A beam of sunlight drifts along rumpled covers ever so slowly … finally reaching the closed eyes of a young Savanite girl with dark brown tresses of hair that spill past her ears, a couple of stray strands bouncing on her nose.
A furred hand reaches toward the sleeping child, shaking her. There's a purring noise, and then a nose bumping against her, trying to wake her.
The nose bumps against the sleeping kitten again. The purr is louder.
Kaela stirs tiredly. After a few moments she raises her handpaws and rubs at her eyes. Blinking, she squints and peers towards the owner of that nose.
Kaela's mother smiles back at her, then backs away. "It's morning, Dreamy-Eyes," she signs. It's a 'play on words', in Savanite sign, for the sign that would form "Dreamy" is only a finger-flick away from "Emerald".
The kit is lying on a thick bedroll, with silken sheets, in a stone room decorated with Lapis lazuli, marble and enamelled wood. … It is quite unlike her quarters in the household of Mikide, however comfortable those might be for one of her status.
Her mother – No … wait, that's not her mother. But she looks so much like her! – She's dressed in fine white linens, adorned with jewelry – precious stones, pearls and even some gold.
Kaela smiles up at her mother warmly, her green eyes glimmering in the light. Then pauses, blinking a few times.
Kaela pushes herself up into a sitting position and regards the woman she thought was her mother, her smile fading slightly. With a quick motion of her hands, she signs, "Who are you?"
Kaela's 'mother' signs to her, "Oh, child, there is no time for these silly games! I will send in the servants. Get cleaned and dressed quickly. You must not be late for your lessons." She smiles, and turns, quickly striding out of the room.
Kaela blinks slowly. Servants? Lessons? What's going on? Confused, she slowly pushes herself off of the bed and begins a cursory examination and settling of her fur.
Soon after, a couple of female foxes, a few years older than Kaela, come in. They are dressed in clothes that are fine by most standards, but quite plain compared to that of the cheetah who just left. They have a certain air about them – not the commanding air that a master would have, or that look of disdain when they look upon Kaela.
One of the vixens signs, "We are here as summoned, Mistress. How may we serve your Highness this morn?" They keep their muzzles tipped slightly low, though they do not avert their eyes, so as to not miss the commands of their Mistress.
Kaela blinks several more times and looks about, to see if someone is putting her on. A joke? She looks back and hesitantly signs, "I… don't think I deserve your help." Best not to get herself in trouble.
The two vixens look at each other, sharing expressions of puzzlement. The other turns back. "Your mother has instructed us to dress you and see you to breakfast. The others have already finished. She let you sleep late. Are you still feeling ill?"
This is said in sign. Two vixens, both of them signing to the cheetah in her own language, rather than speaking and expecting her to understand.
One of the vixens moves to the window, to move aside a wooden screen that serves as a shutter, letting in the morning light. Outside, the chirrups of the Creens can be heard, flitting about, a rainbow of colors, some with feathered wings, and some varieties with wings like butterflies.
Kaela just nods numbly, her own expression one of equal puzzlement. She just stands before the two vixens, clad in her sleeping gown.
Below can be seen a courtyard – and … the City of Hands? It's the city – the ruins – but they aren't ruins! It's a great city, nestled within a canyon.
The sky is not overcast. There is no silent lightning dancing across the sky. The sun can be seen, peeking over the treetops of the jungle, across the canyon.
Kaela looks out the window, and smiles a little bit before returning her attention to the two vixens.
The vixens bring in the set of clothes Kaela's mother has already picked out for her, and let her have her choice of what jewelry to wear today. There are necklaces and rings made of semi-precious and precious stones. No gold, though. Perhaps that is only for the adults.
Kaela doesn't even consider how odd it is that she's wearing a sleeping gown. She's never worn such a thing in her life, at least that she recalls. But somehow, that doesn't matter any more. Looking over the selection of jewelry, she chooses a pretty necklace, beaded with small pearl-like stones and glittering green ones.
Kaela is treated like a princess. Soon, she is all groomed, with her tresses nicely arranged, with combs of ivory set in her hair, and a smell of fine perfume. In these robes, she does indeed look like royalty – not a slave, not a servant, but the daughter of a king and queen.
