The Cat Who Knew How to Cry

9. SINGED CATS (part 3)

"Don't just stand there like a bunch of stiffs! That thing is much more dangerous than I am! If you don't destroy it, it'll obliterate half of Rual!" Anar vowed grimly.

In truth, he was no less dumbfounded than they were. After all, standing before him was ar'shant'taash! The mythical monster from his favorite book had somehow thrust itself out of the realm of fantasy and into reality! Gnats flashed brightly and fell like scarlet sparks at taash's... feet? Tentacles? Tail spikes? Now it looked like a translucent caterpillar, lifting itself up on its tail in the midst of a fire lily, whose long, narrow petals licked the ground like burning tongues, scorching the grass and melting stones.

"Don't listen to him! You have the queen's orders!" Er yelled, struggling to make himself heard over the roar of the flames.

Anar threw his hands forward – a powerful gust of wind hit Er in the gut like a battering ram, sending him flying toward taash. The sorcerer's protective sphere turned bright red, blinked and fell away. Gritting his teeth, Anar clenched his fist, turning his enemy's neck vertebrae into whitish dust.

Taash didn't pay the fussing feline sorcerers any mind. It was undergoing an entrancing metamorphosis. New segments kept appearing on its body; its sides were all squirming and shaking, as if an entire fumbling brood of larvae was hidden inside. Then, with a soft hiss, the shell burst. Writhing in a stringy snake dance, taash proceeded to sprout paws – eight graceful, deadly limbs. Agile and powerful. Dark at the base, toward the tips they became dazzling amber needles.

The two mages finally determined their mutual goal. Leaping forward at taash, they rained a waterfall of sharp ice crystals down on it. The monster's flesh grew turbid, in some places even covered with a dark crust, but in the next moment taash shook itself, opened wide its oval maw and breathed such blistering heat upon the mages that their flesh immediately charred and turned grey, with ears and tails burning right off. The most awful, shameful death – the biggest nightmare of any Rualite – was to be buried without the main symbols of their Cat's Essence...

The rest of the sorcerers were huddling together, pronouncing some spell in unison. But taash did not let them finish. Swinging its paws sharply, the tips of its amber claws broke off with a crack and darted towards the cats. There was no salvation: one, two, three mages burst into flames like rag dolls. There was the stench of scorched fur. New ice projectiles flew at taash, but it seemed not to notice them, continuing to hurl tiny blobs of fire and turning its enemies into statues of compressed ash. Gusts of wind wrenched grey flakes from them like shreds of hay from a hay stack...

Forgetting about Anar, the sorcerers had to retreat to the cover of the nearest colonnade. For reasons unknown, taash did not pursue them.

Anar knew that in the next few minutes, perhaps even sooner, the mages would recover and destroy taash collectively. He mustn't miss his chance. He gathered his strength and prepared to go all out. He shifted his hind legs, choosing the best position from which to spring. A tense silence reigned. The singed tamei branches cracked quietly; the singed mages – those that were still alive – groaned. Anar had the bizarre impression that he could hear his own ears turning. He pushed off the ground mightily, shot over the bush and ran. Time dragged on mercilessly, as if Anar had been hit by the Viscous Air spell. It seemed like an eternity passed between the time one paw lifted off the ground and another touched down...

Suddenly taash came to life. Lightning-quick, he slid towards Anar, and upon catching up with him, let out a loud, low, vibrating sound. The glade shuddered, something came crashing down, and the corpse of the nearest mage scattered into ashes. Anar halted so suddenly, for a moment his hind paws were ahead of his front ones. He skidded to the right, and dug his claws into the sod with all his might. Taash loomed over him, the furnace of its mouth slightly opened, enormous and terrifyingly calm. But Anar, hypnotized by the rainbow of flickering flames, couldn't move an inch. Amidst the raging, roaring fire, he seemed to glimpse the face of an old dark-skinned man, grinning slyly and winking. Anar had seen that face before, in the same place he saw taash – on an illustration in his book. The old man – a teacher of the book's protagonists – was kidnapped from Agadar Academy by "evil glowworms" and ultimately rescued from their lair by ar'shant'taash...