The Cure: Part Two

Lion-O, Bengali, Pumyra, and Cheetara hiked through the jungle for about two hours towards the lost city's suspected location, until they saw the sky lightening in the distance. "We'd better set up camp." Lion-O warned. "Bengali and Pumyra can't be caught in the sun."

Pumyra sighed. "Someday we won't have to fear a sunrise ever again. If this chalice exists and we find it, I will spend the rest of my mortal days watching beautiful sunrises and appreciating it all."

"For now, we have to stick to our opaque black tents for the daytime." Bengali said. He set his pack down and began pulling out the tent and its various ties and other equipment. "Lion-O's right, we'd better get to setting this up."

The four Thundercats got to work and soon had a camp set up with a large tent made of lightproof black cloth. The sky grew lighter, and the four of them retired into the tent to get some sleep. They would have a long hike when dusk fell again, and they would need their rest. Bengali and Pumyra went in first, and Cheetara stayed out for a few minutes, just watching the sunrise. Lion-O came up behind her and put an arm around her shoulder. She instinctively leaned back against him and closed her tired eyes for a moment. "I hope we find what we're looking for. Look at the sunrise, Lion-O, it's so beautiful."

"I see it." he replied, and rubbed her shoulders a little. "Before we know it, Bengali and Pumyra will be seeing it again too. I know it."

"Oh, I hope so, Lion-O." she replied, and turned around. A strange, dark feeling suddenly stirred inside her, and she shivered despite the jungle heat. Why did she have this awful feeling that she was being watched?

Lion-O didn't really notice her sudden mood shift, but instinctively pulled her close for a moment and smiled at her. He wanted to kiss her, but didn't. He'd often wished he could tell her how he felt, but that was the one thing the mighty Lord of the Thundercats had not yet had the courage to do. He was always afraid she would reject him for someone wiser, less impulsive, older. Like Tygra or Panthro. He saw how Bengali and Pumyra felt about one another often, and felt a sense of longing. If only he and Cheetara could be like that...

Cheetara stretched and yawned, and tried to ignore the irrational nervous fear she was experiencing. "Come on, Lion-O, we need to get some sleep or we'll never be up to a night-long hike. Let's get to bed, ok?" She took his hand and led him towards the tent. I must just be tired, that's got to be it, she rationalized. She slipped inside the tent.

He nodded and followed her in. Inside, Bengali and Pumyra were snuggled up together on one side of the rather small tent, taking up about half the space. Cheetara unrolled a sleeping bag next to them, and Lion-O took the spot between her and the wall. He wondered if he could move close to her at all, if she would notice or care. He unrolled his sleeping bag, and watched Cheetara slide into hers and sighed softly to himself. Maybe someday, he thought, and climbed into his own bad, then drifted off to sleep.

Cheetara laid awake for several minutes, still fighting off that sensation of fear. You're being ridiculous, Cheetara, there's nothing out there! she scolded herself. She forced herself to close her eyes and sleep. Unfortunately, nightmares of being stalked and hunted by an unseen evil filled her head the entire night.

***

RedEye shook Alluro and Chilla awake. "Get up, it's dusk again. We have to get going."

Chilla stretched, and rubbed her feet, still sore from hiking last night. She was not looking forward to another night in the sweltering jungle heat again. She had already mentally made a vow to kick Luna's whiny immortal ass when she got back for sending her on this hellish expedition. She reached into her pack and ate a few bites of food, and winced as she forced down enough to sustain her for a while. The food they'd brought to travel with was gross, preserved rations that had to be kept sealed to keep bugs out of it. She glanced over at Alluro and for a moment was envious of his lack of a need to eat. Except for the whole avoiding sunlight thing, being a vampire was convenient, that was for sure. A few minutes later Alluro left to go find a meal of fresh blood, some unlucky jungle beast most likely, while RedEye and Chilla got to take down their tent and pack it up.

By the time he had returned, the three of them were ready to press on.  The trio hiked through the jungle for a few hours rather uneventfully, following some map Luna had plotted from Skytomb's navigational computers with the information Mumm-Ra had given her. They were going through a particularly wet and swampy section of thick jungle growth, with Chilla leading, when suddenly she let out a yelp and tumbled down out of sight. Alluro and RedEye raced over to where she had fallen-- and burst out laughing. Chilla had apparently broken through the layer of vegitation, not seen the three foot drop, and tumbled right into a muddy swamp. She was sitting up, covered almost head to toe in dark brown gooey mud and dirty water, and the look on her face was one of utter disgust and exasperation.

