Spellbound
Darkness had fallen across Third Earth, and the forest was
as black as could be when the different search parties arrived. Both groups, the Thundercats and the Mutants
and Lunatacs, had split up and each individual was for the most part on his or
her own searching the area for any sign of the secret village where the
mythical people were rumored to live.
Tygra walked along a beaten trail searching for clues. He had thought earlier that he might have seen the glow of a fire in the distance, but he now couldn’t pinpoint its position. He was so wrapped up in his concentration that he was caught completely by surprise when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whirled around and took a defensive stance.
“I mean you no harm,” a gentle female voice spoke. Tygra saw that it belonged to a woman holding a flaming torch. He would have guessed her as human or a species very similar to them. She was remarkably beautiful, with pale skin, long flowing black hair, and deep blue eyes. She wore an exotic looking robe that was ornately decorated with gold, silver, and red threads in intricate patterns.
“Who are you?” Tygra asked.
“My name is Celeste. I am a leader from the village that you are looking for.”
“How did you know—”
She smiled warmly, disarming his suspicion. “I know all about you, Tygra, and your Thundercat friends. My people, while not high profile, are well aware of things that go on in our forests and the surrounding lands. You’re looking for my village to save your unfortunate friend who inhaled the fulxiclan, right?”
“The what?”
“The green haze, as you call it. Sorcerers sealed it in concrete beneath temples ages ago because of its deadly properties, in the hopes of concentrating it in one area so the rest of the areas they inhabited would be safe. Our people too suffered from its toxins many generations ago, until we created the elixir. We have little need of it in recent times but we still have it in our vaults. If I understand correctly, your friend Cheetara has fallen victim to it and she needs the elixir as well? One of our scouts saw you in the area and sent me to come and help you,” Celeste explained.
Tygra breathed a sigh of relief and gave a genuine smile for the first time in hours. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear that! I was so worried that we would lose her. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help.”
Celeste reached over and took Tygra’s hand, and stared into his eyes almost hypnotically. For reasons he didn’t quite understand, Tygra’s heart skipped when she touched him, and he couldn’t tear himself away from her gaze. “Come with me, Tygra,” she urged in a silken and delicate tone. “Let me take you to my village so you can get the elixir for your friend.”
“All right,” he replied, entranced. They started walking.
* * *
Not far away, Chilla stood on a high tree branch in an attempt to find the village from a high view. She assumed the place would give off light and from a high point she would be able to see it more easily. Then, out of nowhere, she had a strange feeling that she was being watched and turned sharply. The sudden movement caused her to lose her footing, and she slipped and lost her balance. She let out a shriek as she tumbled from the branch to the hard ground below. The icy woman braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Instead something caught her.
“You must be more careful,” a smooth and charming male voice told her.
Chilla looked up at her benefactor curiously and saw that she was in the arms of a tall, powerful human-looking man. Something about him told her, however, that looks were deceiving and that he was definitely no weak human. He had silky black hair, darker than any on a warrior maiden, which sharply contrasted with his pale skin, especially in the darkness. She noticed that he wore something that looked like a toga, and that he was watching her intently with the most enchanting deep blue eyes she had ever seen. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Chilla answered gruffly, not used to being in the position of being grateful. “Thanks.”
“I’m always willing to help beautiful women in need,” he replied with a flirtatious smile.
Chilla rolled her eyes but smiled in spite of herself. “Nice line,” she said with a hollow laugh.
The mysterious man set her down gently. “I’m being quite sincere, Chilla. I know you aren’t used to that given the rather... uncultured... company you keep, but I know true beauty when I see it.”
“How do you know my name?” she asked suspiciously, her gaze hardening as she regarded him.
“I know a lot of things. I keep myself informed on all of Third Earth’s developments. I know you’re looking for my village in order to find a cure for your companions so I’ve come to help you. My name is Damien. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Much to her surprise, Chilla found herself rather taken in by his charm. She wasn’t sure why, but she couldn’t tear herself away from his handsome face, which was strange considering he was not even a Lunatac and the fact that she usually she found smooth-talking guys like him to be full of it. She usually told them so, too—she had certainly told Alluro off more than once in the many years she’d known him. It was odd, then, she didn’t feel that way about Damien, but it was little more than a passing thought as she answered. “Nice to meet you too,” she replied.
Damien’s smile broadened. “Well then, if you’ll follow me, I’d be more than happy to accommodate anything you need or desire.” He took her hand and Chilla returned his smile, feeling uncharacteristically lighthearted as he led her off into the dark night toward his village.
Close by, Jackalman peered out from behind a few bushes as Chilla left with the strange Damien. He wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he was sure that it didn’t sit well with him. “I’d better figure out what they’re up to,” he mumbled to himself. There was definitely something about that Damien that struck him as odd. He’d never seen Chilla act that nicely towards anyone, and she seemed completely suckered in by the guy. Had it been anyone less direct and hostile than Chilla he’d have chalked her demeanor as a way of getting what she wanted, but it just wasn’t her style. Damien also seemed a little too helpful for his taste, and he was almost positive that he was up to something. Though Jackalman honestly didn’t care about Chilla, he did care about getting the elixir, and he wasn’t about to let Chilla’s poor judgment complicate things. After only a fleeting moment of consideration, Jackalman decided to follow them in secret.
