A Tale of Three

Epilogue: Forever

"If you settle down I'll tell you the story again," Ruby purred, looking down at her two cubs. They let out eager nods as they stared at her with their huge blue eyes.

"Tell us!" one of the cubs chirped. Ruby chuckled.

"You seem very eager to hear it, Dawn."

"But we haven't heard it in ages, plus it's one of the only ones that is true," her other daughter complained.

"It seems I will have to tell you," Ruby said. "Well, once upon a time there was a cub. She was born in the dark, she was born in hate, in death, but she was also born into love, into life, and into sacrifice. She was born with two siblings, one of war, who could feel nothing but his own ambition, and one of peace, who had never done a single thing unjust. And then there was her. The young cub prided free will. She was curious, and wanted to learn about the world. Because of this she grew up different."

"What do you mean by different?" one cub interrupted.

"She never learned how to control her temper or be truly happy. She didn't know when to fight or when to flee."

"I would never run!" one of them declared.

"You weren't Cyrene."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that," Dawn admitted. Ruby let out a small laugh.

"Can you please go on?" her other daughter, Rose, whined.

"Of course," Ruby smiled. "Well anyway, one day Cyrene and her siblings decided to go to the Night Tree to be tested. It was the first time she felt strong hate. You see, the Tester told her she belonged in Veilded."

"What's so bad about that?" Rose asked

"Back then, Veilded was so secretive no feline had ever caught a glimpse of them. If a Tester told you that you belonged there, you would never see anyone you loved again," Ruby explained.

"That must have been horrible."

"It was. None of the other glarings even knew magic existed back then," Ruby told them. Dawn's eyes opened wide.

"They must have been really stupid," Rose concluded.

"Not stupid, just... it was a bad time," Ruby's voice trailed. Shaking her head, she continued the story. "Well, anyway, Cyrene went to Veilded and learned magic. It was there she got her frozen tail."

"I want a frozen tail!" Dawn exclaimed.

"How am I supposed to tell a story when I can't talk?" Ruby asked crossly.

"Sorry mom," the cub apologized.

"You should be," Ruby retorted. "Where was I again?"

"Cyrene learned magic?"

"Oh yes." She laughed. "Well anyway, Cyrene learned magic. There she made her two best friends, Alba and Fida."

"Can you skip to the action?" Dawn complained.

"Fine," Ruby said. "Well, anyway, while she was learning magic two things were happening. Ares had taken over Anglo and was making an army, and Feluna was also making an army to overthrow the army Ares had. Feluna wanted to rule all of Atra with her mate Amare. However, Cyrene wasn't going to let that happen. What she did was she killed the evil leader Veilded used to have and led them into battle. They attacked Anglo, who by then had taken over all of Atra, and won. However, her victory was short lived. A few days later Feluna kidnapped her."

"Why did Feluna kidnap her?" Rose asked, staring up at Ruby with her pale blue eyes.

"Because you see, Cyrene's birth was prophesized. She would be born, and one day have to choose the path for the rest of her life. Neither path was the one she wanted, and had no free will."

"I wouldn't want to be like that," Dawn commented. Shivering, she scooted closer to her mother.

"Nobody did," Ruby smiled faintly. "Because she was like that, Feluna wanted to force her to choose evil, and complete a spell only Cyrene could do."

"What happened?"

"Well, Cyrene chose not to choose. She broke her destiny. She chose not to take a breath in light or dark," Ruby explained.

"How did she breathe then?"

"She didn't. You see, Cyrene was in a prophecy. She wasn't supposed to not choose. In the prophecy, she lived. But she didn't obey the prophecy."

"You mean she died?"

"Yes, little one. But right before she closed her eyes legend says she killed Feluna. Felines say that when she died, one of her eyes was as gold as the sun, while the other was as green as leaves."

"Whatever happened to her?" Rose asked, looking up.

"Some say she lies in a cavern, where time and strife no longer exists. They say she lies in the beginning of magic, where a glowing blue guardian watches over her, protecting her dead body from any harm."

"I think I like the story of Sol and Luna better," Dawn commented.

"Oh, come on," Rose chirped. "Here, let's play the battle. I'll be Cyrene and you can be Feluna."

"But I want to be Cyrene!"

With her sides shaking, Ruby turned to look at the mountains that lined the sides of the sky. They stood like mighty teeth, biting into the stars. Ruby looked over them, smiling at a lone deer she saw wandering among them. As she watched the darkness, Ruby could start to see a shape form out of it. Squinting, she tried to make sense of it. Slowly, an outline started to form. Her eyes widened in shock. Climbing over the stony mountains was a huge black panther. Sheets of muscle moved under his skin like silk as he walked, and his eyes were so orange that they could have passed as fire. The panther never looked her way, but instead kept running underneath the moon.

Ruby blinked her eyes. It wasn't real. Lots of felines had seen him be killed. Nervously she opened her eyes again. Ruby scanned the mountains, looking for the huge cat. She didn't see anything though. He was gone.