Path Into the Darkness
Part Four: WilyKit
Chapter Five: Possession
WilyKit did not sleep well that night, though that time it was not because of any direct interference on the part of Mumm-Ra or Torlei. Instead she was plagued with yet another troubling nightmare. It was not the jungle nightmare this time, nor the one about her toys. The dream she had that night was more unsettling, perhaps because it was based in memory instead of fear. The sleeping WilyKit tossed and turned uneasily as her dream self found herself back in her early childhood home once again—Old Cat’s Lair.
WilyKit was a small child again, exploring, like she always enjoyed doing when she was little. She had ventured into one of the hallways she was not really supposed to be in, a hallway that had a locked room at the end of the hall. The locked room was the reason the hallway was off-limits to the Lair children—it was the weapons room. “Not supposed to go in there, that’s no place for children,” she giggled to herself, repeating the statement Snarf Clarece had always given her about that area of the Lair. But that day, Clarece was busy. WilyKat had a doctor’s appointment, which left her under the watch of Lion-O’s caretaker, Snarf Osbert, who was off cooking dinner.
She looked over to her left and saw Lion-O, a cub like herself, standing there with an unsure expression on his face.
“I dunno, Daddy and Jaga said we can’t go in there,” the younger cub said apprehensively.
“You’re such a baby, Lion-O,” WilyKit replied in a condescending tone. “I bet you’re afraid.”
“I’m not afraid,” Lion-O protested hotly. “But... we can’t go in there. We’re not allowed. We’ll get in trouble!”
“Scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat, you’re afraid of Sna-arf!” WilyKit taunted him.
Lion-O scowled. “Shut up! I’m not scared!”
“Prove it then. Come in with me,” she challenged.
The lion cub was clearly nervous about it, but he did not want to let on that he was afraid of punishment, or whatever was behind the door. “Well... ok,” he agreed hesitantly.
Together the two cubs crept down the hallway, sneaking like thieves in the shadows, and pushed on the door. To their surprise, it was not locked, as they expected it to be, and it creaked open, allowing them entrance. The two cubs exchanged looks and nervously crept in, and closed the door behind them. When they stepped inside, a motion-sensitive light automatically switched on, illuminating the room and all the interesting weapons it contained. The children could see a vast array of swords, blades, whips, blunts, maces, staves, and other assorted weaponry carefully hanging or placed in their proper spots. The room was free of dust and well cared for, almost like a museum, and the two cubs were fascinated by it.
What caught their attention most of all, however, was a beautifully sculpted sword that rested in an elegant metal holder upon a dais in the center of the room. The mystic blade gleamed in the electric light, and a polished stone that bore a resemblance to a cat’s eye that rested in the hilt seemed to shine with an aura of its own. “Wow! Look at that!” WilyKit gasped. “C’mon Lion-O, let’s look at it!” she exclaimed, running over to it.
Equally curious, Lion-O followed her. The young lion’s eyes widened as he beheld the magnificent sword. He had never seen anything like it, and it seemed to him almost magical, like a weapon from a fairy tale or other amazing story. He wondered if that was the sword his father and Jaga used to defend Thundera against evil, and wondered if he would ever have such a sword of his own.
The sight of the mighty Sword of Omens also enchanted WilyKit, and she climbed up onto platform so she could pick it up and hold it. Being a year older than Lion-O, she had longer limbs and better coordination, so she was easily able to get to it before he could. She picked the ancient blade up in her hands, and watched the light play off the metal. She could sense a warm glow within the closed Eye of Thundera, and she knew it to be magical in some way. Then, in an imitation of being a brave warrior Thundercat, she used all her strength to lift the sword. She let out a playful battle cry of “Ho!” just like she had heard the Thundercats did when they fought battles.
Unfortunately the young cub’s balance was thrown by weight of the mighty sword, and she toppled off the platform with the blade in her hands. WilyKit kicked her leg kicked wildly as she fell, and knocked the sword holder off of the dais and onto the floor with a resounding crash. She landed painfully on top of Lion-O, and the Sword of Omens, still in her hand, had landed in such a way that the blade was pinned across the lion cub’s throat. Though it did not cut him or hurt him in any way, aside from scaring him, the sight was still enough to cause Snarf Osbert, who had come to investigate the crash, to let out a horrified scream loud enough to wake the dead.
In a flash Tygra, Claudus, and Jaga were in the room, and Snarf Clarece padded in a few moments later, apparently back from her day trip with WilyKat. Snarf immediately took the Sword of Omens away from the female cub and roughly shoved her off of Lion-O, so he could lift him up and comfort him. “What on Thundera did you think you were doing?” the angry snarf hollered at WilyKit. “Don’t you know you could have hurt Lion-O with that? And what were you two doing in here, anyway?” he demanded. “You both know you’re not permitted to come into this room for any reason! Snarf, snarf, Lion-O is such a good boy, and you and your brother are such bad influences on him!”
“That’s enough, Osbert!” Snarf Clarece squawked. “WilyKit may have disobeyed us and gotten too rowdy, but she’d never hurt Lion-O on purpose, and you know it! She’s not a bad influence, snarf snarf! Both children know better than to be in here!”
“Hah!” Snarf retorted argumentatively. “Lion-O would never disobey one of our rules on his own, not unless he was encouraged,” he insisted, glaring at WilyKit. “Rowr, not like that girl and her brother, who have done nothing but cause trouble since the day they were born!”
WilyKit burst into tears at Snarf’s harsh words. “I didn’t mean to hurt him! We were playing!”
Jaga bent over and gently took the Sword of Omens from Snarf, and stood the holder back and placed the sword back where it belonged. “Clarece, Snarf, please take the children out of here for now. I’ll take care of this.”
Tygra and Claudus then shuffled everyone out into the hallway, where Snarf and Clarece were now in a shouting match to end all shouting matches—which was not unusual for the pair of snarfs. After each snarf had sent the child they were responsible for to their rooms, they began go at each other with a no-holds-barred verbal fight, as Clarece refused to let Snarf’s comment about WilyKit being a bad influence go. “Rowr, you’re nothing but an uptight, nit-picking loudmouthed buffoon, Osbert!” she shouted shrilly, her snarven voice carrying down the hallway.
“I may be uptight, but at least I can keep my charges out of trouble, unlike you with those sneaky twins, snarf snarf,” was the equally angry reply.
“Schnarf, if your Lion-O is such a golden boy who can do no wrong, why was he in the room with WilyKit then?” Clarece challenged him. “I thought your children didn’t misbehave, Osbert!”
Snarf yowled in outrage. “That’s because that brat’s misbehavior is rubbing off on him, snarf snarf! Just look at how she attacked him with, the Sword of Omens no less! Rowr, and you have the nerve to say she’s good? She’s everything that Sibera predicted she’d turn out to be! You just saw the Birth Hour of Darkness in action!”
WilyKit crept out of her room and hid just around the corner to hear the rest of the argument. She sniffled to herself, sad and ashamed, when she heard Snarf say what a bad influence she was. “I didn’t mean to hurt him,” she murmured. “I’m not bad.”
