Sora's Quest

  She immediately felt dizzy, as though she had drank three cups of wine. Her head spun, her tongue loosened.

  “What are you hiding?” the Panthera asked. “How did you bypass our wards?”

  A strange euphoria gushed through Sora's body, starting at her feet and overtaking her head within seconds. She suddenly felt light as a cloud.

  “Tell me, young girl,” the Panthera growled. “Who led you through the swamp?”

  “Nothing,” Sora mumbled, her lips thick. “No one.”

  “Don't lie to me. Do you work magic? Are you a sorcerer?”

  Humans can't use magic, she wanted to say, but she didn't have the chance. The Panthera lost his temper. The giant cat reached for her and grabbed her arm. He slowly dragged his nails down her forearm, across the acid burns. Sora's eyes widened as pleasure quickly turned to pain—her body felt a hundred times more sensitized. She threw back her head and screamed in agony so intense she could have vomited.

  “Tell me,” the Panthera roared. “Tell me your secrets!”

  Sora stuttered, still reeling from the pain. Secrets? Oh yes, she had those, perhaps too many. Selfish motives. Lies. She found herself seeing all that had happened since leaving her manor. She could see Lord Fallcrest stumbling to his knees, the skylight shattering into a million twinkling lights.

  And suddenly she herself was falling, stars passing her, whizzing at unknown speeds. She had never fallen so fast before. The lights were bright, dazzling—but there was also sound. Music? No, a dull chatter. The stars seemed to be talking to her, snatches of speech. You have to listen. Listen to the stars, and they will tell you all of the secrets....Their voices were getting louder and louder, ringing in her ears, trying to get her attention. She thought she recognized some of them: kitchen maids, yard workers, servants she had passed in the hall...her handmaid, Lily. Her father's booming voice as he sat at his desk, his eyes dark and hard, screaming at the maids to take his daughter Sora away, out from underfoot, lock her in her room, such a useless child....The roaring grew and grew until it consumed her.

  Bells.

  Sora blinked her eyes.

  The Cat's Eye sprang to life, jingling madly like a fistful of sleighbells. It eagerly consumed the magical energy around her. Zzzzap! Zzzzzap! Bursts of light flickered through the air like exploding fireflies. Zap! The vines fell to the ground, the fungi curled in on itself and melted back into the wood, leaving dark stains. Green light crackled around Sora's necklace. The vines dropped her, and she landed clumsily on the ground, reeling from the toxins she had inhaled.

  The warlord took a step back, jaw agape, eyes wide. Then his expression melted into fury. “A Cat's Eye!” he roared. “The bane of our race! A tool of evil!” His tail lashed back and forth. He stepped forward and Sora scrambled back, trying to keep a distance between them.

  He snarled at her, baring his vicious teeth. When he spoke, it sounded like a lion's roar. "You have brought this cursed stone into our colony! It must be destroyed! Give me the necklace!”

  “No!” Sora screamed, recoiling.

  He lunged, moving too fast for her to react. He smashed into her, slamming her into the ground, his full weight upon her. The beast hissed and frothed at the mouth. "Where is it? Give it to me now! Give it to me or I shall kill you!" Those giant hands tore at her, ripping her shirt, scraping her skin. "Where do you hide it? Where does it hide?" Finally, the Panthera's claws ripped open the front of her shirt and the necklace came into view. The warlord's eyes caught on it, his mouth open, heaving. Spittle dripped onto her body. Eyes wide, he reached for the stone....

  But the Cat's Eye didn't want to be touched. As the Panthera's claws neared the necklace, she felt the stone buzz angrily. It crackled with energy.

  With a hiss, the Panthera drew back, but the Cat's Eye wasn't done. Strands of yellow light shot through the air, followed by a brilliant green flash. There was a silent clap of power.

  Wham! The warlord was thrown back. He skidded across the floor, tearing up clumps of grassy carpet as he went. When he had stopped tumbling, the Panthera crouched on all fours, looking more like a jungle beast than ever before. Pure rage lit his eyes. Then he smiled—a feral look, dangerous and wild.

  "Hah!” he growled. “You think you have bested me?”

  Sora crawled along the floor, dragging herself toward the exit, one hand pressed against the shallow wound on her hip.

