothing! Except for a few dilapidated wooden huts and a black cat sitting, only the executioner and the cold wind inhabited that night. Maybe he was delirious, cursed rum. Dominique studied the feline carefully, which could make a good soup if it decided to approach.

"Why don't you come here, kitty?" he joked, feeling his head begin to spin from the drink. Dom closed his eyes tightly and turned around when that voice returned, as swift as the wind.

"Why don't you fall on that axe and let me lick your blood?"

The executioner, still holding the axe, raised it and prepared to attack, but the street was still empty.

"Who said that?" he shouted, as if the night wasn't as silent as the heads the executioner held up to certify the population of the success of his axe.

"Filthy and foolish pig!" the voice appeared again, but surprisingly, it came from the direction of the cat. Only a clean patch of ground was beside the cat, so nothing could be behind it to produce that voice. What the hell was happening?

Then the feline stood up, arching its back as if about to attack.

"Can you understand me?" that voice once again came from the direction of the cat.

"I understood very well what you said, coward. Stop hiding and show yourself!" the man shouted again, with the enormous axe still raised, ready to cleave in half whoever emerged from the shadows. But nothing happened, the cat seemed startled by Dominique's shout and disappeared as quickly as lightning, and then the voice seemed to fade away as well.

Only after twice calling out the man who insulted him, Dom realized that the guy had left, and with a laugh, he put away his axe and returned home. But the absurdity did not end that night. On the following day, it seemed like he could hear voices coming from every empty corner of the citadel. Dominique couldn't help but remember his mother, killed for witchcraft, and what if all of this was true? Could he be hearing the dead? The answer came that same day, following the encounter with the black cat. While sitting on a piece of log near the tavern where he had bought some slices of bread, Dom saw a small yellow bird approach.

"Give me a piece of that." Since no one was around, Dom took that voice as just one more among the ones he had been hearing all morning. But... what if it was somehow coming from that little bird?

"Do you want bread, bird?" he ventured.

"Definitely!" came the response.