Making his way back down the hallway, Claudus heard the muffled sob of the young cub around the corner. “WilyKit? Weren’t you told to go to your room?” he questioned. His tone was not accusatory, simply inquisitive.
“I’m sorry Lord Claudus,” she said apologetically. “I didn’t mean to hurt Lion-O. I was holding the sword and I fell,” she told him honestly, tears shining in her young eyes.
Claudus leaned down and picked up the upset child in an effort to comfort her. “I know you didn’t, WilyKit. I know you’re good,” he assured her. “Now Snarf and Clarece are right that you shouldn’t have gone into that room with the weapons,” he admonished her, “but I know you would never hurt Lion-O deliberately. Try not to take Snarf’s words to heart. He’s speaking in anger and not with his heart. We all know that my little girl could never do such a terrible thing.” Seconds after he spoke the words Claudus realized his slip, but no harm was done for no one but the young WilyKit had heard anyway. He then carried the cub to her room. Once he placed her onto her bed, he saw Clarece coming back down the hallway, apparently having left after refusing to speak another word to Snarf until he apologized for his rude behavior. Claudus greeted Clarece and gestured to WilyKit, crying on her bed, and then left the room without another word.
WilyKit sat up in bed again, her heart pounding. What a realistic dream that was, she thought, almost like it actually happened. But it didn’t happen, did it? Wasn’t it just a dream?
WilyKit concentrated hard as she searched the distant memories of her childhood—a grim reminder that they were more accessible than some of her recent ones, thanks to Darkail and Alluro. She could vaguely recall an incident from when she was very young where she had been caught sneaking into one of the Lair’s rooms that she wasn’t allowed in, and getting into some trouble for it. She had been lectured about touching things she was not supposed to. She also remembered she was not alone, and that someone was with her. But it seemed odd to her that it would have been Lion-O, for WilyKat was almost always her co-conspirator when it came to getting in trouble, or it was all three of them, in those days.
However there was one thing about the dream that made no sense to her whatsoever, and why she suspected the dream had to be imagination rather than memory. Why would Claudus have called her his little girl? She thought about that for a moment, and then concluded that if it was memory and he had said it, that the former Lord probably just felt fatherly towards all three of the children. After all, Snarf had said that sort of stuff about Lion-O all the time, and at times he still did. WilyKit did not remember Claudus all that well, but she did recall that he had always been fairly warm towards the children when he encountered them. That must be it, she decided. So why, then, did it leave her with such a feeling of unease?
It’s only a stupid dream, she chastised herself. It’s just the stress of the ghost attacks and the stuff about your memory loss eating at you, that’s all. Though that thought led her to wonder again why in the name of Jaga she would have had Darkail ask Alluro to do such a thing to her, anyway. What had she seen or done that was so awful that she would have willingly put herself through this nightmare instead?
A nagging fragment of the dream echoed in her mind again.
“Just look at how she attacked him with, the Sword of Omens no less! Rowr, and you have the nerve to say she’s good? She’s everything that Sibera predicted she’d turn out to be! You just saw the Birth Hour of Darkness in action!”
WilyKit crept out of her room and hid just around the corner to hear the rest of the argument. She sniffled to herself, sad and ashamed, when she heard Snarf say what a bad influence she was. “I didn’t mean to hurt him,” she murmured. “I’m not bad.”
“I’m not bad,” she repeated to herself, that time aloud. But she was no longer so sure that was true.
* * *
The gray and gloomy morning was a perfect match to the general mood at breakfast table. The same tense silence filled the room as it had after Alluro’s departure the night before, with nothing but casual “could you pass the bread?” or “hand me the coffee” comments being exchanged. Psiarik was quiet and sullen, apparently still as angry as he was the night before, while Selene made only the minimal necessary conversation, such as greetings and good mornings, as if she was avoiding saying anything that might aggravate the situation. Chilla was silent and stabbed at her food with rough motions as she ate it, taking her eyes off her plate only to shoot hateful stares at the Thunderian visitors or to occasionally glance at Alluro’s empty seat, although if anyone noticed her looking, she quickly looked away. Even Luna was unusually quiet, barely saying more than two words throughout the meal. Surprisingly, Ambassador Jackalman also kept his mouth shut, although it was hard to say whether that was because he had the good taste not to say anything, or simply because he couldn’t think of a good wisecrack to make.
After the excruciatingly tense breakfast ended, WilyKit excused herself and went back to her room by herself to think things over for a bit. That was just the opportunity that Mumm-Ra and Torlei were waiting for, and they were quite pleased when they teleported themselves invisibly into her quarters. “It looks as though fortune smiles upon us this morning,” Torlei observed with a sneer. “Shall we take the worthless cat now, darling?”
“Nothing would give me greater pleasure, my dear.”
WilyKit was unaware that she was in danger until it was too late to do anything about it. She heard the bedroom door slam shut behind her as she stepped into the room, and when she turned, startled, she was horrified to see the lock click into place. “Oh, no,” she breathed, and ran to the door. Not surprisingly, it would not budge, and when she went to turn the lock, the metal burned her fingers. “Help!” she screamed, hoping that someone was within earshot. “They’ve got me!”
“Your cries for help will do you no good, Thundercat,” Mumm-Ra laughed in the same cold, sinister disembodied voice he had used in previous attacks. The undead mage then positioned himself behind her and ran his clammy, deathly cold hands along the length of her back. She squealed in disgust and wrenched herself away from him, but Mumm-Ra was able to catch up to her in a flash. Determined to force her into a fearful submission, he grabbed her roughly around the waist and threw her onto the bed with his all his might.
The Thundercat screamed as she fought in vain against the invisible force, and let out a grunt of pain as she was slammed roughly into the sheets of her bed. She rolled over to get her bearings, but suddenly she felt as though a terrible pressure—courtesy of a telekinetic field from the invisible Torlei—bearing down upon her to the point where movement was almost impossible. Mumm-Ra grinned with cruel pleasure when he saw her pinned helplessly against the mattress, and climbed onto the bed beside her. “You will submit this time,” he cackled in a voice colder than death.
“No,” she protested weakly, trying in vain to move away.
“Yes,” Mumm-Ra hissed, and drew back his hand. He brought it down with incredible force and struck her hard across the jaw, reddening the skin and making the very bone and muscle underneath ache from the impact. Before she could recover, he drew back his knee and brought it sharply into her chest with the same strength.
Trapped under the powerful force field, she could do nothing but take her tormentors’ assault and cry out, although no one was near enough to hear her cries and come to her aid that time. “Leave me alone,” she pleaded tearfully. “Let me go!”
“Let you go? Why would I let you go?” Mumm-Ra growled angrily. “You will pay for what you did, starting with your body.” With that he circled the fingers of his right hand around her throat and tightened his grip.
“No—stop—please,” she protested through gasps for breath, but off as the mummy increased the force behind his chokehold. She wriggled helplessly beneath him, unable to scream and barely able to breathe, as to her horror the thing that had her trapped began to take form. It was not Mumm-Ra’s natural form, of course, but one designed to do the job of scaring what remaining wits she had clear out of her. His body took the shape of the moldering, disgusting corpse that it appeared on his and Torlei’s first visitation to her.
