by T M Caruana
“How do we avoid you becoming a tiger permanently?” I asked, wanting to reassure him that I loved him unconditionally. It was the only thing I was actually sure of right now.
“You’re as stubborn as ever.”
Sweat had begun to drain from his upper body that glistened in the sun and it made him look even more sensual than before. The smile that chased away his worries made me want to jump off the horse and throw myself into his arms, but it wasn’t the time to let emotions run amok.
“I will try my best not to turn into a tiger and, if I do, remind me of who I am and our love. Only willpower can determine the fate of a tiger.”
He looked at me, waiting for me to argue his fate. My sudden gasps showed my desperate thoughts. They were about the prophecy again and the words that read: ‘To slay the tiger that doth live by slaughter.’ He had already thought of the same idea and he had probably already understood how upset I would be, as he knew that he had been drinking the tiger blood. That was why his poetry wasn’t describing a happy ending together. The witch wanted tiger blood for her spell and hadn’t previously been able to get hold of the blood from Cezar and now Tarus was easier prey. She wouldn’t hesitate to slaughter him to take his blood or make someone…anyone else execute him for her. Anyone could be a threat to him and he would forever have to look over his shoulder. He also knew how I felt about prophecies. It must have been the reason why he had spent an endless amount of time to add his own prophecy.
“I promise,” I whispered softly, my voice full of apprehension, trying not to let it sound like a death sentence.
Those were the last words spoken about tigers. The other topics of conversation during the trip were more light-hearted. They were mostly stories about memories from our joint past. I liked the stories; I couldn’t remember them, but they were familiar in some way and it felt like I had created the memories all over again from his explanations. The last bit of the journey, Tarus felt better and sat behind me, giving me the chance to lean my body against his, whilst he kept his arms around me with a firm grip on the reins. Nirvana couldn’t even be as perfect as this moment. I wouldn’t care if I were to die now; I had already experienced the most powerful feeling in the world.
<><><>
It had taken us almost all day to walk slowly towards the castle and dusk had fallen when the horse came to a halt beside the others in the small stables, behind the right wing, next to the castle.
“Are you ready?”
He held out his hand toward me, and this time I was aware of how hot he could be, but had forgotten what it reminded me of. We walked into the castle together. Hand in hand, openly, so that everyone could see the decision I had taken without waiting for the return of my memory and they would all probably disagree. The breath that filled my lungs this time was a little too cool and dizziness deceived my eyes causing a blurred double vision, or was the dizziness a side effect of his love? I could have stayed with Tarus in the stable all night, waiting until the morning, but he insisted that we shouldn’t waste any more time. I could see many faults in this sentence: one being that time spent with Tarus couldn’t at all be categorised as a waste of time. Although I couldn’t agree with his choice of words, I understood what he meant. I bit my lip anxiously. I must stop before it was completely chewed. His hand was warmly locked with mine and I stopped my reflexes from twitching it out.
After our return to Pixi, Hunter had been relieved of his leadership duty by Noah so he didn’t seem worried when he registered my arrival together with Tarus. I could only see joy in his eyes. I couldn’t read the rest of his feelings though, it seemed that my powers still worked selectively and mostly on Tarus…or maybe it was because his feelings were more open. However, I had never seen such a wounded facial expression from anyone in my entire life as I saw on Noah. It hurt to have to see it. It had almost felt unnecessary to have to prove my love for Tarus openly. Everyone already knew about it in secret, even Noah.
His eyes locked onto us angrily and then the anger faded. Something died in him. His shoulders slumped and his back hunched as he turned away from us. He looked up at the ceiling as if he were trying to gain strength from a higher power.