Kaela flushes deeply, but is unable to restrain a smile of delight at being treated so kindly.
The cheetah kit is led out of the room, to a grand hall. There's something … familiar about this place. She's seated at a stone table, large enough for an entire party. But she is the only guest.
Kaela signs a grateful 'thank you' to the two vixen girls, her eyes shining, then glances about this new hall.
Columns rise to a ceiling above. Reliefs of scenes, prominently featuring cheetah nobles in finery and armor, can be seen on every wall surface, along with script formed to resemble hands telling tales in Savanite sign.
The vixens look somehow surprised at Kaela's comment, but they bow and quickly leave. Other servants come in to tend to the young cheetah's breakfast. There are many fruits and breads and juices – far more than the cheetah could hope to eat in one sitting or even possibly a week. Well, MAYBE a week. If she were really hungry.
Kaela twists her head around, taking in as much of the view as she can. Looking back to the breakfast, she blinks several times. She's hungry. But she's not certain. Catching the eye of a nearby servant she signs, "Are others coming to eat as well?"
The servant smiles and signs back, "No. Your brothers and sisters have already finished. You may eat what you please."
Kaela smiles softly at the mention of her siblings; she misses them so. With another series of gestures, she signs, "I could not eat so much myself. Have you eaten? Or the others?"
Some footsteps can be heard in an adjoining corridor. Not loud – for none are wearing shoes in this palace – but a tall, proud cheetah walks into the room.
The cheetah claps his hands together once to get Kaela's attention.
Kaela turns quickly to look up at the cheetah. She pauses to peer at him carefully.
The tall cheetah wears robes finer than any others here, and he stands the tallest, the most proud.
His eyes, like Kaela's, are green.
The cheetah signs to the little girl, "Do not joke with your servants. You know full well that servants do not eat of the Priest-King's table. It is not even to jest of such things."
"I will not have the court wiggling fingers about my daughter," the tall cheetah signs.
Kaela swallows at the mention of 'Priest-King'. "Yes, father" she signs quickly.
The cheetah looks very familiar. But … no, it's not how he LOOKS. It's something Kaela can FEEL. And there's some look in his eyes for a brief instant – as if he for a moment recognized something as well.
With that, the tall cheetah turns, not even bothering to sign any more to Kaela. Some other cheetahs in priestly robes follow him, heads bowed, along with several vulpine and lupine servants. They pass through, heading into another corridor, deeper into the complex.
Kaela quickly looks back to the food set before her, and finds something to eat and occupy her hands.
Not surprisingly, given how it looks, everything the kit tries is the finest that she has ever tasted. Nay, better than anything she has had a chance to eat before. She has not eaten poorly, but has hardly been treated to such luxuries as this.
Kaela eats her fill, hardly making a dent in the volume of food laid out before her. She casts something of an apologetic glance towards the servants between bites. When she's done, she pushes her chair back from the table and stands up.
A graying raccoon walks up, his hands shaking ever so slightly, as he signs for Her Highness to follow him for her music lessons. "You will not be practicing in the Palace today, your Highness," the raccoon signs, with an apologetic gesture, "for your father is performing a very important ceremony, and there are to be no noises for distraction."
Kaela nods slightly and moves to follow the raccoon. With a curious tilt to her head she signs to him, "What ceremony?"
The raccoon chuckles, then pauses just a bit to turn, "Now, now, ever the inquisitive one! That is not for young princesses to be fretting about." He ushers her along the corridor, which opens up a bit, to stairs leading out to the courtyard.
Kaela smiles up at the raccoon, her eyes glimmering. With youthful energy she bounces up the stairs, drinking in the sights.
But the stairs don't go up. Somehow, in Kaela's memory, something says they SHOULD go up, and so they seemed for just a flickering instant … but they don't. They go down, to the courtyard.
The courtyard is filled with tiled stones, with circular spots here and there, allowing for some rushing fountains and dwarf trees in flowery bloom.
Ahead is a stone structure that looks like a triumphal arch.
The same one that Kaela passed through before … just before entering that strange ruin. Except that beyond it she can see the city.