* * *
Tygra’s amber eyes grew wide with wonder as Celeste led him into her village. The place seemed primitive, but at the same time very prosperous and blessed. The few people he saw all appeared to be human in form like Celeste, and from what he could tell, nobody in the village seemed to be wanting for anything. Poverty was certainly not an obstacle anyone faced. Celeste was silent as she led Tygra down a long cobblestone path that appeared to be the main road, up to a large structure that he guessed was some sort of palace or housing for the nobility of the village’s people.
“I can’t believe none of us have ever seen your village before! It’s magnificent!” Tygra exclaimed.
“There are those who would take great pleasure in destroying it and taking it from us so we use our magic to protect it. It only appears to those who we deem worthy of finding it,” she told him, leading him inside the grand structure that was her home.
“In that case, I’m very honored,” Tygra said sincerely, noting that the inside was no less impressive in its décor and extravagance inside than out.
Celeste smoothed her hand over his forearm. “I could tell from the moment we met that there was no question of your worthiness. Strength, kindness, and virtue radiate your entire being.” She led him onto an outdoor patio that held a large banquet table filled with food and several comfortable seats. “Please, Tygra, do sit down and make yourself comfortable. It has been a long and tiring day for you and you deserve some time to rest.”
“But the elixir—I can’t rest now! I have to get it to Cheetara as soon as possible.”
“Cheetara will be fine,” she assured him in gentle, soothing tones. “Right now you need your rest, my striped warrior. I sense your weariness, and you won’t do her any good if you’re too exhausted to make the journey back to your Lair. Please, accept my hospitality and allow me to comfort and soothe you for a little while, and then you can take the elixir and be on your way.” She seated him in a cozy chair and rubbed his shoulders.
Tygra felt the tension leave his body at her touch, and relaxed despite himself. The chair was comfortable, and he supposed it wouldn’t hurt to linger a few moments to gather his strength.
Celeste sensed his willingness and smiled again, with a twinkle in her eye that might have hinted at intentions less than honorable, though Tygra was oblivious to it. “You should eat to keep your strength up,” she urged, and gestured to a servant-girl standing by the table. “Mirlana! Bring our guest some food and wine!” The servant hurried to put together a tray of treats and wasted no time in bringing it over to them. She poured Tygra some wine and handed him a plate of what looked like delicious gourmet fare.
The tiger was genuinely tempted, but felt a pang of guilt for treating himself when Cheetara needed him. “Thank you, but I couldn’t...”
“Nonsense!” Celeste protested, her soft voice carrying an inarguable note of authority. “You need nourishment. Please, Tygra, you are exhausted. If you must make the journey back to save your friend tonight, you need keep your strength up, don’t you?”
Tygra picked up the goblet. “Well, I suppose you have a point,” he conceded, and sipped the sweet wine. The dark fluid tasted better than any he had ever tried before. Almost immediately, a warm sensation flooded his body and lulled him into a deeper state of relaxation that urged him to drink more of it. Before long he finished all that he had been given, and decided to indulge himself and try some of the food. The perfectly sliced fruits and cheeses he sampled on the plate had a he similar effect on him, and he grew even more relaxed, and almost unaware of how much time was passing. In the meantime, Celeste took a seat next to Tygra and continued to rub his shoulders, this time a little more intimately. The contented tiger sunk back deeper into the chair and relaxed. “So this is the good life,” he mumbled, as he unwittingly fell into a light sleep.
Celeste watched him drift off. “So good you might never want to leave,” she murmured, and kissed his cheek, a mischievous grin on her lovely face.
* * *
Luring her back to the village in the same way Celeste had done with Tygra, Damien led Chilla onto the same garden patio that Celeste and Tygra were relaxing on. Chilla had been just as impressed by the hidden village and its noble quarters as Tygra had been, though unlike Tygra she had kept mostly silent about it. Similar to the way Celeste had done, Damien also offered Chilla the hospitality of some food and drink and a bit of rest after her search, and she was certainly not going to turn down an offer like that when all she had to look forward to at home was the cold industrial “comforts” of Skytomb. She saw no reason that Alluro couldn’t wait a few more minutes. He had been in stable condition when she left, after all, and she was certain he would’ve done the same if their roles were reversed.
“Sister!” Damien called out in greeting as they crossed the garden-lined patio.
Celeste stood and smiled back at them. “Damien, you’ve returned, and with another visitor I see.”
The raven-haired man’s grin broadened. “Yes. This lovely lady is Chilla. She’s come to seek the elixir to heal her sick friend.”
“Oh! Just like Tygra here… he’s come for the same thing. The poor thing was so exhausted that he fell asleep, so I thought it best that I let him rest.”
Chilla was surprised, and not pleasantly, to see Tygra. “Yeah, well, Tygra and I aren’t exactly on the same side,” she hissed, narrowing her eyes at the sleeping feline. “The only thing we have in common is that we both have to get the cure to heal our friends.”
Celeste regarded the woman coolly, not in an unfriendly tone, but not in an acquiescent one either. “Our village is a peaceful one, and I have no quarrel with either of you outsiders. We’re more than happy to share the elixir and our hospitality with both of you, but we do not want your out-world troubles here.” She turned and called to the servant girl again. “Mirlana, come over here and see to it that Damien’s guest is made comfortable.”
“Yes, Lady Celeste.” She hastily led Chilla to a plush, padded seat and served her the same wine and food Celeste had given Tygra earlier.
