A Tale of Three

Chapter 8: Visions

Cyrene awoke with a jolt. Her head pounded as the nightmare ended. It was the same as always, the mountain, the pebbles, the dead cub, and the song. The song loomed in her thoughts like a shadow, but disappeared as soon as she focused on it. It was like a bird chirping; she realized it was there in the nightmare, but it was just in the background. It meant nothing. Well, it meant nothing until she woke up with a screech caught in her throat. Cyrene shook her head in hopelessness. She knew the dream would come again, along with the song she hated almost as much as the dream. Then there was the voice, the voice that ended her dream. The same voice that laughed as an anguished cub died, silently, but not painlessly. She had seen the expression on the cub's face.

"Are you coming or not? The other felines won't be too happy about waiting." Cyrene looked up through groggy eyes to see Fida smiling down at her. The panthress groaned and flopped onto her back.

"Shut up."

"Okay then. New approach," Fida told herself. "The morning hunters will be back in a few minutes. There's already an army of hungry mouths down there. So if you want food..."

"Food motivation only works on you and Alba," Cyrene laughed hoarsely. She laughed at her own joke for a few seconds more before firmly blinking. Cyrene picked herself up and arched her back. Her spine popped as her frame stiffened, and Cyrene yawned in satisfaction.

"Cyrene."

"I know, I'm ready to go. My back was just sore from curling up."

Fida stood impatiently, rocking back in forth on her paws. Cyrene stared at her as she stretched, noticing Fida's surprisingly simple appearance.

"No jewelry today?" Cyrene pointed her muzzle to the pile of jewels in the den corner.

"Alba said I look too proper all the time." Fida smiled sheepishly. "I thought I'd go without it for a while. He's right. The jewels look too tacky. I look classier without jewels."

"Since when has Alba controlled your life?"

"Shut up. I guided you around the cavern, and found you when you were lost eleven times. You've been here seven days. You owe me."

Cyrene opened her mouth to retort, but quickly snapped it shut again. Fida wasn't going to let the conversation end without winning it.

"I'm ready to go when you are," Cyrene said instead. Fida's shoulders sagged in relief.

"Okay. Follow me." Fida turned around to leave the den.

"I already know the way." Cyrene broke in as she walked after Fida. The leopardess turned around and smiled awkwardly.

"Oh." She started to leave again. "Still follow me then. With your luck, you'll get lost."

Cyrene growled softly. She didn't get lost that much. It was hard in Veilded not to. There were so many halls that swirled around numerous caverns. Cyrene remembered her third day in Veilded, when Fida had explained that the cavern had been carved by magic. She had said that Veilded's tunnels went on for about a mile, and there were many caves, caverns, and even underground lakes hidden in the crevices. Fida had then added that there were many that no one even knew about.

Cyrene's muzzle curled downward. If even mature wildcats who had been in Veilded for ages still got lost, what was wrong with her getting lost?

"We'll be there in a minute," Fida told Cyrene, noticing the panthress's twitching tail. "Most of the youth practice the magic on top of the Sky Fang. It'll take a minute to get there."

Cyrene nodded eagerly. Her heart started to flutter as she walked, but she wasn't sure if it was from nervousness or excitement. Cyrene swung her head from side to side as she watched, her eyes flying over every image they came across. She saw a tiger cub chasing a rabbit it had summoned, followed by a snarling tigress. Cyrene snorted at the scene, catching the attention of the tigress. The wild cat's head snapped up, and her eyes immediately narrowed in Cyrene's direction.