  "Oh no, you aren't leaving,” the Panthera roared. “You will make a fine sacrifice to our Goddess. GUARDS!"

  A sacrifice to their Goddess. The Grandmother Tree. Sentenced to the same fate as the Wolfies.

  Sora opened her mouth, but there was no time to formulate words. The door opened behind her, the vines twisting to one side. The white-robed guards scrambled in, grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her off the floor.

  She reached for the Cat's-Eye stone, trying to activate it again, to lash out and protect herself—but the stone only hummed quietly, content for the moment. She couldn't understand it.

  "I want all four killed tomorrow evening!” the Panthera roared after them, enraged. “Skinned and tied to the Grandmother Tree!" Then he continued to scream orders in his native tongue, yowling and grunting, obviously enraged.

  The guards flipped their tails in a strange salute. They didn't make eye contact with the Panthera, but kept their faces respectfully turned away. Then they escorted Sora out roughly.

  She was dragged over a series of narrow bridges, shrouded in mist. They boarded a different elevator from the first one, a large basket woven of thick, dry reeds that moved slowly, creakily. The ride lasted much longer this time.

  Sora didn't like the sensation of being suspended over space, the ground hidden by dense fog. It was impossible to tell how high up they were. She sank into a corner of the basket and crouched there, wrapping her arms around herself. Her acid wounds were raw and sore. The Panthera's claws had left long rents in her shirt, and in some places, had pierced her skin. She kept a hand clamped tight to her side, trying to stanch the bleeding. She felt dizzy, shocked, pain stabbing through her with each breath.

  The guards took her back to the original tree, which she assumed was their prison. They escorted her through the vine-locked entrance, down the narrow hallway, past her room and down a flight of steps, deeper into the tree.

  They passed by a series of cells, all empty except for one. Sora could see inside, since the cells were barred by spider thread. Burn and Dorian sat resolutely, neither looking at the other. She started to call out to the Wolfies but stopped herself, wary of the guards.

  Dorian glanced up at their approach and smiled slightly, despite a black eye and a cut lip. Both Wolfies looked like they had been roughed up. Burn's arm bled heavily, stanched with a piece of cloth torn from his shirt. His eyes were closed, his face tight with pain. He didn't look up as they passed, and that worried her.

  At first she thought that the guards would deposit her into the next cell, but they continued down the hallway. At the end of the corridor, the wall was blocked off by dense vines, similar to the entrance of the tree. One guard raised his hand, brushing a long claw across the vines, drawing out some sort of symbol, either a picture or a letter.

  The leaves glowed briefly, then withdrew, coiling into themselves like snakes. Sora watched, still fascinated by the magic.

  As soon as the vines parted, she was thrown inside. She hit the wall with a loud thud and fell to the hard ground. The vines closed up behind her, blocking out all light. Unlike her original cell, this room had no windows, no cot, no plausible exits. Her eyes would have to adjust to the gloom. The Panthera wanted to make sure she couldn't escape.

  With a groan, she pulled herself to her feet, her head spinning. She hobbled over to the corner, nauseous, barely able to stand upright. Her stomach lurched. A moment later she threw up, both from fear and leftover poison.

  Sora heaved a few last times, but there wasn't a lot in her stomach, mostly bile. Classy. She wiped her mouth and
wished for a glass of water.

  Then, without warning, her body started to tremble. She backed away from the corner, suddenly cold. Fear flooded her, filling her veins with ice. We're going to be executed. Killed and sacrificed to the Grandmother Tree, whatever that was. And it was all her fault. She was too clumsy, too naive. If she had just kept her mouth shut...or come up with a convincing story, a believable lie, perhaps they would be free by now. I'm so stupid! She really, truly hated herself. I have to do something. I have to fix this!

  Sora felt along the wall for the tightly woven vines. Her fingers found the leaves. She picked at them, trying to tear open a hole in the door, but the vines were unnaturally strong. Her nails couldn't even break their outer layer.

  There was no escape, no way out. How was she supposed to tell her companions? How could she warn them? She smashed her fist against the vines, tears threatening to leak out of her eyes. “This is all my fault,” she muttered to the darkness. “You're so stupid, Sora! Useless. Idiot. Fool!” She kept slamming her fist against the vines, ripping at the leaves, scratching at the thick plants.