Kaela blinks slowly, but shrugs off the oddness. Her memory must just be playing tricks on her today. She pads several meters out into the courtyard, admiring the fountains and flowers…
A couple of multi-colored Creens flutter down to perch in a tree just within arm's reach of Kaela. They cheerfully chirrup and cree at her, dancing their heads about. Nearby is a pedestal that has a wooden lid on it. The Creens seem very interested in it.
The raccoon smiles and signs, "Go ahead. There's time to feed your pets," gesturing to the pedestal.
Kaela smiles back at the raccoon brightly. She opens the lid of the pedestal and glances into it, her memory (is it memory? She dismisses the question.) already beginning to fill in what she's going to find…
Inside is a mixture of grains and crumbs, with a few berries, just the sort of things that a Creen would love.
Well, they'd like BUGS, too, but that wouldn't be seemly for a young princess to be handling.
Kaela takes a handfull of the grains and berries, and holds them up to the Creens, her smile spreading to encompass her entire face.
The two Creens gleefully *chiree* and dive in, gobbling up the offerings. A couple more perch on Kaela's shoulder, poking THEIR heads in, too. Soon, the little cheetah is covered in a forest of brightly colored winged lizards, all gleefully chirring and chirruping, cleaning the kitten's hands.
As soon as the last crumb and berry is gone, the creatures immediately scatter, looking for more munchies elsewhere.
The raccoon stands there, smiling, then signs, "You'll spoil them with so much! Now then, let's hurry along?" He gestures toward the arch and the street that leads through and beyond it.
Kaela smiles after them, her eyes bright. Only when they've vanished from view does she return her gaze to the raccoon and follow him along the street.
A few people walk this way and that, but a number catch the kit's attention – cheetahs, all male, wearing priestly robes. They are not as fancy as those who were following her father, though of similar styling. There are so many of them, and they are all lined up along this tiled court that circles the entire palace. They are all kneeled down, going through some sort of rituals with beads and other baubles.
If they are all spaced at the same interval like this, all around the palace, there must be at least a hundred of them. But there is little time to ponder this further, as the raccoon leads the girl on through the arch, and to the city beyond.
Kaela pads along with the raccoon out into the city. Her gaze darts this way and that, unable to focus on any one feature of the place for long, for fear of missing some other detail…
As the kit goes along, all who notice her bow their heads and make signs of respect to the young princess. Proud cheetah warriors march by, carrying swords with blades of obsidian. Some of them are in charge of small groups of wolves as they go about their patrols.
Foxes, raccoons, many types of races – but anywhere a cheetah is to be seen, he is no slave, he is no servant. Indeed, he often has servants and slaves of his own.
The raccoon at last turns to a side-street, and heads up a building. The door is opened by a servant to allow the princess and her companion in.
Kaela gives her wide, beaming smile to all the passers-by. Or at least, all the cheetahs. She gives smaller, gentler ones to the servants, partially deferring to her father's wishes.
Inside, there are large pillows set about, and a lady raccoon – perhaps the wife of the first raccoon? – rises to stand as the princess enters, and beckons her to take a seat on the cushions. Near the cushions is an instrument – a sitar – and there is another to one side of the lady raccoon.
Kaela smiles, and settles onto the cushions. She carefully lifts the sitar and glances to the female raccoon.
The lady raccoon signs, "We are sorry that you cannot have your lesson in the conservatory, but your father has gathered the Twelve and the Twelve-Times-Twelve for a great ceremony, and demands silence in his palace this day." She then sits down. "Now then, let us try 'The Creen on the Wind'… "
The light through the window begins to dim. Clouds are moving in. The older raccoon looks out, frowning, and moves to put wood screens in front of the windows. "Rain clouds come," he signs. "The Priest-King will not be happy."
Kaela nods slowly, thinking for a moment. Her fingers move over the strings of the sitar and with a surprising deftness (does she know how to play the sitar? She doesn't remember even holding one before, exactly, but it feels right… Maybe she's just being forgetful again) begins to pick out the tune.
The lady raccoon smiles and nods, evidently pleased with her student.
Outside, there is a flash of lightning. But no thunder peals.
Kaela looks over to the older raccoon. Pausing in her playing for a moment, she signs, "Is it a large storm?"
