The Keyra

The Desert's Slayer

The day dawned bright and clear but because no frost could set in the intense heat of the desert, a thin haze spread far across the landscape, even reaching the rising Sun. A few rocks were scattered across the orange and crimson plains and a few surviving plants sought the shade of dead, grey and scraggly trees.

The Keyra, a tribe of magic cats with magical abilities, did the plants no favour as they sat on top of them, stealing their only bit of shade. Linka, the wisest of the tribe, was wandering around the separate groups of cats, trying to calm them all down with his, 'logical explanations'.

"It shouldn't be this hot," Hadrian moaned, stealing a female's cool patch in the shade of a tree, "I want to move on!" Linka didn't want to argue with the fiercest and moodiest of the tribe so he shrugged, mumbled some more of his 'logical explanations' and moved off to calm a whining cub.

"Damn you lot!" Hadrian roared his eyes shifting towards the timid female, who had returned to regain her spot in the shade.

"Move, please," she said politely, fluttering her eyelids.

"Yeah, I would like to move too but that dumb Keyra wont allow it and…"

"I mean," she interrupted, "move out of my spot." Her voice was demanding and low and her eyes glowed red under the Sun's brilliant glare.

"Can't we share?" Hadrian replied sarcastically, not even showing any signs of movement.

"Share? I'd rather share with an overgrown camel." This comment built the rage inside Hadrian to its limit and he roared, baring a set of shiny, white teeth. The female cowered back, her tail between her legs, and bowed her head in respect.

"Cib!" Antok, the tribe's leader, came pounding through the sands and stood protectively in front of the female, Cib. "This is a respectable community, Hadrian, so move away!"

Hadrian roared again and his tattoo on the side of his leg seemed to glow green for a second but as it died down, so did his anger. He snarled once before leaving and ran through the red, smoky mist.

"Thank you Antok," Cib said rubbing her head gratefully against his.

"Hey, that's ok, but don't ever confront him again. He's never been a real, true member of this tribe." Antok sighed and watched the female regain her place.

"Nice going, mate!"

Antok turned to see his trusty and cheeky friend, Kar, grinning at him with his brother, Linka, by his side.

"What are we going to do about this heat?" Antok said sadly, "I've only been in the leadership for a year, I just don't know what to do in these circumstances."

"It's in the clouds," Linka replied glancing up at the reddish, blue sky, "without clouds it doesn't rain and today there are no clouds. In fact there haven't been any clouds for a whole week."

"We must look for water, the cubs are getting dehydrated," Kar said seriously. They'd already lost one cub and they weren't prepared to lose another.

Antok pondered his thoughts for some sensible decision. Why did it all come down to him? He wondered whether the pendants they all wore could be of use. All of the tribe who were aged over thirteen had them and they were said to be helpful in times of need. However, throughout their journey, they had not done anything apart from weigh their necks down. To Kar it was just another stupid tradition but still he guarded his like he would guard his breakfast.

Linka saw the look Antok was giving his pendant and shook his head.

"It's no use. We must search for water and being one of the oldest and knowing the area, I will search for it." He began to walk into the red haze when Kar stopped him.

"Wait! You can't go on your own, say you got in trouble?"

"My pendant will protect me and also I have great faith in our God, Lyall," Linka replied simply.

"Pendant! Ha! You actually believe they do something?"

"I know they work."

"What from stories?"

"No, I've seen them…"

"Stop it both of you!" roared Antok agitatedly. Some of the tribe turned their heads to face the three fully grown males and the area became so silent, he could hear his heart pound inside his rib cage.

"Kar you will stay here," he said a little more quietly.

"But…"

"No 'buts', I'm the leader here. Linka you will take my daughter Chem."

Lots of protests about the safety of his daughter arose from the pair and finally they stopped and turned to face their leader, who looked extremely fed up.

"It ain't wise mate!" Kar said squinting up at the Sun.

"He's right and I don't see the logic in it," Linka said cleaning his dusty face.

"I promised Chem I'd take her for a walk but with this weather, I have to be here to tend to the tribe's worries. Please, Linka! I know you will keep Chem safe and if you get in trouble she can run back to us. Everyone among us knows Chem is the fastest sprinter in the tribe and what good will it be for her to stay here anyway?" Antok moved over to his daughter Chem who had heard everything. He picked her up and placed her firmly on Linka's back. A silence followed as the wise cat and leader smiled trustingly at one another. Kar moved off but managed a faint smile at Chem as he passed.

"Daddy," Chem said giggling, "Kar is pulling funny faces at you!" Antok laughed and turned around to see Kar with his tongue stuck out at him. Kar realised he had been caught and tried to make out he was just panting,

"Phew! Sure is hot," he gasped and began rolling about on the floor. The cats watching settled back down knowing their leader had once again resolved the problem, even though it took him a little time but then again, he was new to the job of being leader.

Linka yawned and shut his eyes as the warm steam from the ground floated upwards into his furry face. His paws had become red hot but he had to carry on for the sake of the tribe. Water just had to be near! He and Chem had been travelling for hours in, what they thought, was a dead, straight line, so as not to get lost and still they hadn't seen any vegetation. Where there were plants, there was water but so far all they had come across was dead trees, signifying the lack of water. Linka scanned the landscape and saw there were plenty more dead trees to come and many more miles to walk. Chem had become restless and had fallen asleep on his back almost instantly.