She choked out a gasp of terror as she saw the rotting, fleshy hands and arms that held her down, incredibly strong despite their decaying state. She nearly gagged and choked on her own bile as he exhaled a foul, acidic breath of pure rot into her face. Mumm-Ra drew back his left hand and used his sharp, blackened fingernails to draw bloody trails down her side, causing her to feel intense tears of pain, as they sliced through her clothing and skin like they were no more than tissue.
By that point WilyKit was too terrified to be able to even form a scream, and her struggles lessened as the fear took over and her strength—futile as it was against the supernatural might of Mumm-Ra—gave out. The odor, intensified now to a sensation so vile it could only be described as concentrated raw sewage, burned her nose and eyes, and it was all she could do to stay conscious. “Make it stop, please,” she whimpered, barely able to even whisper the words.
Torlei heard her plea and took it as her cue to play up the “nice spirit” act. She did not release the force field immobilizing WilyKit, but she did lean over her on the bed alongside her evil partner, and whispered to the terrified Thundercat in a very sweet and gentle voice. “I can help you, WilyKit. Let me in.”
WilyKit tried to squirm away from the second presence, but was able only to turn her head an inch or so under the pressure of the telekinetic field. Mumm-Ra decided to make Torlei look even more inviting by contrast and smacked her face again so that her head faced the spot where his bride lay.
“He’s hurting you, and putting you in such pain,” Torlei lamented with false sympathy. “I can see what he’s putting you through, and I can stop it if you’ll only let me help,” she urged. “But I can’t do anything if you don’t let me in, let me inside you. I can drive that demon away so that he never bothers you again. I promise!”
“I don’t know,” WilyKit murmured, distracted enough by her fright that she had not noticed that Mumm-Ra released the pressure on her throat just enough to allow her to speak and give his deceitful bride the consent she needed. WilyKit stared into the void where she sensed the “good spirit” but saw nothing. “You can really make it stop?” she whispered hopefully.
“Oh yes,” Torlei answered, her voice full of mock sincerity and sympathy. The invisible ever-living then nodded to Mumm-Ra, silently indicating for him to give her just enough more convincing that she would not be able to resist the offer for help. Mumm-Ra was all too happy to do that, and he let out a sinister growl for the frightened Thundercat’s benefit. Still maintaining his rotting corpse form, he pressed his body tightly against that of the captive Thundercat, making sure she would feel the disgusting sensation of his clammy, decaying flesh against her own skin. He opened his mouth to reveal a disgusting, mold-covered tongue, dripping with foul and slimy saliva the color of phlegm, and bent over to lick her face.
Mumm-Ra’s theatrics worked exactly as the undead pair hoped. The second that WilyKit saw the tongue coming at her, she screamed in unmatched terror. “Make it stop! I don’t care what it takes, do whatever you want, just please make it go away!”
Torlei’s scarlet eyes glowed with a sinister light, although WilyKit could not see them do so. “You agree to let me in and help you, then?” she asked, her voice still disguised as that of the sweet and selfless helper.
“Yes,” she cried, broken and desperate.
Torlei’s invisible face twisted into a smug and victorious sneer, and she placed her cold spirit hands upon WilyKit’s head. She closed her eyes, focused with all her energy, and to her delight, was able to slide her astral spirit right into the willing Thundercat’s body. Within seconds she established primary control over it, pushing WilyKit’s consciousness to the recesses of her mind. The Thundercat’s physical features then twisted from an expression of terror to one more mirroring her own cruel amusement, and when Mumm-Ra saw that his bride had successfully taken over WilyKit’s body, he lapsed into a cackle that he did not bother to disguise. A similar laugh rose in Torlei’s newly acquired throat, and their mingled laughter soon filled and echoed throughout WilyKit’s quarters, only to be silenced when Mumm-Ra pressed his lips, reverted now from the corpse form to that of his own ever-living form, against hers in a dark kiss of victory.
The soul of WilyKit herself realized moments too late what a terrible mistake she had made in trusting the “good spirit”. As soon as Torlei entered her body, she felt an even more overwhelming presence of evil than she had felt while pinned beneath the demon, and she knew she had been tricked. She tried to force herself back into control of her body, but she did not know how to fight it, and no longer had the strength anyhow. Her will was broken, and that harsh truth was made painfully clear to her as she felt a painful shock, followed by what felt almost to be a physical blow that shook her very essence and sent it reeling. The world around her went black, and she felt herself spinning wildly out of control, falling through a dark void of nothingness. She flailed helplessly and did her best to hold on, but it was to no avail. When she landed, she saw nothing. She was thoroughly engulfed in a silent and lightless realm—the darkness had finally claimed her.
* * *
While WilyKit succumbed alone to her possession, WilyKat and Leonora were on their way to the female Thundercat’s room. After her abrupt departure from breakfast, they had conferred with the Lunatac royals and the group of them had decided it was a good idea to gather everyone up for a serious discussion on how they might tackle the escalating ghost problem. Thus far they had decided their best bet was to try and figure out exactly why the ghosts were angry, and Psiarik had volunteered to attempt to break Alluro’s mind block if WilyKit was willing. He was not sure he would be able to do it, as Alluro was a master at his craft, but they were determined to give it a try anyhow. Leonora was also prepared, carrying the Staff of Dera with her, in case the ghosts were to interrupt or strike again. It seemed logical to assume that any discussion about them would be likely to draw their spectral tormentors out.
The Thunderian pair had just rounded the corner and had almost reached WilyKit’s room when they heard a blood-curdling scream coming from within. “Oh no, they’re after her,” WilyKat panicked, already bolting for the door. Leonora followed, hot on his heels. When they reached the door, it would not open, and it was secure enough that they figured it had to be locked from the inside, as opposed to simply stuck. “WilyKit! It’s me, open up!” WilyKat shouted. To his alarm he heard no answer other than another scream.
Leonora winced at the shrill shriek, and suddenly felt incredibly drained and burdened by the auras of the ever-living sources of evil nearby. Their presences were so powerful and poisonous that it seemed to overpower everything else. “Something bad is happening to her, WilyKat,” Leonora stated urgently. “We have to get in there now. I think they’re trying to possess her!”
WilyKat pounded on the door again, and shouted for his sister. When a few seconds passed with no answer but a pitiful-sounding and weak cry, he decided he would get in any way he had to. “Stand back, Leonora, I’m breaking this door down,” he told the lioness. “Broken arm or not, that’s my sister in there!”
“I’ll help,” Leonora offered. “On three, let’s both charge it.”
WilyKat nodded. “One... two... three!” he shouted, and the two of them rushed forward in unison, crashing into the door with all their weight. However, it seemed that the evil presences in the room knew of their tactic, and just as their bodies impacted the door, the latch suddenly clicked and the door swung open normally, resulting in an embarrassing pile-up of the two Thunderians on the floor. WilyKat winced, as the fall had painfully jostled his bad arm. Leonora looked up and was able to catch a quick glance of a disgusting and terrifying apparition upon WilyKit’s bed, kneeling above her, but it faded from view before she could say anything. It appeared that whatever manifestation had just happened had simply stopped... or had it? While she saw nothing further, the lioness definitely sensed something unsettling about the room. Little did she know that Mumm-Ra was lurking invisibly, using his magic to conceal his presence again, watching the scene with great delight.