The raccoon is paused, holding a screen in his hands. He breaks out of his stillness for a moment, setting it down, and then signs back, "I don't know. Something… " He pauses. He just makes the core sign for "wrong" in haste, and looks out the window, in the direction of the palace.
The clouds are coming from all directions at once, quite unlike any natural storm. They are all bearing toward the palace – toward the five pinnacles of the palace which rise upward like fingers of a grasping hand.
Kaela smiles softly, with an air of self-assurance. "Father will know what to do," she signs.
The sky has clouded over entirely now. The sun cannot be seen. Flashes of lightning dance across the sky, but still there is no thunder. However, while the skies are silent, the city below is no longer. There are cries and shouts – evidently NOT from the cheetahs – and some people are running, cheetah and servant alike. From whence to where or why, however, it is not entirely evident. No rains come to drive them indoors.
Kaela stands, setting the sitar to the side, and slowly moves over towards the window. "What is happening?" she queries of the older raccoon.
The raccoon speaks something in a tongue Kaela does not understand, but then he bows his head and signs an apology. "I do not know, your Highness."
Kaela frowns slightly, her face taking on a tinge of worry. "Father will know what to do," she repeats.
Suddenly, the spires of the palace jolt and drop, as if the earth beneath the palace were shaking. A throbbing, droning noise can be heard in the distance, as the wind picks up in intensity, howling as it whips through the canyon.
A loud, guttural roar echoes through the canyon, as the pinnacles shake and then sink beneath sight, obscured by the interposing buildings.
The raccoon gasps, exclaiming something in that unknown tongue of his.
Kaela's eyes widen. Father! She moves right up to the window and stares out towards where the towers used to be. She gapes in shock at that empty space, her mouth half-open.
The lightning flashes more fiercely. The streets are cleared now. There is a loud rumbling noise that sounds as if the earth itself is shaking, though the only trembling to be felt is in the kit's own hands.
Kaela looks to the older raccoon, then back out the window. Her eyes are wide as saucers, but she manages to tremblingly sign, "Father will be fine. He always knows what to do." Though whether she's doing it for the raccoons to see, or simply to comfort herself by forming the words is difficult to tell.
The raccoon says something to his wife, then turns toward Kaela. He signs, "We must rush you out of the city. If anything has happened … to the royal family … there will be turmoil for sure!"
Kaela shakes her head quickly. "They're fine… they have to be all right… and if Father needs me… or Mother… "
The raccoon signs, "Did you not see? The palace must have collapsed!"
The raccoon gasps, as if another thought has struck him.
Kaela shakes her head insistantly, clinging to hope. "Only the towers… it must have been the winds… the palace is strong, it could not have fallen… "
But through the window … shouldn't the top dome be visible from here? But it clearly is not. A plume of smoke rises from where the palace should be.
Kaela swallows hard, looking to the raccoons, tears welling in her eyes. "They must be all right," she signs.
The raccoon signs firmly, "We must go." With that, he takes the cheetah girl by the arm and begins to pull her out of the house. The lady raccoon hurries behind, with an armful of hastily-gathered belongings.
Out on the street, the raccoon pulls Kaela along – away from the palace, away from the shouts and screams.
Kaela is dragged along, still in a state of shock. She mindlessly follows the raccoon, but her eyes are focused on the empty plume of smoke that marks the spot where the palace once stood…
A cheetah warrior stands across the street, watching in the direction of the palace in horror. An obsidian sword drops from his hand, shattering against the stones of the street. The cheetah immediately turns and bolts.
Kaela swallows and pauses, watching that cheetah soldier bolt and run. Looking back in the direction of the palace, she twists her arm free of the raccoon's grasp and begins to run back in that direction. He must be okay. Or maybe he's hurt, and nobody's there to help… or…
The raccoon calls out after Kaela, but it's in a language that the princess was never required to learn. His pace is no match for the fast sprint of the cheetah. The archway is ahead. Just ahead … and now past.
Kaela continues running as quickly as her feet will take her… through the courtyard and towards the staircase…
Before is the ruin of the temple, which has sunk into the earth. But that is not all. The stone has turned black … and it has warped. It is not broken, but it is as if it is a living thing, with glowing veins spreading out, with "blood" of coursing red light.