Celeste observed Mirlana carrying out her tasks and then turned toward her brother. “Damien, I will return in a while. I’ll get the elixir ready for our guests to take with them.”
A careful observer might have noticed a secretive, conspiratory look pass between the pair. The unconscious Tygra and the distracted Chilla missed it, however. “I’ll join you in a bit,” Damien answered his sister with a nod. Once she made her exit, Damien sat with Chilla. “Is it to your liking?” he asked, referring to the delectable treats held in her gloved fingers.
“It’s wonderful,” an uncharacteristically enthusiastic Chilla exclaimed. “I haven’t had food this good since I left...” she paused as she quickly mended her words, her common sense rearing its head for a brief moment as she realized telling the strangers she was a criminal might be counterproductive, “Well, since I’ve been on the run with the other Lunatacs. A long time.” She took a sip of the wine and felt the same strange sensations Tygra had felt when he tasted the sweet fluid. A relaxing sensation filled her, faster than that of any other wine she’d ever tasted, and she settled into the comfortable chair a moment later.
Damien leaned closer to her, his eyes intent on hers as their gazes met. “Your friends seem to bring you down and hold you back. Why do you let them?” he questioned softly.
Normally Chilla would ice a man for such an invasive, personal, and presumptuous question, but the relaxing effects of the wine were already showing in her mood. “They don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” the ice woman answered offhandedly. “Sure, Luna’s a little overbearing at times—oh hell, a lot overbearing—but we all do all right,” she answered somewhat brusquely.
The forest dwelling man instantly switched gears when he picked up on her defensive tone. “You don’t need to justify anything to me,” he replied understandingly—perhaps a shade too much so, though Chilla didn’t notice. “I didn’t mean to seem judgmental; it’s just that you appear so unhappy. I can count the times you’ve smiled since we met on one hand.” He reached for her hand and held it within his, stroking her fingertips gently with his as he locked gazes with her once more. “It’s a shame, your smile is rather pretty.”
Unbeknownst to those in the courtyard, Jackalman was listening to the conversation, hidden in the bushes near the patio. He had followed Chilla and her mysterious companion there to keep tabs on her, and at that moment he was covering his mouth to keep from laughing out loud while he listened to the exchange between the two. “This Damien guy is using every cheesy pick up trick in the book, and she’s falling for it,” he snickered to himself. It was funny mostly because it was so unlike the Chilla he knew. He’d figured her to be more experienced than that, though in retrospect he guessed a woman with her abrasive personality probably didn’t get far on the dating scene, even though she was a lovely Lunatac.
Oblivious that the Mutant was watching her, Chilla briefly forgot herself as Damien gazed into her eyes. The moment was only fleeting, though, and she quickly shook herself out of it once she realized it was happening. “I shouldn’t be here,” she murmured suddenly, setting her goblet down and getting to her feet. “I have to get back to Skytomb with the elixir.” Saving Alluro was the purpose of the mission, and even though the hypnotist was a jerk, a part of her couldn’t let him die simply because some suave stranger offered her a meal.
Damien rose, seemingly unfazed by Chilla’s resistance to his charms. “Very well then, I will find Celeste and get it for you as soon as possible. I’ll see you in a little while, my dear,” he leaned over kissed her hand gently, turned, and walked out without another word.
Surprised at his compliance, Chilla sat there trancelike as he vanished through the marble archway. Most men she knew weren’t so… reasonable. Even after he was gone, her eyes remained fixed upon the spot. “He’s so charming...” she whispered to no one in particular, unaware of the incredibly goofy and lovesick grin on her face.
She hadn’t noticed, but Tygra had drifted back into consciousness, and he noticed that Chilla was there. He sat up abruptly, surprised, tensed and ready for an ugly confrontation with the Lunatac. “What on Third Earth are you doing here?” he demanded.
Chilla instantly snapped back into her usual attitude and glared at him. “The same thing you are. Finding the cure for Alluro and Monkian,” she snarled abruptly. “We heard how you Thundercats decided to get it on your own and leave us out… even after Luna was foolish enough to help you. That goes to show how good your word is,” she hissed contemptuously.
Tygra bristled at her accusations. “We were going to give it to you. We just wanted to get it first,” the tiger argued. “We feared, and with good reason, that if we told you and your group got it first, that Cheetara wouldn’t ever get it.”
“Of course not. We’re not weakly sentimental like you,” Chilla growled back.
“Right,” Tygra said coldly, looking away for a moment before turning to ask her another question. “So did Celeste bring you here too?” he asked suspiciously. He didn’t believe that the pretty stranger would be fooled into thinking Chilla wanted the elixir for the same reasons he did, and because of that, the question of whether he was the focus of some sort of game reared its ugly head in his mind for a moment.
“No, her brother Damien did,” Chilla answered flatly.
Surprisingly the answer satisfied Tygra, who no longer had reason to question Celeste’s motives, and his fleeting suspicions faded like shadows into darkness along with the ire he’d felt only moments before. “Celeste is wonderful, isn’t she?” the tiger sighed dreamily.
“Not as wonderful as Damien,” Chilla replied with an offhand shrug. “Quite honestly, he’s the most amazing man I’ve ever met.” Her words sounded alien even to her on some level, but she didn’t amend or condemn them, even inwardly.
Jackalman couldn’t say the same. In
the bushes nearby, he had nearly puked at Chilla’s remark. What is the matter with her, the
jackal wondered. I’ve never seen her
act like this!