WilyKit sat up, disoriented and disheveled in appearance. WilyKat got to his feet and immediately joined her on the bed, hugging her tightly. While Leonora looked around the room, and WilyKit’s face could not be seen by either of them, a sinister smirk flashed across the female Thundertwin’s features for a brief moment. “Oh, thank goodness you got here so quickly, WilyKat,” the possessed WilyKit said. “And you too, Leonora,” she quickly added, using WilyKit’s awareness to get the name of the lioness spiritualist.
“You’re welcome,” Leonora answered, giving WilyKit a strange look. Although she could not place what, she felt that something was not right in the room yet.
WilyKat released his sister from the hug and looked at her scratches with concern in his eyes. “Sis, what happened? Did the ghost do this to you?”
“And more,” she answered. Torlei was sure to infuse her voice with enough of a frightened tone that WilyKat and the lioness would not get suspicious. “That hideous thing was on top of me and tried to lick me and enter my body… oh, it probably would have if you two hadn’t gotten here in time! I was so scared!”
“Thank Jaga we got here in time then,” was WilyKat’s relieved answer.
Leonora looked around the room thoughtfully, trying to place what felt so off about the atmosphere. “That doesn’t seem like their usual behavior, though, does it? Last night they weren’t intimidated by a whole room full of us. And this morning they ran from just me and WilyKat?”
Torlei eyed the Staff of Dera in Leonora held warily. She could sense that it had some sort of cleansing power, and it had an uncomfortable effect on her. That will be one of the first things to go, she decided. “Maybe that had something to do with it?” she suggested, gesturing to the staff. “You said it has power against spirits, right?”
WilyKat nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s gotta be it. They probably felt the energy from the Staff of Dera and took off! That thing is supposed to have incredible power, if it’s anywhere near as powerful as the Totem of Dera is for healing.”
The Staff of Dera, how inconvenient, Torlei thought. She searched WilyKit’s awareness for information on the artifact and the lioness and found out some troubling information. Firstly the lioness was of a clan called the Halerani that could sense spirits—likely the reason she had seen her and Mumm-Ra the night before—and the staff was a powerful tool for spiritual cleansing, and easily powerful enough to drive her out of her newly acquired body. The annoyed Torlei telepathically relayed a message to Mumm-Ra filling him in on the details. We have to get rid of the lioness, Mumm-Ra, she told him insistently. That staff is a threat to us.
Mumm-Ra’s evil chuckle echoed back in her mind. Don’t worry my dear. Just get WilyKat down to that little meeting the Lunatacs have planned, and I will deal with Leonora.
I will, darling, I will, she replied, and then flashed WilyKat a doe-eyed, grateful look. “I’m so glad you got here, WilyKat... but how did you know I needed you anyway? Did you hear me, or were you looking for me for something?”
“We were on our way up here,” he answered. “We heard the screams and came in. Actually, we talked with the others and thought that we should all get together and discuss the ghost problem, before it gets any worse.” He paused and looked around. “Although it’s gotten pretty bad already, so I’m not sure how much worse it could get. Anyway, Psiarik thinks he might be able to help get rid of the mind block that Alluro put on you. We were thinking that maybe if you were up to it and were willing, that we could give it a try, and figure out what exactly these ghosts are so angry about. Would you be up for that?”
She nodded. “I’d do anything to get my memory back.” Torlei searched WilyKit’s awareness again, wondering what it was exactly that Alluro had blocked in WilyKit’s mind. Perhaps it was something she could put to good use. Besides, she knew enough of her brother’s work to know how to break through his mind block. Mind control might not have been her specialty, but she knew enough about it to know how it worked, especially when the blocker was someone she knew very intimately for many years. Back in the days before she had died, she and he used to work as a team quite often, so she was confident she could get around his mind block with no trouble at all.
WilyKat smiled. “Great! Come on, let’s go and get it over with then. I’m sure you don’t want to wait any longer to remember than you have to,” he said, helping her to her feet.
The three of them stepped into the hallway, when Torlei turned to Leonora. The Staff of Dera’s presence became even more unpleasant as she stood closer to her, and it began to glow with a light luminance, although neither Leonora nor WilyKat noticed that. “Oh, Leonora, could you do me a little favor?” the possessed Thundercat asked.
“Sure,” Leonora replied. “What?”
“Could you maybe stay behind and search my room with your powers? That was where the ghosts were last, and although they’re gone, maybe you can get some information on whoever they were still.”
“I don’t know about that,” WilyKat said, looking back at the bed nervously. “They attacked you pretty viciously, I don’t like the idea of leaving anyone here alone with them.”
“But the Staff of Dera should protect her, right?”
Leonora nodded. “Oh yes, it can drive away evil spirits,” the lioness assured. “I’ll be fine, WilyKat. She’s right, we might never have a better chance than to sense something than while it’s still fresh in the air but while the spirits themselves are not here.”
“Be careful, Leo,” WilyKat urged, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “If you’re not back in a few minutes, we’re going to come looking for you.”
Leonora smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, they’re gone. I can’t even see any of them right now.” She walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, concentrating, as the two Thundercats departed down the hallway.
“Thanks again, Leonora!” the possessed WilyKit called out as she left. When WilyKat wasn’t looking, she smiled cruelly to herself once again. Scratch one nosy lioness, heh heh heh!
Once the twins had left, Leonora stretched out on the bed, relaxing and clearing her mind to open it up to any influences still lingering. She could still feel that oppressive sense of evil, that of the one she identified the night before as the demon, although she did not sense anything more than a trace of the dead Lunatac. As she lay there trying to focus, she was suddenly jolted out of her trance by what felt like a static charge from the Staff of Dera. She looked down, startled, and was shocked to see it glowing brightly. “What the...?” she murmured, only to be cut off by the ominous sound of the door slamming shut and the lock clicking back into place. “Oh no,” she gasped, suddenly struck with the terrible feeling that she had been drawn right into a trap.
“Oh, yes!” Mumm-Ra’s voice boomed throughout the room, confirming her fears. She whirled around and saw the frightening form of Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living towering above her; his blazing red eyes alit with fury. “You won’t be interfering with my plans again, lioness!” he growled ominously. “And that toy staff of yours will do nothing to me.”
“You… the demon,” she whispered hoarsely. Although she had seen ghosts all her life, she had never encountered such a horrifying concentration of evil as that of Mumm-Ra. “Who are you?” she demanded shakily. “Why are you doing these terrible things to WilyKit and the others here?”
Mumm-Ra laughed coldly. “I’m not quite what you think, Leonora. No, I am not an ancient demon. More like an ancient demon priest,” he said, baring his jagged teeth in a vicious smile. “Your boyfriend and his sister... before my dear bride got finished with her, that is... know me as Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living!”