Kaela looks about, experiencing for only a moment a feeling of deja vu. Discarding the sensation, she hurries to the ruin and scrambles around it, searching for a way in.
Through the entry corridor, she can see the dining hall. She can see a cheetah – one of her father's most trusted Twelve – rushing through, trying to escape – something.
Kaela hurries in towards the cheetah, signing, "Is Father all right? Where is he?"
Suddenly, tendrils burst forth from the very stone, and bite into the cheetah's fur, enwrapping it … merging with it. The priest screams as he begins to sink down into the floor, his fur turning dull gray.
Shrieks and screams echo through the corridors. The walls – the floor beneath her – it's all alive!
The screaming priest thrusts out a hand. With a final sign, he manages to say, "RUN!"
Kaela's mouth opens in a silent scream and all her fur suddenly stands on end. She falls backwards and scrambles back a half meter.
The steps that should lead down to the courtyard … now lead slightly up. The palace is sinking! Outside, she can see the white-robed cheetah priests. They are making rapid signs with their hands – each one of them mirroring the actions of the one next to him, in an elaborate dance ritual.
The signs the priests outside make – they are signs of warding – it is as if they are fighting the great beast that the palace has become, with all the magic they can summon. The air crackles with magical energy.
The corridor convulses and jolts in a way totally unbecoming of solid stone.
Kaela looks out at the priests circling the temple… then in at the palace… Scrabbling back to her feet, she steels herself and moves to the entrance of the temple, trying to summon up enough courage to enter and find her father… who no doubt is trapped and in need of aid somewhere inside…
Memories flash back – memories that cannot be those of this princess. Memories of a young slave girl, forced to follow a greedy poodle into an ancient ruin, toward certain doom.
Here it is, all around here. The glassy veins, with glowing red running through them. The stone beings who are melting into the stone, caught in shrieks of agony as their lives – their very identities – are stolen from them.
And ahead … a light. Through the corridor, a light that pulsates and throbs … like a heartbeat.
Kaela pushes her way into the passageway, steadying herself against the convulsing walls with her hands. The light… it must be her father… he found a torch, and is on the way out…
The passage is becoming more round here. Through the circular doorway, the floor is covered with tendrils of black. Beyond is a great, gigantic chamber. This should have contained many floors of many rooms, but it is as if a great mass has been cut out from the heart of the building.
In the center of the great hall stands Kaela's father on a pedestal, glowing with an internal light. His robes are torn, tendrils running out from his body to the floor and stretching out to the walls and ceiling.
He's laughing. His eyes are wild with power, and … he's laughing.
Kaela skids to a stop. She makes an exaggerated gesture with her hands. "Father!"
His glowing eyes turn toward Kaela. His hands move. "I have done it, Emerald-Eyes. I have achieved immortality! I am a GOD!"
Kaela's eyes widen as she sees the tendrils. She hurries to his side, her eyes wide and frightened. She signs, "The palace… it's destroyed… we must go… " She reaches and tries to pull one of the tendrils from her father.
A cry reaches Kaela's ears. She sees a face rising from the tendrils. Her mother! For a moment, their eyes meet, but the eyes soon become lifeless, the fur turning to stone, the face sinking as it is overcome by the writing black tentacles that cover the floor … and squirm around Kaela's feet.
The Priest-King only laughs – his laughter coming not only from his throat, but from the walls of the chamber. His chest begins to swell, his fine robes and vestments tearing even more. His head cranes back at what should be a painful angle.
Kaela begins to shudder. Her hands work to form words, but they're shaking far too much for their signs to be recognizable. Instead, she just struggles to free her father from the tendrils that are attacking him…
More tendrils sprout from the body, shooting outward, joining the floor and walls. Suddenly … the body explodes outward, rising up toward the ceiling with an unearthly roar.
In split seconds, in the place of the Priest-King is a glowing column intertwined with an elongated, gigantic skeleton that hints at what once was a proud feline. Glowing orbs of all colors move through glassy tubes that run from floor to ceiling … and writhing tendrils radiate outward, making more connections to the ceiling, walls and floor.