Both Tygra and Chilla remained unaware of Jackalman’s presence. “This feels strange,” Tygra mused, watching the icewalker with more curiosity than wariness now. “We’re both here, alone, not fighting… well, not much anyway.”
“It is strange,” the ice woman hissed, a cruel gleam dancing in her eyes for a moment as she regarded the tiger. “But, well, I just don’t feel like fighting you right now. I’m in too good a mood to let you ruin it.” She turned away and watched the fire burning in one of the braziers nearby. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about this place, it just makes you want to be—”
“Peaceful,” Tygra finished with a hint of a smile.
“I suppose,” Chilla grumbled. There was little emotion in her voice, but the fact that it held no outward hatred toward the enemy tiger was telling enough.
“Well in that case, how about a truce between us, at least temporarily?” Tygra offered. “For the reason that we’ve come for the same reason and are on the same side this time.”
Chilla nodded. “This time, and yes, temporarily.”
Jackalman’s jaw hung slack at her last statement. Was this really Chilla, the same Chilla he had known for years now, agreeing to peace with a Thundercat? If it wasn’t such a preposterous notion and he didn’t already know better, he would have suspected that someone had switched the ice woman with a double when he wasn’t looking. Even more so now than before, he was glad he’d followed her to the strange village. Clearly this had become a situation he would have to watch carefully.
Damien and Celeste then returned, emerging from their palace, each holding a delicate glass vial filled with a shimmering liquid. Celeste sat next Tygra, and Damien with Chilla. “We have brought you the elixir you seek,” Celeste informed the pair, handing the slender flask in her hands to the tiger. He took it from her and eyed it with fascination, shaking it gently and watching the bubbles sparkle in the moon and fire light.
“Thank you,” Tygra replied, sitting up. Suddenly he didn’t want to leave, even though he knew he had to, for Cheetara’s sake. He met Celeste’s eyes with a regretful but determined look in his own. “Well, I’d better get this back to Cheetara right away. She needs it. I owe you a great deal of gratitude, Celeste. If there’s anything I can do...”
Celeste smiled. “Perhaps one thing.”
Tygra halted where he stood and watched her expectantly, hopefully even.
“Stay on a bit longer with us tonight?” Celeste purred in a distinctly seductive tone.
The temptation was overwhelming, but ultimately his sense of duty won out. “I’ll come back and visit, as soon as I get this to Cheetara,” Tygra said quickly.
“All right,” Celeste said graciously, amused at the tiger’s eagerness. Her magic was working beautifully on him, yet he was unaware of it, and that only pleased her further, but her smile didn’t let it on, not even to the spying jackal in the bushes. “Come with me, I’ll walk you to the village border,” she offered, taking his hand in hers.
“I’d love that,” Tygra replied with a shy smile, squeezing her hand back. He didn’t fully understand why he found her so charming, but on the same token he couldn’t resist. Was it because it had been years since he’d had a real chance at anything called love? Or was it simply the attention combined with her beauty? These thoughts teased him for a moment before he lost all reason when their gazes met, and led him off the patio and down the road to leave. Then his thoughts were mostly comprised of how soon he could get to the Lair and cure Cheetara, and then come back.
Damien watched the exchange between Celeste and Tygra for a few moments, then turned to Chilla and handed her the flask. “I suppose you will be on your way then, too,” he said with an undisguised hint of disappointment in his voice.
Chilla nodded. “Believe me, I don’t want to go back to that hellhole when I could be here, but Alluro needs this potion. And while he aggravates me, I don’t really want him dead. At least not today,” she added after a pause.
Damien was less than impressed with her answer, but he held the feeling in check long enough to maintain his façade for her benefit. “Alluro is lucky that you care so much for him.”
At that, Chilla snorted. “I don’t care about him. I just don’t hate him. If it was Luna on her deathbed, I’d stay all night.”
Damien made note of her defensiveness and switched gears slightly. “Still, he doesn’t deserve you. I’ve seen enough of your group to know that he’s quite arrogant.”
“To put it mildly,” the icy woman agreed, rolling her eyes slightly at the thought of the hypnotist. “And he doesn’t deserve much, but I’m going to do it anyway. He’s valuable to our team and he is a lot less annoying than some of the others.”
“If you ask me, none of your team really deserves you. You shouldn’t let them use you,” Damien pressed.
“No one uses me,” Chilla snapped angrily.
Secretly pleased at the ease with which he was pushing her buttons, Damien offered a disarming smile and switched tactics to avoid alienating her. That wasn’t his goal, after all, it was her friends he wanted to alienate her from. “Of course not. You’re far too perceptive to let that happen. Just consider my words as friendly warning.” He stroked her hand soothingly. “Let me make you one offer, Chilla dear. If you ever do want to get away from them, away from the troubles they bring you… you know where I live and I’d be more than willing to help you forget them. Take care of yourself, icy one.” He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips, and then vanished into the night. Chilla stood there alone on the patio for a long time, unable to get Damien out of her mind, before she turned and headed back to Skytomb.
* * *
Once the initial shock of it had worn off, and after the patio was seemingly deserted and it was safe to do so, Jackalman collapsed in a fit of laughter. He couldn’t believe how Damien had so successfully managed to sweet-talk the icy Chilla. It was something he would have thought impossible if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, and he couldn’t wait to share it with the other Mutants, who undoubtedly would find it as humorous as he did.