“Dear gods of Thundera,” Leonora gasped in horror. She had heard the stories of Mumm-Ra from WilyKat, and that made her all the more frightened of him. She was confident that she could deal with a spirit or two, but not something like him. Not even the mighty Thundercats had an easy time against an undead creature such as he. “Mumm-Ra! But you’re not a ghost…”
Mumm-Ra approached the frightened lioness, who was rooted to the spot in fear. “That’s right, my dear, I’m not. I can play a convincing one with my magic, though, if I do say so myself,” he bragged, enjoying her reaction. “My partner, however, she is a bit more ghostly than I, and has to remain in spirit form without concentrating to keep her body intact. But now that she has taken over a Thundercat, that saves her the trouble and makes an excellent stage for revenge.”
“But you were killed—defeated,” she argued weakly. “How did you get here and find WilyKit?” she asked, gripping her staff in a defensive position. She was not sure what it would do against one such as Mumm-Ra, but she had a feeling she was about to find out. “And what did this have to do with WilyKit’s memory loss, then?” the lioness stammered, trying to make sense of the situation.
“I have been dead for thousands of years, but I still exist, as I always will. That is the definition of ever-living, my dear Leonora. Torlei and I can’t be killed. Did those fools actually think we were gone forever?” he laughed. “We were merely banished when we were defeated at the Battle of the Swords. Fortunately, we have redeemed ourselves in the eyes of the Ancient Spirits of Evil, and they have allowed us back to your realm so we can have our revenge on every last one of them. As for WilyKit’s memory loss, we were simply her silly emotional problems to manipulate her into allowing Torlei to take her over... and it was pathetically easy,” the undead mage boasted, looming over her.
Leonora backed up instinctively, until her back was against the headboard. “That wasn’t WilyKit with Kat, was it?” she asked accusingly. “It was the Lunatac in her body, controlling her. She did possess her... we didn’t get here in time.”
Mumm-Ra grinned at the lioness’ distress. “That’s right, feline... she is lost to you all forever. But don’t worry, you won’t live long enough to grieve her loss.” He raised his arms in preparation to fry Leonora with a charge of his magical lightning.
Rising into a panic, Leonora swung the Staff of Dera at the demon priest. “You won’t win without a fight. And now that we know what we’re up against—”
“We?” Mumm-Ra snarled, firing his red lightning. The bolt was upon her in an instant, far too quickly for her to even react to get away, and it coursed painfully through her body, causing her to cry out in agony. “No, lioness, you are the only one that knows right now,” he corrected her. “And you will not be here long enough to tell the tale to your friends.” He scowled at her in contempt and shot her again, the force of the charge knocking her off of the bed and onto the floor. She writhed in the beam, trying desperately to do anything to get away from the searing, burning sensation, but the supernatural energy not only left her in incredible pain but partially paralyzed as well. She was unable to do more than crawl a few inches, let alone stand up or walk.
Mumm-Ra watched her struggle for several moments before relenting, enjoying her misery. “You were hardly a challenge to me, lioness,” he sneered contemptuously. “But at least you made a good warm-up. Don’t despair too badly, my dear. You’ll be seeing your friends in the afterlife soon enough.” With that he shot her with another bolt of the sinister lightning, and teleported himself out of the room.
Leonora let out another strangled cry of pain as she felt the sting of the energy for a second time. It incapacitated her worse than the fist, and she lay there upon the floor mobile and struggling to breathe for several minutes. The pain was unimaginable, but she was determined to last at least long enough to warn the others. She had a terrible feeling he had gone to help his partner harm them, and that made his departure from the room a very mixed blessing for her. “Not a challenge, huh?” she muttered angrily. “I’ll show you to what it means to underestimate me, demon priest,” Leonora stated determinedly to herself, mostly to bolster her will and give herself the strength to move. After considerable effort, she managed to get onto her hands and knees and started to slowly crawl towards the door.
The lioness winced with pain as she moved the first few feet, which felt more like miles to her, but gradually the stinging sensations in her limbs became less severe and her mobility began to come back. Several minutes later she reached the door, and reached for the knob. She managed to get one hand around it, and then, supporting her weight on the door, she managed to lift the other. Gritting her teeth, she used every bit of strength she could muster to pull herself back onto her feet. After straining through a few failed tries, she finally was able to stand, although she was so weakened and wobbly that she could do nothing more for some time but stand there, leaning against the door for support. Eventually enough of her strength returned to allow her to bend down and retrieve the Staff of Dera, but the action made her feel woozy and lightheaded. She rested against the door again for a minute or so, taking some deep breaths, and then unlocked the door, pushed it open, and stumbled out into the hallway. Hold on guys, I’m coming, she thought. She only hoped that she wouldn’t get there too late.
* * *
WilyKat led WilyKit into the library, where Psiarik and Selene were seated at the table waiting for them. Selene also had little Silvian with her in her lap. Although one might have argued that the environment was not safe for him there, after the ghostly attacks Selene was reluctant to leave the child out of her sight. Normally he would have had Erissa with him, but Chilla was barely on speaking terms with the royals, particularly her son-in-law, after the fiasco from the night before. Selene felt it was best to give Chilla her space, and she understood that Chilla likely wanted her child to be kept safe with her in light of all the ghostly attacks.
As the two Thundercats entered, Psiarik frowned when he noticed that Leonora was missing. “Where’s Leonora?” he questioned.
“I asked her to check my room to see if she could get a sense of any spirits there,” the possessed WilyKit informed him. And right about now, she should be finding a lot more than she was expecting, too, she thought nastily, and struggled to keep from outwardly showing her delight at that wicked thought.
WilyKat sat down at the table. “Yeah, we got there just in time,” he said, shaking his head worriedly. “The ghosts were harassing Kit again, and they were pretty rough on her. It was even worse than last night.”
“Oh no,” Selene said, noticing the scratches and tears on the female Thundercat’s clothing. “What happened? Are you all right?”
“Yes, barely,” Torlei lied with a convincing nod. “They were horrible this time!” she exclaimed. “You know how Leonora said they were trying to possess me? I think they tried to do it. The demon had me pinned to the bed and was trying to force himself into me. He was choking me and—” Her words were cut off as she broke down in a show of very convincing tears. WilyKat put a comforting arm around her, while the two Lunatacs exchanged worried and sympathetic looks.
“You were able to stop them on your own?” Psiarik asked.
“Not exactly,” WilyKat clarified. “They vanished when Leo and I broke into the room. We think that they saw her with the Staff of Dera and figured they couldn’t win, so they left.”
“It was a lot like the night Darkail came in. I think to possess me, they have to find me alone,” Torlei said, enjoying the melodramatic game immensely. She could not wait to wipe the caring, concerned looks off their faces and replace them with ones of helplessness and terror.
In the same way that something about that explanation had not rung true with Leonora earlier, something about it also seemed off to Psiarik, and he frowned. “That’s not like these ghosts. We saw how ruthless they were last night. An entire room full of us didn’t intimidate them. Why would they have to be alone to be able to possess you?”
“That is strange,” WilyKat agreed. “Unless last night they were just trying to be destructive and not actively trying to possess her.”