When she saw RedEye and Alluro laugh instead of making any move to help her up or even offer sympathy, she lost her temper. "YOU @#!$&% IDIOTS!! YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?!" she shouted in fury.

"Ye--Yes!!" RedEye managed to get out between bursts of laughter.

Chilla snarled and threw a fistful of mud at RedEye, which splattered right in his face. RedEye grumbled and wiped it off, and muttered a few choice obscenities at Chilla.

That only made Alluro laugh harder. He then decided he'd better help Chilla out of the mud before their hike degenerated into a mud fight, and moved with his vampiric speed and flight powers to lift Chilla out and back onto the firmer ground. Unfortunately for him, Chilla was still furious at him for laughing, so when he tried to pick her up out of the mud she just yanked down hard on his arms and made him fall into the mud as well. As he regained his balance, Chilla saw he had been coated just as thoroughly as she was and couldn't hold back a snicker. Alluro, on the other hand, had lost his sense of humor for the situation. "I was trying to help you, you bitch!"

"That was payback." she said simply, stood up, and tried to wipe some of the excess mud off of her dress and cape. Alluro was trying to shake the slimy chunks of mud off of his pants and out of his hair as well.

RedEye laughed again. "You two look ridiculous."

"You're no beauty queen yourself." Chilla snapped angrily, and stomped across the mud to start their hike again. Alluro and RedEye shrugged and followed her. About an hour later, they saw a sparkle through the trees. "What's that?" Chilla wondered.

RedEye looked carefully in that direction with his enhanced vision and saw a huge body of water, calm and beautiful, with the moonlight sparkling on its surface. "It's a lake." he replied. "Want to stop and see what's there? Maybe relax and get some fresh water?" he suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Alluro agreed.  Chilla also nodded in agreement and the three of them made their way towards the edge of the lake. As they approached, RedEye thought he saw a figure way in the distance dive into the lake from a low cliff that stood above it on its opposite shore, but it didn't surface at all after several minutes. I must be seeing things, he thought, and shrugged it off. Alluro walked to the edge of the lake and dipped his hand in. "It's cool, but not too cold... very nice. How about we go for a swim and clean this blasted mud off ourselves?" he suggested.

"Sorry, didn't pack my swimwear this time." Chilla snapped sarcastically.

RedEye looked at her with a grin. "Who needs swimwear?"

Chilla grumbled in disgust. "If you jerks think I am going to give you a few cheap thrills, forget it." She looked at the lake again, and felt the stickiness and itch of the mud clinging to her skin and hair. She tried to decide between the lesser of the two evils, the mud or the probable leers she would get from her companions, and getting rid of the mud took a higher priority as the lake's calm, soothing waters tempted her to climb in and cool off. Giving Alluro and RedEye looks that clearly said "try anything and you're a popsicle", she removed her cape, boots, dress, and gloves, leaving only her underwear on, and waded into the water to wash some of the mud off of her limbs.

Alluro stole a quick glance at Chilla, then kicked his boots off. "Well I feel disgusting with all this mud on me, so I don't care if this offends your delicate sensibilities... I am going swimming, and I don't want any of my clothes to be soaked any worse than they already are from that mud." He then pulled his clothes off, and ran with his vampire speed a few splashing steps into the lake, and dove underneath.

"Thank the gods it's dark." Chilla muttered, averting her eyes from her exhibitionistic companion while he dove into the lake. RedEye laughed with her. He had also waded into the lake, allowing the pleasantly cool, flowing water to soothe his tired muscles and wash away the mud, sweat, and jungle grime. Chilla bumped a rock underneath the water and felt something skitter away, and an unpleasant thought occurred to her. "Hey... think there are any dangerous animals in here?" she wondered aloud. She suddenly was overcome with a chilling feeling, a sensation like the three of them were being stalked, being watched by something very dark and deadly.

"More dangerous than us?" Alluro replied. He had surfaced some fifteen feet away, out far enough in the lake that he couldn't touch the bottom. "You worry too much, Chilla. The worst we are likely to find here are a few biting fish or turtles or something."

"Easy for you to say, you're immortal." Chilla retorted. Suddenly that feeling of nervousness filled her again. Her instincts were telling her to run, that something dangerous was near, that she should be afraid. She looked around and tried to shake the feeling, but she couldn't, even though she saw nothing suspicious.