Unfortunately Jackalman was so caught up in his mirth that he didn’t realize that he wasn’t as alone as he thought. A low voice from behind seethed with fury. “You find something amusing, Mutant?”
The jackal spun around and saw an absolutely livid Damien standing above him. The man’s handsome face was twisted into an inhuman scowl and his eyes were glowing with an evil light that made the Mutant’s blood run cold. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that spying is rude, subcreature?” he hissed venomously.
“I wasn’t spying,” Jackalman hedged. “I was, uh, looking for Chilla. We’re friends.”
“Friends indeed,” Damien said, narrowing his eyes. “You can’t fool me as easily as you fool the other creatures on this planet. I know all about you Mutants and who you are. You’re repulsive and primitive creatures. And most importantly, you were not invited to our village.”
Despite his resentment at being insulted, Jackalman had a feeling he was out of his league with the villager, who clearly was a mage or supernatural being of some sort. “Don’t worry about it then, because I was leaving this dump anyway,” he retorted, backing away from him.
He backed right into Celeste, who appeared every bit as dangerous as her brother did. Her pretty features were twisted into a cold and vindictive sneer, and her teeth glinted with sharp points that looked more like those of a ferocious beast than the humanesque appearance she maintained. “Oh no you’re not,” she corrected the jackal snidely. “You see, Mutant, nobody trespasses on our grounds without paying the price for it.”
“Look, I was just lost,” Jackalman argued, a whine creeping into his voice in spite of himself. “I’ll go right now, and forget I ever saw this place. Do whatever you want with Chilla. She means nothing to me.”
“I intend to,” Damien sneered, and bared his own glistening fangs. He reached for Jackalman, somehow growing three times as bigger, and the jackal then realized that he was indeed dealing with some sort of demon or other supernatural being, and whimpered slightly. He broke into a run, but Damien shot a beam of energy from his hand that seared into his flesh and knocked him to his knees. Celeste was at his side in a flash, holding him in a chokehold that should have been impossible for a human her size.
Jackalman struggled but could not break loose. “What are you? Demons of Mumm-Ra’s?” he gasped.
“We have no association with the demon priest, other than similar masters,” Celeste purred. “But that’s enough out of you. You can ponder the rest of your questions rotting in the dungeon, which is where you will spend the rest of your miserable life. Damien, grab his feet.”
“I’d be delighted to, sister,” he laughed, and lifted the other half of the jackal off the ground. The pair hauled their captive into the palace. On their way down the twisted stone stairs leading to the dungeon, they passed Mirlana, the servant girl from the patio, who gave the Mutant prisoner a sympathetic look.
Damien caught it and fixed his burning gaze upon her. “Don’t waste your pity on this creature, Mirlana. He’s not worth it.” Before she could react, Damien and Celeste retreated down the stairs and hauled him into the dank prison. Damien used magic to open one of the cells, and the two roughly threw the stunned jackal onto the floor. Celeste closed the barred door, and the ominous sound of a lock clicking into place could be heard. The two laughed cruelly when their newest captive met his cellmate, a moldering skeleton of a long-dead prisoner, and climbed the stairs together to leave Jackalman in his misery.
Once they were back in the open summery night air of the palace, their features reformed into the pleasing forms that they held earlier. Damien turned to his sister. “We shouldn’t have let them leave. Now they may bring others back to look for that Mutant.”
Celeste laughed his concern off. “Don’t be paranoid, brother. Tygra is well under my spell, and from what I observed, the Lunatac Chilla is under yours. When they return, it won’t be to find that loathsome creature, trust me.” She eyed the distant trees and her smile broadened in anticipation. “When they come back, it will only be for us.”
Damien put his arm around his sister’s waist and mirrored her conniving smile. “And we will finish what we started… we will seduce them and take their energy little by little until they are nothing but slaves, mere shells of the warriors they once were, while their power feeds our own strength.”
Celeste rested her head on Damien’s shoulder. “It’s been too long since we’ve taken mortal toys. Fresh energy, especially this alien energy… will be delicious.”
“And what pretty ornaments they’ll make to go with the rest of our villagers… living for all eternity here, but unable to leave… being our playthings for all time.”
* * *
It was nearing midnight when Tygra walked into Cat’s Lair holding the flask of the life-saving magical liquid. “I got it! We can save Cheetara!” he shouted victoriously as he ran into the main foyer.
“Tygra! Oh thank Jaga! We were all worried about you out there in the woods!” Snarf exclaimed, greeting him with several of the other Thundercats.
“Yes, the rest of us returned hours ago, finding nothing. Where have you been?” Lion-O questioned.
“I was in the hidden village with Celeste—she’s the one who gave me the elixir. You wouldn’t believe how amazing she and her people are,” he breathed, a faraway look in his eyes as he mentioned her.
Panthro smiled. “You can tell us all about it later, but let’s save Cheetara now. I don’t know how much longer she can wait.”
“Of course,” Tygra said, slipping back to reality. “How has she been?”
“The same,” Lion-O answered. “There’s been little change in her condition, for better or worse. Pumyra and the kittens are in with her now.”
“The kittens?” Tygra murmured. “It’s kind of late…”
“They couldn’t sleep,” Snarf said as they hurried down the stairs. “They were understandably worried, snarf snarf.”