“It must be that Staff of Dera,” Torlei asserted. She did not like the expression on the psi’s face, it seemed as though he already suspected something, and she was not quite ready for that yet. She wanted to wait until Mumm-Ra returned with confirmation that the lioness had been taken care of before bringing the truth crashing down around the mortals.
Silvian struggled on Selene’s lap so she set him down to allow him to wander around the room, with the strict instruction to not go too far. The Lunar Queen then faced the others. “Well, whatever it is that drove them off, we should probably just be thankful that it did. Until we figure out how to get rid of them, we’re basically at their mercy. Last night was proof of that.”
Psiarik turned toward his wife. “That’s exactly why we have to figure out what it was that caused them to leave WilyKit, then. I don’t think they’ve given up for good. I’m more inclined to believe that they only retreated to get us to let our guard down, so they can strike when we aren’t prepared for it.” As he spoke, he could have sworn that an unsettling chill filled the air, although the temperature itself did not seem to have changed.
At the exact moment Psiarik had that odd sensation, Mumm-Ra appeared, visible only to Torlei, in the corner of the room, leaning against the table with a smug sneer on his features. Torlei noticed him and smiled slightly, although not enough to tip off the others. Glad to see you made it, darling, she told him telepathically. Is the lioness taken care of?
Quite nicely, he confirmed in mind speech. Still alive, so she can hear their screams when we kill them, but able to do little more than that when we bring this place crashing down around them.
I love how you think at times, Mumm-Ra dear, she answered. Shall we finish the job now that there’s no need to keep toying with them?
Yes. His mental reply was quite emphatic.
A moment later Silvian unknowingly toddled into the area around where the invisible Mumm-Ra stood. His cold aura immediately surrounded the child, making him shiver and feel an irrational sensation of fear. “Cold,” he mumbled as he stumbled backwards, but he did not move quite fast enough to suit Mumm-Ra.
Mumm-Ra scowled at the tiny Lunatac. “Get away from me, you brat,” he snarled, and kicked him hard. That was as good a way as any to ring in the destruction of the Lunatacs, he figured.
Silvian shrieked and tumbled back a few feet. Selene turned around as soon as she heard his cry and gasped when she saw him. “Silvian!” She leapt out of her chair and pulled her son off the floor, hugging him tightly to comfort him. He was sobbing, both from fear and pain from the kick, and Selene tried desperately to calm him down, though she was upset herself.
“What happened?” WilyKat asked. He stood and looked around the room to see what had happened.
Psiarik was at Selene’s side in a flash. “Is he all right?”
The possessed WilyKit could not hold back a cruel snicker.
Psiarik heard and glared at the Thundercat. “That’s not funny.”
“Oh yes it is, dear boy,” she sneered, her voice now deeper and more sinister than WilyKit’s, matching her natural, or unnatural as the case was, voice. “And so is this.” She raised her hand and young Silvian was roughly jerked out of Selene’s arms.
“No,” Selene shouted, and reached desperately for him as the child screamed again. Torlei grinned coldly as he levitated well out of the petite Queen’s reach.
WilyKat stared at his sister in shock. “WilyKit, what are you doing? What’s come over you?”
It then dawned on Psiarik what had happened, and his face paled. “The ghosts have, WilyKat. That’s one of them in the body of your sister... possessing your sister,” he guessed; only to have it confirmed by a wicked giggle from the female Thundercat. Horrified, WilyKat shook his head in denial, not quite able to believe that she could have fooled him, but when he saw his sister at that moment he could not deny that the twisted and evil smile on his sister’s face was definitely not her own.
Psiarik meanwhile charged at WilyKit and lunged for her, hoping that the shock of a physical attack would be enough to break her concentration and free Silvian. His gamble paid off and Torlei was caught by surprise as he grabbed her. She thrashed violently at his touch. “Let go of me this instant, or I will see to it that your child is torn to pieces before your very eyes!” she threatened.
He was not aware, however, that the force actually holding Silvian was not her own manipulations but those of the invisible Mumm-Ra. He laughed deeply as he watched the Lunatacs and Thundercats scramble, loud enough for them all to hear as it echoed ominously throughout the room. The undead mage then shoved Selene backwards onto the floor, and he flung the struggling Silvian around high in the air.
“Put him down!” Selene shrieked. “Please, do something!” she cried desperately.
WilyKat was a step ahead of her, and climbed up on a bookshelf with the plan to spring off of it when he was high enough and grab the child mid-air with his good arm. Once he was high enough, he leapt off, and with his natural feline grace, managed to snatch Silvian from Mumm-Ra’s grasp. The two of them tumbled to the floor, and WilyKat rolled in such a way to avoid pinning any of his weight on the boy. His broken arm throbbed painfully in protest as it was crunched against the carpeted floor, but that was of little concern to him compared to the life of a helpless young child.
Psiarik saw that WilyKat was helping his wife and son, so he instead glared into the eyes of the possessed Thundercat in his arms that he believed was responsible for the attack. As soon as they made eye contact, he drew on his empathic abilities and tried read her thoughts. He was shocked and horrified to discover that the spirit dwelling within WilyKit’s body was an all too familiar one. “You,” he gasped. “And Mumm-Ra!”
“How very astute of you, dear nephew,” Torlei sneered sarcastically, still trying to wrench her arm out of the psi’s grasp. “Now let go of me, before I introduce you to the true meaning of pain.”
“Mumm-Ra?” both WilyKat and Selene echoed in shock.
Mumm-Ra decided that he had hidden long enough, and chose that moment to materialize in the room in his full and intimidating physical form. “In the flesh,” he cackled. “You didn’t really think you had gotten rid of me forever, did you?”
WilyKat’s thoughts raced at the revelation that their old nemesis and his bride were behind the evil mischief. All this time it had was Mumm-Ra and Torlei tormenting WilyKit? And if WilyKit is possessed, then we didn’t rescue her back in her bedroom, and if Leonora had stayed behind.... “Oh no, Leonora!” he whispered.
Mumm-Ra’s eyes glowed with mean amusement at the male Thundercat. “Ah yes, your spiritualist lioness lover. She was no match for the might of Mumm-Ra,” he taunted him.
The boast that he had killed someone so dear to him sent WilyKat into a rage. “You evil bastard!” he growled, and made a flying leap through the air at Mumm-Ra, his claws bared and snarling almost like a feral feline in his fury. He felt none of the pain in his throbbing broken arm, and full of adrenaline, he landed on the despised disciple of evil and began to try and choke him with every bit of strength he had.
Mumm-Ra was stunned and struggled beneath the enraged WilyKat for a moment, but he was easily able to blast the feline off with a shock of red lightning. WilyKat landed in a heap, his adrenaline strength gone as quickly as it came. The pain returned to his injured arm in full force, the electricity having aggravated the nerve endings further, and the sensation was almost unbearable. His obvious pain pleased Mumm-Ra, who stood above him mockingly. “You can’t stop us, Thundercat, nor can your pathetic Lunatac friends or your Thundercat allies back on New Thundera. We will not rest until we have revenge on every last one of you that participated in our banishment at the Battle of Swords,” he gloated coldly. “Together my wife, in her new Thundercat body, and I begin our revenge… starting with this miserable building and every last Lunatac royal and guest in it. From there we’ll go to New Thundera and let all of the Thundercats be destroyed by WilyKit’s own hand... and once they are wiped out, we will move on to Plundarr and destroy Ratar-O and all of his worthless Mutants!”