Alluro laughed again at Chilla's paranoia when he felt something brush his leg, it almost felt like fingers touching him. That's ridiculous, it's just a fish he thought, then double checked to make sure his companions weren't playing any tricks on him. They were still both near the edge of the lake, several feet away from him. Then something sharper than the finger traced along his calf muscle, and suddenly countless teeth, or claws of some form grasped him and yanked him underneath the water with incredible strength. Alluro let out a yelp of pain before he was dragged underneath, splashing violently in protest.

RedEye and Chilla heard the cry and saw him go under. "What was that?" RedEye asked.

Chilla's stomach fluttered with a feeling of dread. "Something's in this lake, and it's got him!" she hissed. "We'd better go after him!" She began to move out to where Alluro had vanished, where the water was now swirling and bubbling like something terrible was happening beneath it.

RedEye grabbed her arm to stop her. "No! He's immortal, whatever it is that has him, it can't kill him... but it can kill us!"

Underneath the water, Alluro struggled against the creature that had grabbed him as its prey. He opened his eyes and saw through the dark water with his enhanced vampire sight that what held him looked to be a pair of human hands with long fingernails, and he reached down to pull them away. Humans don't have strength like this... he thought while he struggled. What is it that has me? Adrenaline and rage built inside him as he desperately tried to free himself from this predator, and he reverted to vampire form, slashing with his hands at the attacker. His hands tangled in a mass of dark hair as he grabbed the human-looking creature's head. The creature that held him beneath the water struggled in his grasp and he saw a pair of fangs and immortal eyes meet his own as it reached to bite him... and stopped when their eyes met. Instantly his captor let him go and the two grasped each other and raced for the surface of the lake.

"Janette!" he gasped in astonishment, once they broke through to the night air. "It's really you!" He tugged with the hand that held her arm and pulled her closer, as if to confirm that it was actually her and not some hallucination brought on by the long, tiring hike and the jungle heat.

"Alluro!" She was visibly shocked. "I didn't know it was you when I attacked, I heard mortals approaching the lake and was waiting beneath the water to see if I could make a meal of a swimmer... what are you doing here?" she asked him. She hugged him tightly for a moment, then leaned back and looked him over, to see how he had changed at all over the past year.

His face, which at first expressed great joy at seeing her again, suddenly darkened to anger. "I thought you were dead... you left me behind! You left me to spend eternity with Luna!! How could you?!"

RedEye and Chilla watched with amazement as Alluro and Janette broke through the surface of the water, and the two observing lunatacs exchanged looks. "What? That's Janette? Here in the jungles of Riyl-Miren, of all places?" RedEye said with a puzzled look, and the two waded closer to the immortal pair. "Janette?" RedEye called over.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Chilla said rudely. Janette was not high on her list of favorite people. She was the one who had started this entire vampire mess, the one who had twisted Alluro into thinking he should become immortal, the one who had made him want to leave the lunatacs to be with her, which had in turn made Luna turn herself immortal to keep him in her control, and Luna was a thousand times more intolerable and powerful now that she was a vampire. All of the things that had happened in the past year Chilla blamed on Janette, and she hated her for it all.

Janette looked at Alluro's hurt and angry expression, then at Chilla's icy glare and RedEye's curious stare. "I suppose I should explain." she told them. "Let's at least swim over to where we can stand first, all right?" The group made their way over to the shallower water, where Janette, who was the shortest of them, could touch bottom. "Nick, LaCroix, and I did not die in that fire, though LaCroix wanted you all to believe we did, so we could leave without loose ends. Back on First Earth we called this moving on, it was a common thing for vampires to do, especially when they had gotten too involved in the lives of mortals and were causing them problems, such as the ones we experienced at the hands of those warrior maidens. LaCroix thought it was better that we left quietly and let everyone think we had died."

Alluro frowned. "Not all of the ones you left behind were mortal." he said bitterly.

"LaCroix saw to it that you would not be alone. It was not my decision, but I have learned the hard way over the centuries that arguing with LaCroix is a useless endeavor, especially when there may be truth in what he says. Besides, would you have really been willing to cut all ties with your mortal friends to join us?" Janette asked him.

"You never gave me the choice." Alluro argued.

"I was never given the choice to give you that choice." she replied. "But the point is moot now... you know the truth, that we still exist."