Tygra fought a pang of guilt for spending as much time as he did at the village, but chose not to mention it. So long as Cheetara got the cure, that was the important thing, he told himself. When they entered the room his heart lurched to see his dear friend so still on the examination table. “Hold her up,” he instructed Pumyra, “I’ll administer this.”
“That’s the cure?” WilyKat asked. Panthro nodded a yes before Tygra got the chance to answer.
While Pumyra leaned the unconscious cheetah up, WilyKit ran over to help Tygra with the bottle. “Did they say how fast it would work?”
“No,” Tygra replied brusquely. “I guess we have to hope it acts fast. Is she ready, Pumyra?”
Pumyra nodded. “Yes, just make sure she swallows it and doesn’t choke.”
“Right,” Tygra answered. He pulled the silver stopper out of the delicate vial and slowly poured the mystic fluid into the cheetah’s open mouth. The liquid sparkled and shimmered as it flowed from the bottle, and a warm glow formed around her mouth for a moment as Pumyra massaged her throat, mimicking the actions of swallowing for the unconscious Cheetara. Once it was emptied, and the elixir taken, Pumyra gently laid Cheetara back on the bed and the group of them stood back and waited. The following moments felt like an eternity, but to their collective relief, Cheetara’s amber eyes opened. Clearly disoriented, she murmured incoherently for a moment and then sat up to get her bearings.
“What happened? Where am I?”
Pumyra put an arm around her shoulders. “You’re in the medical facility. You inhaled some poisonous gas during the battle, and we’ve been trying to bring you out of it with not much success until now. Tygra just came back from a healer in the unicorn forest who gave us the cure,” the puma informed her. “How are you feeling?”
Cheetara blinked and took in everything Pumyra said, as the memory of the DarkSide battle refreshed itself in her head. “I’m a little tired, but basically all right,” she answered. “What about the battle? The Thundrillium?”
“It was a stalemate,” Lion-O answered. “After you and the others went down, the Thundrillium ceased to be important.”
“That’s right,” Panthro agreed. “No Thundrillium would ever take precedence over you.”
“We were so worried we’d lose you!” WilyKat told her, giving her an impulsive hug.
Cheetara laughed. “Well, I’m a tough cheetah and you wouldn’t get rid of me that easily anyway,” she joked in an attempt to lighten the mood, before turning to Tygra. “Though I do owe your healer a debt of gratitude. Who was it?”
“Her name is Celeste,” Tygra replied, a smile crossing his features as he said her name.
“What’s she like?” Lion-O asked.
“Beautiful,” he breathed, realizing only after he spoke it how spellbound he appeared as he did so. An embarrassed smile spread across his features as he finished his answer, and a hint of a blush spread beneath his red and black fur. “Actually, she’s a noble and leader of this mystic village. I, well, I didn’t get its name, but it’s always hidden by magic from prying eyes. Her people are psychic and she said she knew what happened and what I was looking for, so she appeared to me… to help me,” he explained in a rush. “She actually said that my nobility attracted her to me, and went out of her way to help. She’s so kind and generous and beautiful—”
“So you’ve said twice already,” Panthro remarked with a grin. The others exchanged amused looks as well.
Tygra’s blush spread more fiercely and he looked away, clearing his throat.
Panthro’s grin grew wider. “It sounds to me like you have a thing for this Celeste, Tygra.”
The sensitive tiger grew increasingly uncomfortable. It wasn’t that he was so much ashamed of his feelings for her as he was that he was being put on the spot for them and that they found it so amusing. “No, that’s not it at all,” he said, as much to convince himself as them. “I—I just think she’s nice, that’s all.”
“Suuuure it is,” WilyKat teased.
“Tygra’s in love! Tygra’s in love!” an equally amused WilyKit chanted in a sing-songy voice.
The kittens’ taunts only made Tygra more self-conscious, and he growled defensively at the pair of them. “I am not!” His face, however, indicated otherwise.
“Isn’t that special?” Lion-O snickered, also finding it incredibly humorous, much to Tygra’s dismay.
Caught up in the jovial mood, the newly recovered Cheetara also giggled. “It is. He’s quite cute when he’s in love,” she said with a grin.
Tygra scowled at the cheetah’s words. The kittens he could excuse as being childish and not knowing better, and he could even say the same for young-minded Lion-O to an extent, but Cheetara’s jibe had an extra sting to it that instantly changed his defensive embarrassment to anger. “Look, I did you a favor,” he snapped irritably. “I don’t appreciate being singled out for your amusement as my thanks for it!”
Instantly the lighthearted mood in the room faded and an awkward silence settled over them for a moment as each felt the uncomfortable weight of Tygra’s angry glare. “Hey Tygra, we were just kidding,” WilyKat offered quietly.
Cheetara nodded, instantly regretting her words when she saw the effect they had on him. Tygra was one of her closest friends and hurting his feelings was certainly something she never wanted to do. “I’m sorry Tygra, we didn’t mean to offend you.”
“Too late for that,” Tygra growled, and stormed out of the room, his heavy footfalls as he climbed the stairs echoing through the second uncomfortable silence that followed in his wake.
Lion-O eyed the door in mild shock. “What did we say that was so bad?”
Cheetara sighed. “Sometimes he gets touchy about his emotions. You know how shy he can be.” She followed Lion-O’s gaze on the stairwell uncertainly. “We shouldn’t have kept at it when he got quiet. Obviously he does have feelings for this Celeste woman, and he probably feels insecure about it.”
