A Tale of Three

Chapter 4: Death

Cyrene stepped back and winced as leaves crunched beneath her. The name seemed so familiar. She looked over Swiven's matted pelt. Who was he? Cyrene stiffened as his form moved, seemingly towards her body. The panthress pushed herself into the ground and quickly softened her breathing. She tried to keep her body from shaking; her claws unsheathed in case she needed to escape. Cyrene felt her form move into hiding naturally as she pretended this was just another night of Ares' raging moods.

Ahead of her she could hear the grass crackling as it was crushed by Swiven's steps. The sounds became louder and louder until they were almost upon Cyrene. She pushed her head closer to ground and shoved her eyes against the earth in an attempt not to open them. Above her head the rustling of leaves started to sound, followed by the noise of snapping twigs. Cyrene felt a cool breeze run along her back and then silence.

"Your fur is white," Swiven said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Your fur is white like that of a bone."

Cyrene opened her eyes and looked up as she realized it was useless to hide. She met Swiven's eyes, holding them for a second before trying to find Ares. He stood behind Swiven, his face holding as much emotion as Swiven's voice.

"Yes, it is," Ares stated. "She is a freak of nature and an abomination. So why are you interested in her?"

"I'm not an abomination!" Cyrene retaliated, quickly jumping to her paws. Her body shook as she stood up, but it was swiftly dismissed.

"The last will have powers. A coat of bone," Swiven muttered, his eyes widening in shock. Cyrene glared at him, but he didn't react. Instead the monster of a panther just stood there, seemingly paralyzed.

"I'm not an abomination," Cyrene repeated, her voice losing the confidence she had said it with the first time. She looked towards Ares for reassurance, even though she knew he would never give her that. He quickly coughed, drawing Swiven's attention towards him.

"Why are you here?" Ares asked.

"You. You! You're the warrior! The one to bring an end to Jinx!" Swiven exclaimed, his eyes full of excitement. His black head quickly whipped towards Cyrene and started to fill with hate. "And you! I have to stop you! I have to stop you. Yes, that will let me back in. If I stop you, she will have to let me return."

Cyrene watched as the panther rambled to himself. His head leaned towards the ground as he seemingly talked to his paws. Suddenly he whipped his head up; his lips curled into a snarl.

"If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have to earn my way back in!"

Swiven let out a roar and brought his paw towards Cyrene's head. Before she could even blink Ares had clamped his jaws around Swiven's paw, blocking the blow. Cyrene quickly leapt forward at Swiven's ear as her heart pounded. Surprise gave her the advantage. Swiven didn't notice her until she bit down on his tender flesh. Cyrene tasted blood in her fangs as she ripped. The taste sickened her, but she knew she had to continue. Swiven shook his body, trying to get her off. Beside her, she could see Ares jumping and clawing for Swiven's throat, hoping to end the fight quickly. He didn't have one cut on him. Swiven roared in frustration and twisted around to lash out towards Cyrene, half-blind from the blood running down from his ears. She dodged each one, still holding his ripped ear tightly between her teeth. Breaking the screeches of the fight, Cyrene heard Swiven's voice thunder, "Get off me!"

Cyrene jumped off, sure that Swiven was done fighting. He'd only landed a few scratches on them while they had landed numerous ones on him.

As she waited for the panther to get to his feet and run away, she felt a great push shove her to the blood-stained ground. Stunned, she lifted her head to see Ares looking angrily at her, before leaping back at Swiven, who still had his fangs bared in malice. She immediately realized her stupidity.