"Isn't that wonderful?" Chilla muttered sarcastically, then stared coldly at the others. "I've had enough of this little midnight swim. When you're done chit chatting with your bloodsucking friend and are ready to continue on our mission, I'll be in the woods drying off and finishing my yummy survivalist dinner of prepacked rations and stale crackers." She then turned and splashed back to shore and vanished into the surrounding dark jungle.

"I see she's still charming as ever." Janette remarked as Chilla left.

Alluro stared at Janette again. His voice had now lost some of its angry edge, and he looked at her with a questioning expression. "Were you ever going to come back for me?"

Janette nodded. "I thought about it... but did not think the time was yet right to find you again. Perhaps I was wrong... something has brought you back to me. My student, my fledgling." she gave him a warm smile and stroked his face gently. "I did miss you... we never did have much time to explore your powers, your new abilities together."

Alluro locked his eyes with hers and they continued their conversation telepathically, re-establishing their vampiric bond. "I missed you too." he told her aloud after several moments, his voice uncharacteristically full of emotion.

At this point, RedEye had about all the mush he could stand, mumbled a few parting words, and climbed out of the water, leaving the two of them alone to catch up on the events of the past year. He wondered where Chilla had gone, he didn't see her anywhere, even when he concentrated and scanned with his enhanced vision. Her stuff was still nearby, except for her dress and boots, which he imagined she had put back on before taking a walk somewhere. He hoped she didn't go far, or she'd get lost, and they would have to waste even more time on this mission trying to find her.

***

Chilla stomped through the woods nearby. Fury was building up inside her. I can't believe she's still alive, and has to show up and bother us! She's going to screw things up, going to make Alluro want to leave again... Why couldn't she have stayed dead?! She wasn't sure why she was so upset, but she was so furious that she didn't even sense her body's instinctual danger warning go off again. The same warning she'd felt earlier in the lake, the feeling of being watched, stalked, and hunted. She was even too upset to realize that the creature that had truly been stalking her was now rushing at her to strike, until it was too late.

She was able only to turn around when a lightning-fast black flash swooped out of the trees above her, pulled her into its arms, and sunk its ancient fangs into her neck. Her head swam and she grew lightheaded as her blood left her body. Her final thoughts before she lost consciousness were a strange sequence of flashes, that gave her a sort of understanding of the soul of the evil vampire taking her blood from her. First she saw flashes of a an ancient world, with a dark sky lit in fire while the earth trembled and shook. Watching this was a general of a great army, furious at the gods, and behind him a strange, persistent young girl asking him if he wished to live. That scene faded and she experienced later memories of a frightened woman, being terrorized and violated by a worthless waste of a man, only to be saved by the vampire and brought across so she could avenge herself on those that abused her and her friends in life. Chilla then experienced different memories of this vampire's, this time of a crusading knight, laid out on a slab drunken on wine after a victory celebration, seduced by a female vampire and saved for her master to take into the world of the immortals. After that flashed countless other settings and faces, a prominent theme among them recurring feelings of power, many evil but some well-intentioned actions, betrayal by his loved ones, and a desperate need to hold on to what was his. Finally there were later experiences, a dark club in a long gone city that was a haven for vampires, a radio station, where the lost soul shared his dark thoughts with late night listeners. They washed through her head incoherently and overcame her, she couldn't make sense of why she was experiencing this, but she understood the feelings themselves. In the same time, she was aware that he too knew her thoughts and her feelings, he was sharing her entire life as he drank her blood. Chilla was, in a sense, becoming one with LaCroix. She groaned and met his eyes for a brief moment, then went limp in his arms.

"You will not die." he whispered. "You will instead be with me." LaCroix scooped her into his arms, and carried her off into the night, somewhere far from her friends, that he could bring her across.

***

Not far away, the Thundercat explorers were also up and heading towards the lost city of Riyl-Inth. Cheetara was unusually quiet. During the entire day she had nightmares that interrupted her sleep, about a dark evil was watching their expedition into the jungle and waiting for the right time to strike. Her lack of rest was showing now in her aching muscles and the fact that she felt too exhausted to keep up this endless hike through the jungle much longer. At least that terrible sensation of being watched was now gone. Still, between the intolerable heat and humidity of the jungle and her fatigue, she was feeling weak as a kitten. Without warning, she lost her balance and passed out for a moment, and woke up on the jungle floor in Lion-O's arms. "What? Lion-O, what happened?"