Panthro nodded, also feeling a bit guilty for his part in teasing the tiger. “You’re right. We’ll just give him some time alone to cool off for now.” The others nodded and murmured in agreement, and the subject was dropped from the remainder of the conversation.
* * *
Miles away in the secluded corner of Third Earth known as DarkSide, Chilla returned to Skytomb with her own flask of the elixir. RedEye had come back a while earlier with no luck in finding anything, and none of the Mutants or Lunatacs had heard word from her or Jackalman. Once she announced her return and they all gathered in the med bay, she told filled them in briefly about her encounter with Damien and her trip to the secret village. She continued her tale while Vultureman administered the antidote to Monkian and Alluro, but shifted the conversation to a halt once both regained consciousness, which happened within minutes of swallowing the mystic medicine.
Monkian sat up and clumsily brushed his large hand against his temple. “Hoo hoo... my head hurts.”
“What’s going on?” murmured a disoriented Alluro, stirring from his prone position and leaning up on his elbows once he realized he was surrounded by Mutant and fellow Lunatac alike.
RedEye discarded the empty glass vial in a nearby sink and regarded him impersonally. “You were poisoned by some kind of fog that you inhaled back in the ruins. That was hours ago. We just now got our hands on the antidote and gave it to you.”
“I see,” Alluro said, blinking his eyes several times to regain focus. While he sat up, RedEye added another bit of information to his previous statement.
“Chilla found it.”
Both Monkian and Alluro shifted their gaze from RedEye to the ice woman. “I see,” Alluro repeated, waiting for her to elaborate.
Chilla shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. It even had a bit of a bonus. I got to meet someone rather—fascinating.” The goofy smile that had so amused Jackalman earlier briefly returned, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the others in the room.
“Is this the Damien fellow you mentioned?” Luna questioned.
Chilla nodded, and when she didn’t say anything further, Alluro gave her a pointed look. “And who is Damien?” He was highly curious to know who it was that could have such a visible effect on his cold-hearted colleague, especially in light of the fact that he knew from personal experience how difficult it was to elicit such a reaction from her.
“I slipped on a tree branch and he caught me from a bad fall,” she explained. Her features lit up with a slight hint of—was it fondness, Alluro wondered—as she continued. “He explained to me that he was from the same tribe we were looking for and that he knew why I was there, and then he took me back to his village and gave me the elixir.”
TugMug raised an eyebrow and, as usual, voiced the innuendo that the others were thinking. “And what did you have to do to get it from him?”
“Nothing,” Chilla bristled, glaring at the graviton. “He just gave it to me.”
“Cawww, why would anyone just give it to you?” scoffed Vultureman. “You’re not exactly, caww, a warm and friendly personality.”
An exasperated frost came from her nostrils as she glared at the vulture. “Damien seemed to think so, Beaky.”
Much like it had been for Jackalman, Chilla’s defensive reaction was too much for Monkian to hold back his amusement at. “He probably got a good feel when he caught you and was angling for a more thorough one, hoo hoo,” the recently recovered Monkian laughed. The simian’s remark sparked a round of snide laughter from several of the others as well.
Infuriated, Chilla shot a fire beam at the exam table the monkey still sat upon, scorching the sheets badly and making him jump back several feet in reaction. “Not everyone lives with their minds in the gutter,” she hissed contemptuously. “Why is it so hard for you to comprehend that someone might have just liked me?”
At that, RedEye snickered. “Because we know you.”
She whirled around and spat a blast of ice in his general direction, and stalked toward the door without another word.
Watching the Lunatac’s display of temper and her consequent exit reminded Slythe that there was still one member of the search party he hadn’t heard from. He narrowed his yellow eyes and stepped toward her. “Wait just a moment, yesss?” the reptilian spoke up. “Where is Jackalman? He should have returned by now.”
“As if I care what he does?” Chilla hissed, annoyed by the delay. She wanted to leave before she iced them all, something she was strongly tempted to do at the moment but was refraining from in the vague reason that it was counterproductive to their team’s efforts.
“He went out with you to ssssearch, did he not?”
“We split up. I haven’t seen him since,” Chilla answered curtly.
Slythe’s tail flicked from side to side as he evaluated her answer. “You had better not have pulled any dirty tricks against us Mutants, ice woman!”
Chilla’s eyes blazed with unspent anger. “I said I didn’t see him.”
“Then why isn’t he back?” Slythe pressed.
“Maybe he caught a whiff of you three and headed in the other direction,” she snarled, using all her reserves to keep from icing the reptile on the spot.
“Caww, you were out a long time, Chilla,” Vultureman said suspiciously. Like Slythe, he didn’t trust the Lunatacs in the slightest. He didn’t care much about Jackalman himself, but his Mutant pride was not about to let the Lunatacs get away with such an act of betrayal against their kind.
Chilla turned from the door and stalked dangerously toward Slythe. “Are you accusing me of something, Mutant?”
“You were gone a while, yesss?” Slythe said, refusing to show any intimidation. “What were you doing that took so long? Having tea with your mysterious friend Damien?”