The others were already in a semicircle around us. No one commented on our joined hands. Hunter introduced me to his wife, which was a little strange since I knew that I had grown up with her as my sister, and it had been Nina who had introduced Hunter to me once. Besides, I had already met her before I had gone to Medi with Noah, but Hunter wasn’t present at the time so I listened to his presentation. She was as sweet as he had described her with blonde hair, blue-violet eyes and a magical smile from her rosy lips, which made her talkative welcoming seem more familiar than normal, given the situation. After a while, I noticed that Kora wasn’t there. Although I wasn’t really missing her assertiveness, I was curious as to what had taken place in our absence.
“Where is Kora?” I asked Hunter, who I still treated as the group’s leader even when both Noah and Nina were there.
“She went to Angi to sort out their family situation and to try to organise an army,” explained Hunter, obviously surprised that I had noticed she was absent.
Noah must have told him about the misunderstanding over the kiss and gathered she wasn’t my favourite person. Tarus looked offended by the attention I had given Hunter and tried to regain some control over the discussion.
“So what happens now? Have you planned a strategy?”
His voice was more arrogant than excited about resolving the next puzzle. Hunter had clearly understood his attempt to reclaim power and turned to Noah who still stood and sulked a bit further away. It was hard to tell if his subservience to Noah was out of respect or because he didn’t want to provide information about their upcoming dangerous missions. His eyes wandered slowly back to Tarus, and then on to me before settling on the others. It appeared that he was looking for a scapegoat, who would be hit by Tarus’s wrath after having explained the next plan.
As I also let my own eyes circle the room in turn, I noticed how close Michael was to Katrona. It wasn’t strange in itself, just unexpected. They came from the same world, of which Katrona had limited experience after her imprisonment on Pixi, so Michael must have been a great comfort to her. The silence didn’t last long; as it was Leo who knew Tarus the best out of all of them, he felt obliged to take action.
“We assume that the blue power stone is on Vati.”
He didn’t say more as Tarus wasn’t stupid and would quickly understand what that meant.
“No, never…no…Susy stays here!”
Panic raged through his shaking body and turned into anger. His teeth locked and he balled his hand into fists.
“It’s alright Tarus. I’m going with them, nothing will happen to her,” Leo reassured him.
Everyone was speaking in riddles, which they understood and I could only make out a part of. I knew that I would be in danger and that Tarus wouldn’t be around to keep me behind his back.
“You know I can’t come to Vati, I won’t be able to defend her there.”
Tarus was furious. He hated the plan.
“As if you have done such a good job to protect her so far,” Noah sneered at him.
The accusation came as a blow below the belt and Tarus dropped my hand to rush towards Noah who in turn drew his sword. Tarus wouldn’t have a chance against Noah’s strength and speed. Tarus’s pride would be his weakness. Despite his disadvantage, he continued to race towards Noah, his body vibrating as he ran. Before he reached Noah, he had made a complete transformation that made all four legs of the giant tiger increase the speed to a threatening attack. This would even the odds. A blow with his claws on Noah’s body would tear him into pieces. However, the situation wasn’t about good odds, it was about the survival of both parties. Where I found my incredible supernatural speeds from, I don’t know, but I ran and stood between them with my hands stretched out in opposite directions to separate the two.
“Stop
it!” I screamed as loud as I could and my voice echoed in the great castle hall.
I hadn’t forgotten my promise either. I grip Tarus’s tiger head in both my hands and looked deep into his beautiful emerald eyes.
“Don’t forget who you are. You don’t want to be a tiger for the rest of your life. Come back to me right away.”
Strangely enough, I wasn’t a bit afraid. The gigantic wild tiger body could easily tear me to pieces in just a few seconds, but I trusted him. I relied on the feelings he had for me, although I couldn’t feel them in his tiger guise. His tail wagged back and forth in irritation and his sad eyes were half focused on me and half on Noah. His right paw lifted off the ground and I saw it start to swing. In seconds I thought about whether this was the end of everything that we had gone through; would his animal instincts prevail over his sanity? I didn’t put up a finger to defend myself and just closed my eyes, still with his head firmly in my hands. He placed his paw gently; like a cotton ball, around my back and pulled me close. Before I was directly against his body, he was back in his human form with me pressed hard against him, his cheek against my forehead and his big arms around me like a shield from the world. Noah, who stood behind me, closer than before to protect me from the attack, would barely be able to see me in Tarus’s embracing grip.