"You passed out." Lion-O told her. His eyes were filled with concern. "Are you sick? What happened?"

She blinked and stirred a bit, then tried to sit up. "Oh, I must just be tired... I feel better now."

"No!" Lion-O exclaimed, still holding on to her. "I don't want you pushing yourself. If you need to rest, we can rest."

"Absolutely." Pumyra agreed. "That chalice has been hidden for thousands of years... a few hours will make no difference."

Bengali nodded. "It's settled then, we'll rest for a few hours. I could use a break anyway." He set down his pack and sat on a rock.

Cheetara smiled, leaned back against Lion-O, and closed her tired eyes for a moment. "Thanks."

He held her close for a second, perhaps a moment longer than was really appropriate, then helped her onto a sleeping bag that Pumyra unrolled for her. "Get some rest now, ok? We'll be close by." Pumyra assured her. Cheetara nodded, and drifted off to sleep. Bengali and Pumyra went for a walk together, while Lion-O watched her sleep for a bit. After about ten minutes, he got bored and realized how hungry he was. He glanced at the surrounding trees, and figured there had to be some fruit nearby. He walked into the woods and left Cheetara sleeping soundly on the forest floor.

Ten minutes later, a pair of native scouts were leaning over Cheetara's unconcious form. They were of a small humanoid race, a male and a female. Both had pale mint-green skin and full, thick hair tied back away from their faces. The male's hair was a deep shade of emerald green, while the female's hair was a deep magenta color. They wore animal skins and crudely fashioned leather sandals. Their faces were open and curious, if one had been looking they would have seen that their eyes were wide, bright, a beautiful shade of violet, and sparkled with a friendly interest as they observed the sleeping Thundercat. The natives had an almost elflike look about them, most notably due to the fact that their ears were long and pointed. The male stood at about five feet, four inches, and had a slightly muscular and very lean build, while the female was barely five feet tall and had a very slender, agile frame. The female leaned over Cheetara. "What is she? She looks like one of the jungle cats, only in a body more like ours, or that of Ni'ko'laz." she said thoughtfully.

The male was puzzled. "A goddess of the forest perhaps? I don't know, Lili. Do you think she is dangerous?"

Lili leaned over her and placed her hand on Cheetara's sleeping forehead. "She is good, I can sense her thoughts." she then noticed the Thundercat symbol on her uniform. "Ren'fos... look at this! It is like the one Ni'ko'laz showed us, from his friends of the North. He said they were like the jungle cats but in the shape of people like us, and that they were a tribe mighty warriors that fought for good, like the legendary Mumm-Rana does for us when necessary. Ni'ko'laz may know this female cat."

"This territory is not safe. We were warned that the dark ones, the ones that prey nightly, hunt these woods. We cannot leave her here." Ren'fos said worriedly. "She looks light, I may be able to carry her back to our village. If you take her things, I can carry her. Let's get her to safety... this is no place to sleep, no matter how great a warrior she may be."

Lili nodded in agreement and scooped up Cheetara's things quickly and quietly, while Ren'fos silently lifted Cheetara into his arms. She was sleeping so soundly she did not fully awake. Neither Lion-O, Bengali, nor Pumyra heard them take her.

***

The lid of Mumm-Ra's sarcophagus slid open, and Mumm-Ra stepped over to his cauldron once again. He had been wondering how far the lunatacs had gotten in one day's travel time through the jungles. If they were making good time, then those immortal cretins would soon be out of his hair and back to their normal, less-threatening, mortal selves. "Ancient Spirits of Evil, show me the lunatacs." he spoke, and the cauldron began to bubble and glow at his command. A vision began to take form in the murky waters. First it showed Luna, Amok, and TugMug, doing relatively little in Skytomb. That then faded into an overhead view of the lake, where he could see Alluro talking to some woman in the lake with him, while RedEye paced the shore nearby and scanned the woods. Mumm-Ra frowned for a moment. There was something familiar about that woman, why did he recognize her? He was still trying to figure it out when that vision changed, and he saw Chilla being held and bitten-- by a vampire. A vampire he recognized instantly. A vampire he loathed. LaCroix. "WHAT?!" he shouted in fury "LACROIX LIVES?!"