“You were defeated once, Mumm-Ra, and you will be again,” Selene said angrily, and called the MoonSaber to her hand, much in the same way Lion-O often summoned the Sword of Omens to his.
Mumm-Ra laughed derisively at the Lunar Queen. “Foolish Lunatac! You think you can hold off the mighty Mumm-Ra with that sword? Even with all three swords together, you and the others were unable to destroy us! No, my bride and I will be the only survivors this time,” he announced, and then vanished as quickly as he appeared.
Meanwhile Torlei continued to struggle in Psiarik’s grasp. He knew that the clerics of Mirindet could banish unwanted spirits from possessed individuals, and he remembered that it had something to do with using a mind link to pull the rightful spirit back into the body and thereby forcing the other out. He did not know how to do it himself, but he was desperate enough to try it. He stared intently at her and tightened his grip on her physically. “WilyKit, come to me!” he urged, projecting his call through her mind.
Torlei only laughed at the psi’s weak attempt to reach the lost Thundercat. “You fool, WilyKit is gone! Only I exist in here now!”
Psiarik ignored her and continued to try and establish the link. “I don’t believe you,” he said. “WilyKit, I know you’re in there. Fight her!”
A terribly cruel notion occurred to Torlei that was too irresistible to pass up. “You want a link to her, do you dear? Then you’ve got it!” she hissed, and turned the tables by locking her own power-hungry psyche onto his, feeding off of his energy to bolster her own strength, almost like a psychic vampire. He did not realize what she was doing until it was too late, and he tried to wrench away from her. He let out a strangled cry of pain as she seemingly ripped into his mind, but he was unable to pull away from her, locked into the same sort of link he had hoped to establish in reverse with WilyKit.
“Psiarik!” Selene cried, and aimed the MoonSaber at the pair of them.
“Harm me, and you strike him dead as well,” Torlei warned the Lunar Queen. “His life is in my grasp now!” Just then a terrible crash shook the room, causing books to fall off the shelves.
“What was that?” WilyKat asked. “The whole building seems to be shaking.”
Selene glanced around when a second crash was felt, sharper than the first. “An earthquake.”
“Mumm-Ra,” Torlei corrected her smugly. “We said we were going to destroy this place and everyone in it.”
Psiarik growled as he struggled in Torlei’s grip. “Selene, WilyKat, get out of here! You know what will happen if this building falls while we’re all in here.”
“I know what will happen to you if I leave you behind,” she exclaimed, horrified. “WilyKat, you go and take Silvian, and warn the others.”
WilyKat nodded and held Silvian close to him with his good arm. “You should come too, your highness. It won’t do your people any good if you die in a building collapse,” he urged, tugging at her arm.
“Go, Selene,” Psiarik said, straining to talk under the terrible pull of Torlei’s mind link.
“Oh, how romantic,” Torlei sneered. “It makes me want to lose my lunch, if I had eaten one.”
Selene nodded tearfully, ignoring the possessed WilyKit’s taunts. “I’m coming back for you once everyone is out if you don’t make it,” she said in a voice that could not be argued with. “I love you!” she called out as she departed.
WilyKat only nodded sadly, unable to think of anything to say. His mind was still reeling from the loss of his sister and Leonora, and he held little hope that Psiarik would do any better against the ever-livings on his own than they had. But duty came first, and he knew there was nothing that could be done to save any of them now. What was important was saving those who still had a chance. And avenging them later, he thought darkly, although Thundercats were not supposed to think such things.
Psiarik tried to form a reply to Selene, but Torlei’s link finally tore into his mind and pulled the last bit of energy from him, dropping him to his knees in incredible pain. He tried to comfort himself with the thought that he was at least buying time for the others, even though he knew he was no match for her and that she would soon wear him down and move on, stronger with the psychic energy of another mortal with in her, and it was only a matter of time. He just prayed to his gods that he was not making her any more powerful.
She laughed as she read his thoughts. “How right you are, you are no match for me, just like your father. And yes, once I have your energy, I will be twice as powerful. Maybe your friends will thank you for that when you see them in the afterlife,” she hissed viciously.
“You won’t win,” he argued, his voice barely a whisper. “WilyKit won’t let you stay in her body forever... somehow she will break out. It’s only a matter of time.”
“A time long enough off that you will not live to see, I’m afraid, dear nephew,” she informed him coldly.
“Don’t you dare call me that. Selene and the children are my only family.”
“Oh yes, that’s right,” Torlei said with a malicious giggle. “You’re in a little tiff with my dear brother, aren’t you? I could have told you that he was a liar, but you found that out well enough on your own.” Her lips curled into a cruel sneer. “I’ll let you in on something, though, you were rather harsh in blaming him for what Mumm-Ra and I did. My worthless brother really had nothing to do with that. Not that I minded watching you turn on him, anyway. Your hatred is the least he deserves after what he did to me. It’s too bad your people never caught him. I would have loved to see the expression on his face when you threw him in jail.” She watched for his reaction, savoring the feeling of his pain as she sapped away the last of his strength. “But in all honesty, your father’s mind block didn’t do any more damage to the Thundercat than a few nightmares, which is nothing compared to what she had blocked. Are you at all curious as to what it was that she blocked anyway, my dear? I know what it is... and let me tell you, it is a deliciously evil side to this Thundercat.”
“Shut up,” Psiarik growled, defiant even as he slumped to the floor, the last of his physical strength gone. “Anything you have to say is probably a lie anyway.”
The possessed figure of WilyKit looming above him shrugged. “No, it probably doesn’t matter for you anyhow. Your time is just about up, now that I have what I need from you.” The psi then felt an excruciating tearing sensation in his mind, something like he might have imagined it would feel to have had his brains torn from his skull, and his weakened body succumbed to it, the last of his consciousness draining away.
“You... won’t... win...” he managed to sputter out, right before his entire world went black.
* * *
Selene and WilyKat had barely made it outside the MoonTower—having stopped long enough to warn everyone over the speakers and help everyone out—when the building became so unstable that it became hard to walk. The ground even shook from the force a safe distance away where the residents stood. Once they were outside, the reason for the building’s quakes became clear.
Along the eastern side of the structure and seemingly 100 feet tall, stood Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living. The massive creation of the Ancient Spirits of Evil was repeatedly punching the side of the building with his massive fists, causing the foundation to shake and crumble beneath his blows.
