A Game of Chi Book I: A Crown of Blood

Chapter 4: Li'ella I

LI'ELLA

The walk through Dracon's Desert to the Scorpion Den had been treacherous. "The desert shouldn't be a problem," Lundor had said. "It's uninhabited, and we should be able to get through it quickly, before it gets too hot or too cold."

Perhaps we could have, Li'ella had mused, but no longer.

Flinx had nearly succumbed to heatstroke in the blazing heat of Dracon's Desert, but luckily, Li'ella and the Cat Guides had stepped in to make sure that did not happen. Now, the cats and the phoenix empress they protected were nearing the end of the mountain pass which separated the desert from the Scorpion Den. The sun was high and the cats, covered in their fur, were sweating. Li'ella was a lioness, a member of the Cat Guides sworn to protect the Phoenix Tribe. At least, they had been when they had been alive. Li'ella shared the beige fur that many other lions had, although she was ashamed to share it. She had only been a cub of eight when the traitors had come to kill everyone she loved. She remembered the sound of her friends being killed; the phoenixes she grew up with and the other cats had been mercilessly killed, some by her own tribesmen. Because the Last Lion King, King Loras, had bent the knee without conflict, the Lion Tribe became exempt from many of the Phoenix Tribe's policies. They had even been brought into the fold and trained as Cat Guides. To the usurpers' credit, the lions stationed to guard the Phoenix Emperor had been given a choice: side with the invaders or die. Many had chosen their honour, and now their bones lined the Citadel's underground.

The eight-year-old Li'ella was playing with the newly hatched Flinx when Tormak, the chief of the Cat Guides, burst into the room. "The Crown Prince is dead!" Tormak shouted.

Li'ella's young mind didn't understand what the tiger meant, but it didn't matter. A crash sounded behind her, and an orange phoenix with grey goggles who Li'ella recognized as Firox lay dead, knocked through the wall.

"There's no time," Tormak growled. Lundor the leopard and Panthar the panther flanked him and picked up Li'ella and Flinx. Li'ella screamed and cried while Flinx looked up at them with big, innocent eyes as the three older cats ran through the tunnel which led to the ship they planned to board.

"Where is the emperor?" Panthar asked.

Tazar, another tiger, ran alongside them. "I've just received word that Emperor Fluminox is dead."

The Cat Guides didn't break their stride. After a moment, Tormak spoke in a tone that brooked no argument. "Then we protect the empress."

In no time, they reached the coastline and made for the large phoenix ship.

"They'll spot us and shoot us down! We should hold them off here!" Lundor exclaimed. "Better to die fighting than fleeing," agreed Tazar.

"We will not jeopardize the empress' safety for glory in battle," Tormak insisted. The group quickly boarded the ramp and Tormak barked orders at the crew, which consisted entirely of lions. "We set off now!" Tormak ordered. "The emperor is dead! We have to go!"

"He's dead, you say? How?" a lion asked.

"The traitor Lagravis stabbed him in the back," Tazar replied. "The Lion Tribe turned on us," he said unthinkingly.

"You mean the other lions turned on the phoenixes?"

"Yes."

"Alright." The lion shot Tazar right in the face with his crossbow. Quick as a flash, Tormak drew his fire bow and shot the lion dead, but Panthar was been hit in the side by a bolt, shielding Flinx as he fell. Li'ella watched in a mixture of horror and wonder as Tormak and Lundor efficiently and mercilessly cut down the mutineers, but it was too late. Crocodile, rhinoceros, raven, and lion archers were riddling the ship with flaming arrows.