Mumm-Ra's shout had awakened Ma-Mutt. The supernatural dog whined softly and padded quietly toward the cauldron's platform, but didn't dare move closer when his master was in such an obviously foul mood. "Do you see that, Ma-Mutt? He is not dead! He did not perish in that fire at Baron Karnor's tower! He has been living in the dark jungles of Riyl-Miren! And the woman, I now remember who she is... that is his vampire-daughter, Janette, the one who allied herself with the lunatacs and mutants. I would bet that sickeningly moral vampire Nicholas is alive somewhere in those jungles as well!!" he raged. "They should all be dead!! LaCroix betrayed me by making my enemies immortal and using me only to further his own agenda... and he knew if I knew he lived still, I would make it my mission to destroy him for his treachery! By this deceit of faking his demise, he and his children have made a fool out of Mumm-Ra, a crime for which they will pay with their lives!" Mumm-Ra raised his bandaged arms upward to summon the powers of the Ancient Spirits of Evil. "Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!" he shouted. The spirits changed him to his powerful blue form.

"And now, Ancient Ones, transport me to the jungles of Riyl-Miren!" he roared.

"Wait, Mumm-Ra..." the spirits' voices echoed through the pyramid.

Mumm-Ra looked around angrily. "Wait? WHY?" he bellowed angrily.

"There is a better way." the spirits told him.

"What way?" Mumm-Ra demanded.

"There is one who hates LaCroix even more than you, Mumm-Ra, the one called Divia. She was LaCroix's child in her mortal life, and she became a vampire through one of our first creations of the kind, when he raised her from her deathbed... and she in turn murdered him when he tried to control her. Then when her father was about to die, she offered him immortality... but they lasted together only twenty years before LaCroix was sickened by her evil and decapitated her in a fit of rage, then trapped her body in that tomb beneath the sun god's seal. Seek the vampire in the tomb and free her. She will take care of LaCroix and his vampires, and you will have your revenge." the ancients said, and the cauldron showed him a vision of a dark and dusty Egyptian tomb. In the center there was a hollow stone slab that had a carving of a sun god on it, which Mumm-Ra recognized as a tomb several miles to the east.

"I will go, Ancient Spirits." Mumm-Ra said, and flew out through the top of the pyramid into the night.

***

The sleeping cheetah Thundercat stirred and slowly floated back into the world around her. When she opened her eyes, she saw not the jungle she fell asleep in, but a bamboo and straw wall, which on a second look she realized were walls of a hut. She sat bolt upright. "Lion-O! Pumyra! Bengali!" she said aloud. There was panic rising in her voice. Where had she been taken in her sleep? Where were her friends?

A strange green-skinned man with dark green hair entered the room. "Do not panic, my friend. We mean you no harm." he told her reassuringly, and gave her a warm smile.

"Who are you? Where am I? Where have you taken me and my friends?" Cheetara demanded.

He approached her in a very non-threatening way and offered her a plate of food. "Are you hungry?"

She shook her head. "I just want to know where I am and where my friends are. If you mean me no harm then you will tell me."

He nodded. "My name is Ren'fos. My friend Lili and I found you sleeping in a dangerous area of the jungle, all alone. We meant only to protect you, especially when you are one of the legendary Thundercats, that Ni'ko'laz had once befriended. As for your friends, Lili and I saw no others... had we seen that you were guarded we would have left you alone. But since we saw no protection for you, and that is the territory of the night blood hunters, we could not let you stay unguarded."

Cheetara nodded. "I appreciate your effort to help me, but the others must be worried about me... I have to find them. And who did you say was your friend that knows me?"

As if on cue, a familiar figure walked in. "Cheetara... it's nice to see you again."

Cheetara looked up, and blinked her eyes in disbelief. "Nick..." she whispered. "Is it really you?" She looked him over. It was the same face, same smile, he had the same voice and posture. The only thing different was that he wore the same animal skin clothing that the people who had taken her in were wearing. But it couldn't be, he had died, she was there when the tower had exploded... she saw the fire and felt no life in it... he was gone, wasn't he? "How can it be you, Nick... we were sure you died in the fire at the Tower of Traps." she asked.

Nick stepped over to her and took her hands in his, while Ren'fos excused himself from the hut and left the two of them alone. "I'm real, Cheetara... LaCroix got Janette and I out of the tower before Eliza set it on fire. We thought it best you believe we were all dead, so the warrior maidens would leave you alone and so Mumm-Ra would not seek LaCroix for vengeance. It was easier to just move on. We never intended for you to find out, and hurt you. I know lying was wrong, but it was for the best Cheetara." Nick told her honestly.

