#sun cattle

In tribute to Jorge's amazing new Wisdom Saga (from Epic: The Musical) which I've been listening to on loop for the last hour, the newest Fablehaven Beastiary addition had to be Sun Cattle.

Fablehaven never alluded to any gods or religions, so creative liberties have been taken, since neither Apollo nor Helios exist. But I think they're adorable so I had to add them.

The cattle contain mini suns held between their horns- several preserves keep them for energy sources. They're long-lived (several centuries at least) and cows normally only have two separate calves in their lifetime, though twins and triplets aren't uncommon. They're born teeny tiny, without horns or suns for better camouflage. Their colour slightly undoes this, but the cattle live in preserves now so haven't evolved a smarter approach.

As their horns grow, their suns begin to form, brighter and brighter as their horns complete a single loop. A broken horn will extinguish their sun, and as their suns give them their longevity, injured cattle will live the rest of their lives the same length as a regular dairy cow.

Their horns are magical. Kinda have to be to contain a sun. Horn poaching was an issue before preserves and the cattle nearly went extinct, an issue that heavily influenced the decision to create preserves at all. They have since recovered. The magic in their horns hold their sun in place and prevents it from burning anything. Touching the suns isn't recommended but it won't kill you due to their horns' magic. You will, however, likely have to visit the ER for a severe electrical shock from the magic and burns from the proximity to the sun (this heat is only an issue for any bare skin within a 10cm radius of the sun itself.)