Kaela's cheekfur has become matted from tears, and again she issues a silent scream. She stands totally still for a moment or two, just staring at that spot where her father had been up until a moment before. What to do? Her father is dead. Her mother is dead. Her whole family is probably gone. The temple has fallen… Run. The raccoons were right; run. Turning, she bolts back through the passageway she entered through
The passageway ahead begins to close – three triangular shapes coming from the walls. But the cheetah slips through just in time, before they snap shut. The way is lit by the pulsing veins in the walls. The air is filled with screams of anguish and the resonant laughter of the mad priest-mage.
Ahead – light. Not sunlight, but the dim light that comes through the clouds that have blanketed the sky … brightened by frequent flashes of silent lightning.
Kaela is guided almost solely by instinct as she runs through the darkened passageway, her vision too blurred by tears to be of any use in this dim light…
A vein begins to swell near Kaela's feet … but suddenly, it is driven back into the stone, as if an invisible hand were pushing the floor back into the form it ought to be.
As Kaela reaches the steps, they twist and bob around her, but she manages still to find footing, to propel her past the priests in the outer ring. They are still engaged in their ritual and dance, but their forms are beginning to warp with the magic they wield. So too is a ring of reality at the edge of the palace. The stone itself contorts and twists like putty under the stress of the magic being unleashed in a battle of wills.
Workers in the courtyard are furiously digging up the stone tiles around the palace, piling them away, while tendrils reach out and meld themselves with any stone surface they encounter. However, the tendrils stop as soon as they reach the barrier formed by the priests in white and their magical dance.
Kaela continues running without direction. She blindly runs through the city streets, her only goal being to put herself so far away… so far that… that what? That she won't remember…
Just as Kaela flees to the archway, she catches out of the corner of her blurred vision – can she really SEE it through her tears, or somehow SENSE it? – a transformation that takes place, as the priests all finish their dance. They each raise one hand into the air, half of them facing in, half facing out.
Their forms waver and warp … leaving stone monuments in their places. Monuments each shaped like a hand cupped in a sign of warding. Monuments that form a magical ring around the palace to bid that within to stay inside … and those without to stay outside.
A cheetah barely older than Kaela, wearing the robes of an acolyte, and his head hair shaved except for a single black braid, rushes up to her.
Kaela looks up at the cheetah, her eyes still full of tears. Her knees have become weak, and her steps are less quick, more labored…
The cheetah's eyes go wide. He bows his head quickly, and signs, "Your Highness!" He looks about, then grabs her arm, and pulls her along, rushing down the street, away from the palace.
Kaela allows herself to be led by the cheetah, stumbling slightly as she works to keep up.
As the two cheetahs run, Kaela notices a pendant hanging from the young acolyte's neck. It looks like a four-pointed star with an upward-turned crescent at its bottom, and the whole symbol surrounded by a larger four-pointed star.
They at last pause on a rocky path that runs along the canyon, not often used. They pause, regaining their breath for just a bit, as the palace is out of sight.
Kaela pants quietly, her eyes still downcast. Her hands numbly sign, "Gone… everything's gone… "
The acolyte at first nods, and adds, "The Twelve-Times-Twelve. They realized the ceremony had gone awry. They sought to contain it. But now … they are all gone. All the finest priest-mages of our empire … gone. Who will rule?" He looks to Kaela. He signs, "Only you remain."
The kit's vision gets cloudier. And darker. The sounds seem less distinct … except for the howling of the wind.
Her eyes are closed, as she lays on her side. The wind fills her ears, though it does not touch her. As if she were inside a tent, and the winds were brushing against its sides.
Kaela continues silently sobbing for several moments, her shoulders shaking.
In a fleeting vision, the flicking of hands forms an echo. "Only you remain, Emerald-Eyes." But her shoulders are not held by a cheetah cub acolyte. She is lying on a bedroll, tangled in the covers.
Kaela sits bolt upright, gasping. Then as memory floods back to her, she slowly lays back down, curls into a tight little ball on her side as though she were a much younger kit than she is, and is wracked by another fit of sobs.
However, it was all just a dream, wasn't it? Her real mother is alive and well, back in Rephidim. And her father is off on one of those crazy expeditions that Lord Titus is always sending him on, this time to one of the Poles, or whatnot.
It was just a dream…