She hugged him. "We missed you, Nick. We would have protected you, we loved and accepted you. Bengali and Pumyra... they needed your wisdom and guidance. Being vampires has been hard on them. We've been looking for a cure and--"

"Did you find it?" he asked, then released her from the embrace. "I missed all of you too."

"The cure is an artifact, something the Book of Omens told us of, that lies in the ruins of the lost city of Riyl-Inth. Do you know where that is?"

"No. But if it's true... I will help you find it! I still want to be mortal, but had almost given up on hope that it would be possible." Nick said sadly.

Cheetara gave him a warm smile. "Well now you have reason to hope again. Come on Nick, we have to find Lion-O, Bengali, and Pumyra. They must be worrying about me by now, and they will be thrilled to see you again."

"Let's go then, I want to see them too. Now that our 'death' secret is out, there is no more point in keeping the truth from them. Oh... one more thing... like I said, LaCroix and Janette lived too. They're both unpredictable, so we should probably warn the other Thundercats about them. I wouldn't put it past LaCroix to go after you or Lion-O as a mortal meal. I am forever arguing with him about eating these people.. the Riylien. I live among them, I watch out for them. Janette tells me I'm a fool for constantly befriending mortals, but I can't help it. LaCroix of course hates that I live here, but he now knows that I will do what I want and he can't stop me... only state his disapproval, which of course he does on a regular basis."

Cheetara stood up. "He is misguided and evil, but I do think he loves you in his way." Nick nodded, and Cheetara continued. "But I think there's something else you should know. We're not the only ones here in Riyl-Miren that are from the part of Third Earth you know... the lunatacs are here too. Skytomb is stopped near the jungle and I think they have ventured through the jungle looking for the same thing we are."

A confused expression crossed Nick's face. "But why? I thought Alluro wanted to be a vampire. That's how Janette told it to us anyway. Is it Luna and Amok that want to be cured?"

"So they *are* vampires.. we suspected as much, but never found out for sure." Cheetara said quietly.

"Yes." Nick replied. "LaCroix brought them across so Luna would have enough power to keep Alluro in line, and I think in some strange way, so he wouldn't be alone if Janette moved on. I don't think LaCroix ever liked the idea of Janette making Alluro into a vampire, and had probably intended to eventually force both her and me to leave with him. Of course, that happened sooner than any of us planned on." Nick was silent for a moment, then spoke again. "I wonder if it is Luna that wants to be cured... she did make the decision rather suddenly. Perhaps she's found that being a vampire isn't all it's made out to be."

A worried look crossed Cheetara's face again. "Maybe so. What's worse is that if they are after that chalice, and find it before we do, Bengali, Pumyra, and you will never see it. They would destroy it when they were finished with it just to stick it to us rather than let Bengali and Pumyra be healed. We absolutely must get it first." she said, and walked to the door.

Nick followed her. "You're right. Something else just occurred to me too. There is a high probability, if the lunatacs are anywhere in the area searching for that chalice you mentioned, that they could run into Janette and/or LaCroix. That could be trouble for all of us, especially if LaCroix finds out that some cure exists. He will destroy it if he finds it, he wants no chance of me ever going back to being mortal."

"Then it's doubly urgent that we find it as soon as we can. Let's go find Lion-O, Bengali, and Pumyra now." Cheetara urged.

"All right." Nick agreed, and the two set off after their friends.

***

RedEye was beginning to worry. When Chilla hadn't returned to the lakeside after about half an hour, he had set out to see where she had gone. He followed her trail through the jungle about a quarter of a mile and it stopped. She hadn't backtracked, or turned, the trail had just ended from what he could tell. It was like she had vanished, or sprouted wings and took flight. He didn't like it at all.

He made his way back to the shore of the lake, where Alluro and Janette were sitting together, talking about what sounded like the varying tastes of blood among different species of creatures. He noticed that Janette was wearing some form of jet black animal skin clothing, halfway between a toga and a loincloth, something like the warrior maidens back in the Tree Top Kingdom might wear. He couldn't help but think it looked strange on her, he supposed it was because back when they had met her, she had been wearing a long black dress and gloves that had been tattered and shredded from the centuries of being sealed up inside a mountain. Somehow the black dress suited her better than the animal skin, but then again, he supposed when you lived in a jungle you couldn't be too picky. RedEye also noticed thankfully that Alluro had gotten dressed again after getting out of the lake. They both looked up when RedEye approached them. "Where did you go off to?" Alluro asked him.

