The Sapphire Tiger

Chapter 1: The Sapphire Tiger

It was another glorious summer afternoon on the grounds of Castle Songvale. The sun was blazing and the birds were chirping happily to each other. Out in the orchard, it was all hustle and bustle as the castle dwellers were setting up for their annual summer festivities, bringing out chairs and tables and putting up decorative banners on the walls and trees while the kitchen staff prepared a feast and the youngsters ran about, playing on the open grass.

A young wolf cub named Lucy sat on her grandmother's lap, listening intently as she told her an old story about a human warrior.
"...And with a single blow of his mighty axe, the human warrior cleaved the evil fox witch's head from her shoulders and the kingdom, along with its people could finally live in peace for all time."
"I love that story," Lucy said. "How come you've never told me that one before?" Grandmother Martha smiled.
"It's one of my favorites too," The elderly wolf replied. "Your dear old gran has a hundred stories knocking about her old head, my dear. Some of them stay forgotten for a long time."
"But are humans real?" The young cub asked. "They sound scary."
"Oh they most certainly are!" She answered. "I've known plenty of people in years past who have seen them." Lucy's ears pinned flat against her head in fear.
"I thought they were just made up." Grandmother Martha held the frightened wolf cub closely.
"There now, there's no need to fret, little one." She reassured. "They're people just like you and I, and I'm willing to bet my tail that they're not even big and scary like they are in the stories. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so few of them these days."
"You're not telling her stories about humans, are you? I'm the one who has to put her to bed at night." Came the voice of Snow, Lucy's far older sister and warrior in training, so named because of her snow-white fur. There was not a single patch of dark fur on her, unlike the rest of her brown-furred family.
"Oh don't worry, my dear. She'll have forgotten all about it by suppertime."
"For my sake, you had better be right." She said with a smile. "Right, little'un, it's time for your bath." She said, picking up her little sister in her arms.
"But I already had a bath!" She protested and Snow chuckled.
"That was two days ago, and you've been playing on the grass with the other children, now come on. No arguments." Grandmother Martha smiled as she watched Snow take her sister into the castle.
"Just like her mother." She said to herself. "She'll make a fine one herself one day."

Not far from the castle,  Lief and his crew of bandits were approaching the end of a long and tiresome adventure. The last few years had been difficult for survival but after nearly a decade of killing and marauding, they had slain a treasure hunter on the road who carried a map, a map that would lead them to a cave where the treasure hunter's previous scores were hidden. The silly fool had even marked the map with the words 'my treasure stash' so Leif and his goons knew they were about to make a big score. They had been following the map's directions for the past few moons and now they were nearing their destination, a vast cliff face that stood just a mile or so away from the Kingdom of Moonstone's capital city.

Traveling in the group were two weasel brothers known as Basher and Slasher, three male rats known as Bloodnut, Sniffler and Hollowskull, a vixen named Nidela and their leader, a human named Leif. A man who the others had respected for years for his ruthless methods and good results from organized raids and random muggings alike. However, over the last few months, the others had noticed a gradual change in Leif. Though he was still young, as he had gotten older and left his teenage years behind him, he had grown more mature and more compassionate towards their victims, leaving many of them alive and their raids were getting less and less lucrative. His evil nature diminished slowly but surely and he became less brutal and more humane as his human nature began to fully develop. Bloodnut and Hollowskull had even considered slitting his throat in the night and continuing their loathsome lives without him.

"We're close to the cave's opening." Nidela said, glancing at the map. They had been walking along the cliff face for nearly half an hour but now they were close, and all they had to do was look for an 'X' scratched into the cliff's face and they had finally reached what would likely be their biggest score ever. Though the nature of the entrance itself wasn't described on the map, they were confident that they'd be able to unearth it. Only a moment later, Sniffler pointed to a section of the cliff face that had a dull, barely visible 'X' marked upon its surface. "There be yer hidden entrance, lads 'n lass." Sniffler said.
"Well spotted, Sniff old lad." Bloodnut replied.
"Indeed, but how the bloody hellfire do we get in?" Hollowskull inquired.
"Wow, your mother really did name you well, Hollowskull." Nidela answered. "Anyone would think this is your first time raiding a hideout."
"Oi, you watch yer tongue, or I'll hollow your skull out for real." The rat warned. "An' I told you before. Don't talk about me mother!" They were interrupted by the voice of Leif.
"Knock it off, the pair of you and look over here." He said, crouched near the entrance mark, inspecting some foliage. "This here greenery is concealing a narrow tunnel that leads under the cliff." He said as he brushed it aside with his hand. "Looks like it's wide enough for everyone here."
 "Well, what are you waiting for, Leif? Not scared, are you?" Nidela mocked and the human merely grunted at the vixen's remark and shuffled into the tunnel, followed by his henchmen.