  Suddenly a hand landed on her shoulder. She yelped in surprise, jumping into the air.

  A quiet voice said, "Be calm."

  She whirled around. Crash stood behind her, a dim outline in the room; she only recognized his voice. How long had he been standing there, listening to her sobs and inane muttering? She was too distraught to be embarrassed. Before she could think about it, she blurted out, “We're all going to die because of me.”

  She could sense his frown in the darkness, the thoughtful pause before he spoke. “What do you mean?”

  Sora felt like she was going to cry. She took a deep breath, trying to contain herself. “My Cat's Eye!" she managed, speaking past the lump in her throat. "The Panthera thought you were my protector, so he had decided to let us go. Then he saw the necklace...and now...now we're all going to die!" She put a hand to her face, struggling to maintain her composure. She really, really didn't want to cry in front of the assassin. "We're all going to be sacrificed to the Grandmother Tree! And it's all my fault!"

  Crash's hand remained on her shoulder. She wasn't sure if he was trying to be comforting, or had just forgotten it was there. He seemed deep in thought. “When?” he finally asked. “When are they coming for us?”

  Sora's heart sank. “Soon. The Panthera wants the ceremony tomorrow night.”

  “The full moon,” Crash murmured.

  She frowned. “Huh?”

  “Tomorrow is the full moon. Catlins live by the lunar calendar. That's why they're waiting.” His voice was quiet and confident.

  Sora nodded, somehow calmed by his tone. She had expected him to be mad, to yell or to lash out at her. She wondered where he had learned so much about Catlins.

  "I...I didn't mean to cause more trouble." she whispered, still wallowing in guilt.

  "Never mind that," he caught her off-guard. "We have the advantage."

  Sora blinked. “What?”

  “Your necklace.”

  She frowned, looking up at his dark face, wishing to see his expression. How was her necklace supposed to help? It had been no use against either the guards or their spears.

  “You can break us out,” he assured her, as though reading her mind.

  She took a step away, shrugging off his hand. “It didn't open the door of the Panthera's chambers,” she hedged. Then again, she hadn't directly asked it to.

  “The Cat's Eye is a magical tool,” he gritted out. “Try.”

  She could clearly hear his irritation. Unexpectedly, she grew annoyed in return. It was all well and good for him to contrive theories about the necklace—he wasn't the one wearing it!

  She turned back to the doorway with an angry sigh. Her hands searched blindly until she felt the tightly woven vines. “Why did they put us in this cell?” she asked, feeling her way along the plants. “Why not use spider webs, like Dorian and Burn's cell?”

  Crash replied, “Some prisoners require more restraint.”

  She snorted. “What can you do that the Wolfies can't?”

  “More than you'd think,” he quipped. “Focus on the vines, will you? We don't have a lot of time.”

  Sora rolled her eyes at the darkness. Then she put her hands back to the wall, trying to remember the symbol that the Catlins had traced, if it was even relevant. Oh come now, her inner voice chided. Just use the necklace and get it over with.

  She frowned, concentrating, reaching into the depths of her mind where the Cat's Eye resided. It was easier this time. The necklace felt more alive, somehow. As though draining the Panthera's magic had made it stronger, heavier in her thoughts, more tangible.

  Open the door, she thought.

  The jingling of bells met her ears, loud and clear. The Cat's Eye responded immediately. It sensed the magical wall beneath her fingers. It seemed to be prodding the vines, testing them, sampling this new magic.

  Then—flash!

  Green light sparked, dancing around the enclosed cell, dazzling her eyes. It absorbed the magic eagerly. Sora gasped. The energy flooded her solar plexus like a sudden breath of air.

  The vines fell to the ground, limp and dead. Light flowed into the enclosed cell. Sora was momentarily blinded, caught off-guard. She blinked and looked up, trying to clear her vision.

  The hallway stretched before them. Then she heard the sound of voices, a language of short yowls, purrs and growls. A second later, two Catlin guards turned into the hallway, spears in hand, tails lashing. They paused abruptly, looking up at her. They both stared, mouths agape. Apparently the expression of surprise was consistent across races.