"I was looking for Chilla. I think something happened to her." he said with a somber note in his voice.

Janette raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"I followed her trail into the woods, and it just ends. It looks like something just picked her up while she was walking and carried her off. I can't find her anywhere, or any sign of her."

Alluro was confused. "But there are no birds big enough to carry her around here. And we would have heard her scream if she were attacked, not to mention she would have frozen or burned any creature that cornered her. Nothing could have moved that fast."

"You're wrong." Janette said quietly. "A vampire could. Especially... an old one."

RedEye cast Janette a suspicious look. "Yes... and you and Chilla sure don't like each other much."

Janette scowled at him. "I wouldn't bite her if I was starving... I prefer warmer blood than that." she remarked. "Besides, Alluro will tell you he was here with me ever since she left."

"She was." Alluro agreed.

Janette met RedEye's eyes. "There is a vampire other than myself who may have done it. I wouldn't count Nicola, as he is too 'moral' to go and hunt for anything but animals these days, but LaCroix lives near here, he has made his home in an old stone ruin about four miles to the east. He may very well have seen her walking alone and--"

"NO!" Alluro protested, and growled angrily. "He'd better not have killed her!"

RedEye grumbled with anger as well. "Where are these ruins of LaCroix's, Janette? We will not let him get away with hurting Chilla, and if he's killed her..."

"Stay calm for now." Janette said forcefully. "I will lead you there." She then looked from RedEye to Alluro. "We can get their faster if we were to use our vampire flying abilities. Alluro, between the two of us we could carry RedEye."

Alluro nodded. "That's fine with me." Alluro and Janette then each grabbed one of RedEye's arms and levitated him. Seconds later they had vanished from sight.

***

Mumm-Ra pulled the ancient stone aside and made his way through the dark and winding passages of the ancient tomb. He had no need to light a torch, since his glowing red eyes could see perfectly even in the blackest places. Already he could feel the evil that permeated the tomb filling him and making him stronger. He wasn't sure if the evil came from the place itself or the vampire trapped deep inside it, but he supposed it didn't matter. Eventually he found what he was looking for, the hollow stone encasement with the sun god talisman on top of it.

Dark power, hatred, and rage pulsed from within. "Heh heh, just what I was looking for." he mumbled to himself. He stared at the ancient magical seal for a moment, then raised his powerful blue arm high, and brought it crashing down upon the talisman. Upon impact it shattered into two pieces, both of which flew in opposite directions and clattered loudly on the stone floor of the silent tomb.

He waited. For several moments there was nothing but silence. He then became aware of a slow rumbling, a force of something awakening. The stone lid of the sarcophagus moved slightly, and was then thrown up with a violent motion and hurled across the chamber, bouncing off the wall and falling to the floor with a resounding thud. A shadow emerged from the encasement, a shadow with glowing green and yellow eyes that stood still for a second, stared straight at him, then before he knew it had toppled him and was sinking its fangs into his undead flesh.

"GET OFF OF ME!" he cried, and threw the creature off, back against the stone prison it had been in for so long. "I am not your meal, vampire." he growled.

Mumm-Ra looked his attacker over. She was not what he expected her to be. Her body was that of a very young human woman, no more than perhaps 14 years of age. She had blond hair tied back and wore a toga from the ancient times he remembered from early First Earth. She was glaring at him and baring her fangs and claws in a threatening manner. "Who are you? What are you? I must feed! Where is Lucius, I must have my revenge on Lucius!" she ranted, her body literally shaking with unspent rage and evil energy.

The ancient devil priest gave her a grotesque and smug smile. "Hello Divia. I am Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living Source of Evil, that has lived on this planet even longer than even an ancient such as yourself. I have freed you for a reason, a reason I think we will both enjoy very much. You want revenge on the one you call Lucius, child? Come with me, and you shall have it... and more." Mumm-Ra extended his hand to the vampire.

Divia stood and faced him. "Mumm-Ra, Ever-Living Source of Evil." she repeated slowly, and stepped towards him. "I think you and I may have a lot in common." Divia took his hand and joined his side. "Tell me, Mumm-Ra, where can I find my *dear* Lucius?"

Mumm-Ra laughed evilly and led her out of the tomb, filling her in on all the details as the two made their way out of the ancient desert, towards Riyl-Miren.

Continued

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