A Tale of Three

Chapter 1: Fear

The night was silent. Nothing stirred, no leaf moved in the wind, in fact, there wasn't even the sound of locusts singing their nightly song. The stars were dim that night, as if trying to hide the wonders of Atra.

Sheila cracked her eyes open, red lines starting to appear at the sides. She let out a grunt of frustration as she settled herself against the ground again; she slammed her eyes shut in anger. It was supposed to be easy to fall asleep, especially on a night like this.

She peered down at her stomach, wishing the clouds hadn't concealed the moon's light. The panthress stroked the rising bump with her paw, already feeling the cubs inside. She knew it would be a while until they came, but the excitement of having cubs of her own was still overwhelming. The list of possible names went through her head: Cinder, Sky, Ares, Olive, Freya, Hune, Cyrene, Acaeon, and maybe even Otium, after her grandmother.

Sheila was younger than most to be a mother, but that didn't hinder her excitement any. Maybe that was what was keeping her awake. Although she knew falling asleep was hopeless, Sheila laid her head down against the cave floor again in preparation to fall asleep. She peered over at her mate Ephemer, smiling at his sprawled-out form.

Sheila yawned. As she closed her eyes, she spotted something. Jerking herself up, Sheila peered into the corner of her den. Her dry throat was all that stopped her scream. Something was moving. The panthress leapt to her feet, crouching in an effort not to hit the top of the den.

"Who's there?" she yelled hoarsely, her voice starting to tremble. Ephemer stirred in his sleep in front of her; he was the only object separating her from the creature lurking in the darkness. She felt her heart start to beat rapidly in her chest. Raising her head, she called out softly, "Who's there?"

Ephemer lifted his head up, waking up from his slumber. He turned his green eyes to Sheila, their edges wrinkling in laughter at her trembling form.

"For the last time, if it's the raccoon you can just go and chase it off. It's not that scary once you-" His words were cut off as the creature behind him pounced. It lunged straight for his neck, opening its mouth in the air to reveal worn and cracked fangs.

Sheila's yell broke through the silence. Ephemer's head quickly whipped from Sheila to the shadow. Hissing, he rolled over and swiped at the creature's face, knocking it slightly off course. The monster's fang sunk into Ephemer's shoulder. It didn't move and instead clung on to her mate, shaking him as if he were just another piece of prey.

She tried to take a step forward, but her muscles were frozen, her fear unwilling to let her jump into the fight. Her heart was beating quickly against her chest, and her lungs gasped for air. Sheila stood paralyzed with fear while black spots started to appear in front of her. She felt the dirt walls start to crumble behind her as she pressed herself against them.

Sheila let out a small cry as three more dark shapes broke through the entrance and joined the fight, ripping away at any of Ephemer's fur they could get their claws on. Through the screeches of pain and her pounding heart, she could hear Ephemer yowling, "Sheila, run! I can't hold them off for much longer!"

Sheila stood there, letting out another cry as the monsters moved, revealing her mate's face. The whites of his eyes seemed to glow in the little light. Ephemer met her gaze, and slowly mouthed three words. She felt tears start to fall down her face as she leapt for the entrance. The sides were just crumbles of dirt from where the creatures had pushed through.

As her head finally broke through the entrance a slice of white-hot pain hit her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder to see fresh blood flooding out of it with visible bone underneath. A midnight paw tugged on it, and Sheila cried out in pain as the cut was ripped even farther. Through the shadows she caught a glimpse of a green eye with red lines around the edges. The panthress hissed at her attacker in a feeble attempt to act strong. Turning around to face the forest again, she pulled herself completely out of the den. Her attacker lost its grip on her shoulder and growled in frustration. Not looking back Sheila ran into the forest, hoping with all her might the beasts wouldn't follow her. Ephemer's yells continued to echo through the forest after her, replaying the events in the den over and over again. As she ran deeper into the forest she didn't notice that all was silent.