“If I lose you, I lose everything I care about. Stay close to Leo,” Tarus murmured softly.
Without giving me any choice or even the ability to give a satisfactory answer, he disappeared into the sky with a dragon shriek that made us all to cover our ears.
“Tarus!” I shouted after him, rushing to the window.
I didn’t want him to leave me like this. I hadn’t said my goodbyes and was desperate for him to stay. What if it was the last time I ever saw him? His screams echoed across the city. The others’ planning was drowned out by my despair as I watched the dragon disappear further and further away. I wanted to scream after him again as loud as I could, but it would only upset the town’s people. It was clear that he wouldn’t come back.
“You must hurry up. You have to travel tonight whilst it’s dark. Leo isn’t exactly hailed as a hero on Vati.”
Noah’s orders didn’t impress Leo who gave him an angry glance. Noah hadn’t exactly made himself popular since his return and hadn’t been very diplomatic. In addition, Leo was on Tarus’s side even before the kidnapping. I couldn’t help thinking that their friendship would be different now, with Tarus containing tiger blood, nor could I ignore the fact that Noah’s actions were partly my fault. Being deeply hurt by someone you love, a soulmate in addition, must complicate matters.
Noah gave Michael and Katrona the yellow stone, which actually rightfully belonged to Medi and which was attached to the key that I had received from Vic. I wanted to object, but felt that it wasn’t the right time. He then gave Samuel’s indigo stone to Leo, which must have been a random choice. Samuel had been very quiet during the whole thing and didn’t make any objection. I felt mostly too tired to ride back and forth to the cave and wished there was a faster way.
“Nina will show you to your room where you can change. Michael, Katrona and Leo will meet you down here when you are ready,” Noah instructed.
I hadn’t even thought about what I had on me, but a shower and change of clothes would be nice.
“Won’t you come with us?” I asked.
Noah smiled, seeming pleased to have been asked, but also guilty about not being able to accompany us in the quest. I couldn’t help but wonder whether the decision had been taken before I had chosen to stay with Tarus in the cave or afterwards when I had confirmed our love in public. Whatever the reason, it didn’t seem he would change his mind. It was probably a habit he had adopted to be able to live with me, because I was so stubborn. I was happy that he had spared me his sermon about how dangerous and inappropriate Tarus was for me.
“It’s unnecessary to hold more power stones in the vicinity of Eutychia and I also want to stay here to protect my people in case Nomnat’s army were to attack before you return,” Noah explained.
Wisely chosen words made his meaning obvious and I looked at Hunter to see if he concurred. Hunter was the person I was closest to, and I would have felt safer if he came along. His eyes never met mine and were resting lovingly on his wife as if he had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. I was glad that Michael was coming at least. Katrona was also the person I would have chosen by my side. She was my best friend and I trusted her completely. Although she had been close to Noah for a long time, she had such high integrity that she would never confuse where her loyalty lay. The roles were probably reversed when Noah confided in her. She really had a tough job as a mediator. I was happy that she also seemed to have found something in Michael. Maybe it could lead to a romance between them. They were the same age; at least I thought so, they were as equally light-hearted and they came from the same world. I was reminded of the phrase ‘great minds think alike’, but didn’t want to linger on it because Tarus wasn’t at all like me. I saw that Noah stood erect to start his preaching; this was it, I couldn’t escape it.
“Susy, you’re inquisitive and you are stubborn, but this time you must listen to what Tarus said. Stay close to Leo, he’s the only one who can protect you; you and Katrona are the most important women in my life.”
The preaching wasn’t like anything I had expected. That he agreed with Tarus must have been a move to get my attention, rather than admit that Tarus might somehow be right. He had discovered how effective the strategy was and why should he change a winning tactic?