WilyKat remembered seeing the devil priest of Third Earth in such a form once before, many years ago when he and WilyKit barely escaped his assault on the Tower of Omens. It had been during one of their last days on Third Earth before they moved to New Thundera—a time that Mumm-Ra had nearly killed them all, but failed. He was supposedly dead for good that time, too, WilyKat realized glumly. And after the battle in the Book of Omens and the Battle of the Swords. Damn it, why don’t we ever learn our lesson? His eyes misted over with tears as he watched the scene and the implications of what had happened began to fully sink in. Leonora was gone. Mumm-Ra had killed her, and gloated about it. WilyKit was possessed, and probably as good as dead. Her body would live through the imminent destruction of the MoonTower most likely, but did not think he would ever see his twin again as he knew her, for if there had been any way she could have fought Torlei and won, surely she would have. His sister was not a wimp or a coward, and a defeat like that probably meant that she was gone for good. It also occurred to him that Psiarik was probably a goner by then as well, and that pissed him off too.
“Nyah, he really is going to destroy the place, isn’t he?” Jackalman asked, watching the incomprehensibly powerful Mumm-Ra shake the building with a blast of red lightning, which only weakened the crumbling structure further.
“I think so,” Chilla rasped, watching the scene with an angry and helpless feeling. She hated Mumm-Ra perhaps more than any being in the universe, and she hated herself and the others for being too weak to fight back against him.
Selene glanced apprehensively at the door, growing more upset by the moment when she did not see her husband emerge. She knew it was foolish, but she realized she could not live with herself if she simply stood there when she could help him. Without a word, she charged back toward the door.
“Selene!” Frostor shouted after her. He knew exactly what she was doing, and while on some level he admired her courage, he also found it incredibly reckless and irresponsible considering that she was the ruler of the Moons. “Get back here! You can’t go back in there!”
“I have to!” she shouted back, already halfway through the door. As she made her way inside, she realized that the power had gone out, although she supposed that made sense. Using the luminescent glow of the MoonSaber to guide her, she carefully made her way down the darkened hallways toward the library where she had left Psiarik behind. It grew increasingly harder for her to walk in the tremors, and she nearly toppled over as she turned a corner and ran into Leonora, who was barely able to stand upright from her weakened state and the quakes of the floor.
“Leonora! You’re alive!” Selene gasped with surprise, and helped the lioness to her feet. “Mumm-Ra said he’d killed you.”
“He nearly did,” she answered weakly. “WilyKit… she’s possessed… by one of Mumm-Ra’s—”
“I know,” Selene cut her off. “We found that out the hard way when they attacked us in the library.”
“I wanted to warn you,” Leonora said sadly, “but I guess I was too late. I’m so sorry, Queen Selene.”
“Don’t apologize. Just get out of the building. These quakes are Mumm-Ra’s work, and he means to take it down. Almost everyone else is out. Please hurry,” she urged her.
Leonora nodded agreeably and stumbled past Selene toward the exit, while Selene hurried to the library. A minute or so later she made it, barely able to keep her footing through the violent tremors. The terrible feeling reminded her strongly of the horrible earthquakes the Moons had been plagued with during the Thundera explosion disasters. They had killed so many, and she hoped in the name of every deity she worshipped that her mate was not going to meet a similar end. When she pushed open the heavy doors, she saw him on the floor, unmoving. In the nearly nonexistent light she barely saw a figure slip out the now broken sixth story window, one she assumed to be WilyKit, but that did not concern her nearly as much as whether or not her husband still lived.
She knelt beside him. “Please be alive,” she whispered tearfully, and threw her arms around him. She felt a faint heartbeat and breathed a sigh of relief. She thanked the gods silently about ten times, and hugged him for almost a full minute.
It was then that another tremor, much more violent than any of the previous ones, shook the building to its very foundation. Selene could hear the support beams cracking, and entire bookshelves fell over all around them, one of them blocking the door out. Looking around desperately, Selene realized she would not be able to lift the bookshelf, and even if she could, she could not do more than drag her much larger husband, much less carry him out of the building before it would collapse. She glanced at the window, but realized that it was simply too high and they would die from the fall anyway if they tried to escape from the window. The heavy wooden table in the center of the room caught her eye and she realized grimly that it was their best chance of survival. It was large and would at least block the heaviest pieces from crushing them. Pieces of the ceiling were already falling around them and she knew that they did not have long before the inevitable collapse. Determined to get them at least to that much safety, Selene circled her arms around the unconscious Psiarik and dragged him with her beneath the table.
Seconds later, the floor beneath them buckled and the ceiling caved in.
* * *
The assembled MoonTower residents and guests outside watched in utter horror as their home reached the point where it could withstand no more of the mighty Mumm-Ra’s assault, and crumbled into rubble before their eyes. They were unable to look away from the awful sight, as if they simply could not believe that such a thing could have happened, especially with the two rulers still inside.
It was a welcome surprise when a lone figure emerged from the dust, having barely made it out of the building before the collapse. To their surprise it was not Selene or Psiarik, but the presumed dead Leonora.
WilyKat beamed, almost unable to believe that it was her and not a mirage or a trick. “Leo! You’re alive?” He immediately ran over and gave her a huge hug and a kiss, despite his sore arm. “Oh, thank Jaga,” he murmured, holding her tightly.
“Mumm-Ra nearly did me in,” she whispered to him, enjoying the comfort of his arms. “Oh WilyKat, you don’t know how glad I am to see you.”
“Yes I do,” the Thundercat replied, and kissed her again.
Luna looked around frantically for any sign of Selene. She was upset that it was the lioness and not her relation that had emerged. “Where’s Selene?” she demanded of Leonora. “She was with you, wasn’t she?”
Leonora met her eyes, and didn’t answer right away. “She’s still in side,” she said after a pause. “She said there was still someone else to get out.”
“Psiarik,” WilyKat said quietly, eyeing the rubble with an ominous feeling. “He was in the library.”
“That’s on the sixth floor,” Frostor stated, his optimism for their survival suddenly taking a nose-dive into oblivion. “Dear gods...” The ice general looked at the pile of rubble that had once been the royal quarters. He had seen enough collapses and earthquakes during the disasters to know that the odds of survivors in such a wreck, unless they were very lucky in how they were positioned, were very low.
“Don’t you even think that,” Luna snapped to Frostor. “They are alive.”
He sighed and faced Luna. “I know this is hard for you to hear, Luna, but the odds are that they are not. We will look and we can hope, but—”
“How dare you,” she screamed shrilly. “They’re alive!”
There was another loud rumble, and the group was silenced for a moment as the giant Mumm-Ra turned toward them, a twisted and satisfied grin on his hideously giant features. “Missing someone, Lunatacs?” he laughed. “But that is only the beginning. If you think this is the end of our revenge, you’re wrong. I will be back to finish the rest of you later! Right now, I have more insects to crush,” he said, striking the ground around them with red lightning, causing it to shake and making them stumble. He turned to the two remaining Thunderians and stared directly at WilyKat, his red eyes boring down into the depths of his very soul. “Oh and WilyKat, I hope you aren’t planning on returning to Cat’s Lair to rejoin the rest of your Thundercats… because in short while, there will be no Cat’s Lair... or Thundercats!” With that he burst into another thunderous echo of cruel laughter.
His solid form began to shimmer and shine, and then faded as he teleported himself off of the Third Moon, bound for New Thundera. A moment before he faded completely, WilyKat was able to make out the form of his possessed sister, WilyKit, grinning smugly and seated comfortably upon the giant Mumm-Ra’s shoulder.