  Immediately Crash lurched past her and sprinted down the corridor, directly at the Catlins. One let out a loud, high-pitched shriek, and the assassin rammed into him full force. He smashed his fist into the first Catlin's neck, breaking its windpipe. The guard collapsed to the floor, writhing and wheezing in pain, his spear falling to one side. Crash picked up the weapon and thrust it forcefully into the next guard's stomach, ripping a large hole through his gut. Blood and intestines spilled across the ground. The guard staggered back, screaming and hissing, toppling into an adjacent hallway.

  Sora stared in disbelief. She felt sick.

  Then she heard noises in the distance. Catlin voices and the sound of scrambling feet.

  "Come on!" Crash motioned for her to follow, as though he hadn't just killed two seven-foot guards. Sora was still in shock. Her body moved automatically, stiff and awkward at the sight of so much blood.

  “Hurry!” he insisted.

  The sounds of pursuit were coming on fast. Still, Sora couldn't seem to organize her limbs. The assassin didn't hesitate. He dashed back to her side, grabbed her and dragged her down the hallway, past the massacred bodies and the Wolfies' cell. Sora gasped, catching Dorian's eye as they ran past. She dug in her feet, skidding across the blood.

  “Crash!" she exclaimed. “We can't leave them!”

  “Go!” Dorian yelled, signaling for them to keep running. “The guards are coming. We'll slow you down. Go!”

  Crash pulled at her arm. "We can't help them if we're dead," he said harshly, and hauled her forward. "We'll come back."

  Sora wasn't completely convinced, but she didn't have a choice. Dorian's eyes pleaded with her, his hands pointing desperately down the hallway. She could hear the guards approaching. Soon, they would block off any chance of escape.

  Somehow, she found the strength to run. She leapt next to Crash and they sprinted down the hall, not looking back. They reeled around a corner, turning haphazardly down a network of corridors and stairs. She hoped that Crash knew where he was going—and apparently he did, because a minute later they reached the exit. It was blocked by thick, heavy vines.

  “Quickly!” he yelled, and pushed her at the doorway.

  This time, Sora only had to touch the wall. Flash! The green light blazed and the Cat's Eye eagerly drank in the magic. Her head spun briefly. The vi
nes dropped to the ground, limp.

  Crash grabbed her. They barreled through the exit, jumping over piles of loose vines and foliage. Outside, the colony was strangely quiet. Sora could hear distant sounds below them, chattering voices and the general bustle of the market. But on the prison level, there was hardly any foot traffic at all.

  They took off running. Crash led her to a bridge on their left.

  “Do you know where we're going?” Sora gasped. Her wounds ached with each step. She could feel blood dripping down her ribs.

  “Maybe,” Crash replied.

  Sora wanted to roll her eyes, but she was too focused on running. Well, "maybe" is better than "no."

  Then she heard the shouts of Catlin guards. A dozen or so converged from the mist, leaping from different bridges and ropes, trying to cut them off. She forced her legs to run faster, pain piercing her side. Adrenaline fueled her steps.

  Crash took a sudden turn, cutting to a bridge that dangled off through the mist, separate from the thick tree branches that supported the colony. Sora followed him, worried that the bridge seemed old and decrepit, not well-maintained. It swung and bowed under their weight. But when she looked ahead past Crash, through the spinning veil of mist—she saw dense leaves and vines. Open, untamed foliage. The end of the colony and the beginnings of the swamp.

  Hope bloomed. If they could just make it across, they might escape....

  A series of yowls erupted in the air. More Catlins joined the chase, thundering onto the bridge, bounding from rope to log like fierce, giant squirrels. Then a Catlin dropped onto the bridge in front of them, swinging down on a large vine. Sora screamed. Crash ran headlong into the beast and tackled it, toppling across the wooden planks.

  "Crash!" she yelled, skidding to a halt. They were blocked by the Catlin's massive body. The two struggled, wrestling with each other, a match of pure strength. The bridge rocked and creaked violently. Sora grabbed the ropes, holding on for dear life, fear choking her. When she looked back, she could see dozens of Catlins crowding the entrance to the bridge. A few were coming up behind her, spears held threateningly.