“Katrona and I will be there to protect you and heal you if needed, but if we are beneath the surface, our powers won’t work,” Michael said, yet sounded a bit nervous.
Michael probably wasn’t used to being in a place where his powers wouldn’t work. Leo hadn’t said anything yet about his world. He stood silent and it reminded me that there was still a lot that I didn’t know about him. Everyone had avoided telling me about his past and I was discouraged from holding long discussions with him. How could I get to know him better if I couldn’t communicate with him? He had always behaved honestly, fairly and especially, protectively. I couldn’t understand what was such a secret. I had almost forgotten the event on Medi with Pallas and was about to tell him when Noah gave me an angry look with furrowed brows, gently shaking his head. I wonder why he didn’t want me to say anything; maybe he would try going to Medi to save Pallas from the Oracle’s train. Whatever the reason was, it could always wait until we got back.
The trip to the cave felt longer than previously. Katrona and Michael had ridden a few metres ahead, laughing all the way and I could make out Michael’s attempts to impress her from the odd wild arm gesture, pointing and, at one point, he was even standing up on the horse’s back. I rode quietly next to Leo as he scanned the area around us for danger with his deep blue eyes. I was sure that a fly wouldn’t even have a chance to attack me during Leo’s guard. It made the journey safe, but not enjoyable. I considered catching up with Katrona and Michael, but I didn’t want to disturb them, nor did I want to be insensitive by leaving Leo. His shirt was unbuttoned, which reminded me of Pallas’s nudity. I was glad that I didn’t feel as excited about Leo’s prominent muscles as I did about Tarus’s, which were equally impressive. It made me think of Tarus then, who had left me so abruptly. He had left, as he wasn’t very good at handling his temperament. I didn’t want my disappointment to show, but I think Leo already knew the reason for my gloom.
<><><>
Vati wasn’t at all like I had imagined it to be. Atlantis was only a small part in the middle of the world. From the core of Atlantis, pontoons stretched out in the form of walkways and the city was half above and half below the water’s surface. The buildings were bright white with the occasional golden domes here and there. The amazing city wasn’t destroyed or in ruins. It was full of life and featured impressive architecture. Everything was surrounded by a vast ocean that stretched as far as
the eye could see, and gave off a fresh sea smell that would probably be evident during our entire stay.
The sunset was peeking out from behind the reddish-pink clouds, creating a horizontal line behind the main building – Atlantis Palace. It was there, deep inside the city in the middle of Atlantis, where Triton had his throne. But we weren’t going there, we would avoid any unwanted attention.
The tower we were in had no wallpaper and no pictures, and was completely bare of anything inside the circular stonewall. A sea breeze penetrated the room and swept cold air over my skin.
Katrona gave me a hard nudge with her elbow to refocus my eyes on Leo. A woman had come running in and had thrown herself into his arms, not appearing to think for a second about whether she would be turned away and then she held him tightly. He had even given her a kiss on the forehead. Had I been wrong about Pallas? Wasn’t she the only woman he had ever loved?
“Myra, I’m glad to see you unharmed.”
Leo’s voice was a whisper to Myra, but echoed in the emptiness, making the words clearly distinguishable to Katrona and I. The bond between them was still strong. This appeared to be the first time they saw each other since my kidnapping twenty-five years ago, not knowing if they were alive or when they would meet again.
“I’m glad you are unharmed,” answered the woman, meaning that it was he who had been the person in danger and she wiped tears from both eyes with a gentle laugh.
Not surprisingly, she knew who I was and came towards me to also throw herself in my arms.
“Oh Susy, you’re alive!”
Her voice was familiar and steady. Her heart, it seemed, was sincerely lightened over my safe being. We must have been good friends. I looked at her in surprise, as Katrona watched somewhat enviously, with a stiff face and her arms crossed. Leo took Myra’s hand and pulled her toward him.