“Not that it is any of your business, but Damien gave me some wine at his estate, and I… relaxed… for a short while before returning,” she stated, thoroughly exasperated by that point. She didn’t want to inadvertently say any details that might come back to haunt her in the form of taunts from the other Lunatacs, but she didn’t want to hear the Mutants’ ridiculous paranoia either—and she had a feeling Luna would object if she iced the arrogant reptilian on the spot, as much as he deserved it.
Unfortunately the admission of simply the wine was enough to incite Alluro into a remark, mostly because he wanted more information. “Wine, hmm?” the Psi asked with a smirk. “Rather smooth, this Damien.”
While the shift of focus from accusations of treachery was a welcome one, the new subject was no more a welcome one. “Shut up!” she growled, losing what precious hold she had on her temper. “I will not justify myself to any of you! Now why don’t you stupid, primitive Mutants get out of Skytomb and go stink up your own fortress, since you’re no longer needed here?”
“Yes, that’s a wise idea,” Luna added, pointing her riding crop at Slythe. She knew Chilla well enough to know the warning signs of her losing control of her temper, and several dead Mutants was not something Luna was in the mood to contend with. “Now that Alluro and Monkian are healed, there’s no need for you to stay here. I advise you go before your welcome is worn out. Our patience has limits.”
Slythe bristled at Luna’s insulting tone, but realized that his crew of three was vastly outnumbered and hardly in a position to argue while inside the Lunatacs’ base. “Very well, Luna, but if we find out that you Lunatacs have done something to Jackalman, you’re going to be very sorry, yessss,” he threatened, and stormed out with an equally indignant Vultureman and Monkian behind him.
“Thank the gods they’re gone,” Luna grumbled, shaking her head in disgust. She gave Alluro a look of mild disapproval. “You owe me for forcing us to put up with that.”
“Isn’t my sparkling presence repayment enough?” Alluro replied, stretching casually and climbing off the exam table.
“Hmph, hardly,” Luna snorted back. Amok sighed beneath her.
Never one to let something juicy on one of the other Lunatacs go, TugMug wheeled toward Chilla with an amused leer on his face. “So Chilla, just what were you and Damien doing all that time ‘relaxing’?”
“While you two were alone at his palace drinking wine?” RedEye persisted. He was just as curious as the graviton, especially since they could get such an entertaining reaction out of her, though the darkling wasn’t quite crude—or stupid—enough to make himself the primary instigator. He was perfectly content to ride on TugMug’s proverbial coattails with it, though.
Chilla failed to see the humor in it, and let out a low angry growl at the pair of them. She was about to tell them exactly what she thought of their questions when a remark from Alluro, who was watching her very intently, caught her off guard.
“Yes Chilla, for someone who didn’t do anything she’s ashamed of, you’re awfully defensive about it.”
She whirled around and glared icy daggers at the hypnotist. “And for someone who was just in a coma, you’re awfully energetic. Maybe I should have just left you that way instead of taking my precious time to save your worthless ass. You’re a lot more tolerable when you can’t open your mouth!”
Alluro took her reaction with calm arrogance, although something inside him was not as calm as his façade might have indicated. “So sorry that I’m not as good company as your dear Damien,” he replied, mocking her earlier impressed tone as he pronounced the name.
Something in Alluro’s reply angered the icewalker more than the snide remarks of the other two. “You got that right,” she said coldly, before she turned and stormed out.
* * *
Back in the quiet halls of Cat’s Lair, Cheetara walked down the hallway toward Tygra’s quarters. She felt terribly about the misunderstanding earlier and wanted to talk to him and apologize again, and smooth things over. She hadn’t seen him in the hour or so it had been since he’d left the med room, and she hadn’t wanted to pressure him, but it bothered her that he hadn’t even come out to speak to any of them yet. It was rare to see Tygra that angry, and it worried her. She approached his door and knocked softly.
“Tygra? Can we talk?” she called in.
There was no reply from inside, and no sound of movement either toward or away from the door. Her unsettling feeling grew in intensity and she knocked again, this time more loudly. “Tygra, I’m very sorry about before,” she said, hoping that he was listening on the other side. It wasn’t like Tygra, even angry, to completely ignore her. “We really didn’t realize you would get so upset… and I know that’s no excuse, but it is the truth. Nobody meant to hurt your feelings.”
She paused and waited for an answer, but none came. “Tygra,” she started again, her voice taking on a pleading note, “can we please talk? I understand if you’re still angry, but this is nothing that can’t be worked out.”
An increasingly uncomfortable silence was her only answer. “Are you in there, Tygra? Can I come in?” When again she heard no response, she turned the knob and opened the door. To her surprise, Tygra’s room was empty. She frowned, knowing that he wasn’t anywhere else in the Lair, and she was about to turn to go and look for him again when she noticed a note sitting on the bed. Fighting back an even worse feeling, she picked it up and read it.
“I had to leave the Lair and see her again. Now that I know Cheetara is fine I see no reason I can’t go
back. I don’t know when I’ll return,
but if I’m needed I will see the cat signal. –Tygra. P.S.—This has nothing to do with what happened earlier. You’re all forgiven.”
Now she was genuinely perplexed, and more than a little worried. “Oh no,” she murmured. “This isn’t like him at all, to just run off like this.” What kind of hold could that woman have put on him? Cheetara reread the note, hoping to find some hidden clue or meaning in its text, but found none, other than an increasingly ominous feeling she was now starting to question as being her sixth sense and not simply worry for her friend.
“I’d better show this to Lion-O,” she said, folded up the note, and ran down the hall.
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