His head was dizzy and the beads of sweat were running down his brownish, blonde hair. He stopped for a minute or two under the shade of an almost spherical boulder that was nearby. The minutes turned into hours as he fell into a deep sleep. Suddenly Chem fell off his back and landed on the ground with a 'thud' unsettling the musty, choking dust.

"Ouf!" she squeaked shaking her head in surprise. Her blur fur was matted with damp, smelly sweat and at first she had no idea where she was but seeing Linka's resting body, cleared her head and she began to wash her dust covered coat. She realised how cooler it was now than it was before they set off and she ventured out of the shade of the boulder into the canyon. She squinted and whispered in a cool voice to herself,

"Wow, we came real far. Heh, heh wow! I've never been outside 'ere on my own. Dad never would lemme go 'ere! Nah! This is wicked!"

"Wicked, eh?" a gruff voice said behind her. Thinking it was Linka she turned around and said,

"Oh, Linka! You are…" she stopped when she saw a snarling mammal with saliva dripping from his fangs. "Linka!" she squeaked and covered her eyes with her little paws.

"Linka?" the beast looked around but didn't spot him in the shadow of the boulder. "Poor little child, I should put you out of your misery."

"Go away, you big bully!" Chem squeaked flexing her muscles to pounce. The cat she was facing was far different from the rest of her tribe. He had black and white stripes all over his body and black, beady eyes which seemed to shine out at her angrily. Even the highlights in them seemed to be a light grey colour.

"Listen, child," the stripy cat said sitting down, "I am ravenous and I want to…well can you guess what I want to do?"

"Eat?"

"Yes and guess what lucky being gets to be my lunch today?"

"Um…lucky? Er…me?"

"Mmm, got it right! But all this talking has made me even more hungry," the beast said advancing towards her. Chem squeaked as the beast made a grab for her. His paw came to rest on the strange, gas like fire burning on the end of her tail. Many in her tribe had fire tails, it was unnerving at times and also annoying but at this point the young cub was glad to be the owner of one. The hungry cat roared in pain and he growled,

"Dumb, cub! The desert's already hot enough without you adding your pathetic fire to it!" He swiped at the cub angrily, sending her flying across the sand and leaving her stunned on the ground.

Linka awoke suddenly. His pendant was glowing a strange, bright light and as he stared more thoughtfully at it, the colour seemed to drain until it was back to its original state. Why would it suddenly start glowing? He looked about for Chem to see if she was still asleep. It at first came as no surprise when he couldn't find her. She was always wandering about; it was the nature of cubs. Linka was about to call out for her when he heard two voices. One was Chem's, he was sure of that, but the other was gruff and angry.

"I hope she hasn't got herself into any trouble with the locals," he joked to himself but he didn't realise that later he would be eating his own words. As he walked past the boulder, Chem and another beast came into view. It looked as if the little cub was going to attack the black and white cat for a second, even though she wouldn't hurt him much, when suddenly, the beast flipped the cub into the air with one hefty paw.

"Hey!" Linka called running to protect Chem, "If she's in any trouble, then please I'm responsible for her."

The stranger turned around with a look of surprise in his face. Seeing the old, blonde haired cat, he smirked and coughed in a rude manner. He watched Linka run over to the little cub and the two started talking earnestly. 'Two meals in one day,' he thought happily, 'Or maybe not, the old one look bony. But you can't be picky in the desert.'

"Hey!" he shook his thoughts away to see Linka move over to him.

"What's up mighty one?" the stranger asked his shoulders beginning to shake with his silent laughter.

"By what right have you to hurt my friend's daughter?" Linka asked coughing as the wind brought soft, yellow sand into his jaw. He wanted to sound as threatening as he could towards this outcast.

"There are no rules I know of." Linka could see he wasn't doing a good job.

"Listen, whoever you are…"

"Balmor," the cat growled menacingly.

"Sorry?"

"The name's Balmor!" he roared.

"Ah!" Linka said, as he saw a very scared Chem walk up behind him with her blue tail between her skinny legs. "I'm Linka and this is…"

"Balmor, the slayer!" Balmor launched himself at Linka and pinned him to the ground. The surprised cat struggled to push the beast off of him but he was just too old for this sort of fighting. He could feel Balmor's claws dig into his flesh and warm blood oozed from his chest. Linka roared and gasped for breath as he stared into Balmor's black, unmerciful eyes. "You'll remember the name, I hope?"

"Linka!" Chem squeaked and the flame in her tail burned brighter as she howled and launched herself onto the back of Balmor's neck and bit hard. The cat roared and shook the cub off easily, sending her flying into the dry sand for the second time. Linka had fainted, the strain and pain was too much for him but his attacker hadn't finished. He ripped some of Linka's hair from the roots and then slashed his right eye, which was staring up at the sky with shock.

"Well that was fun," he growled and stopped to catch his breath. The veins in his neck were pumping with blood and his teeth were even more stained with blood…Linka's blood. Finally he believed the old cat to be dead and moved off to clean his paws. He'd deal with the cub later.

Chem walked over to Linka's body and licked the wounds with little effect. Seeing no life in her old friend, she snuggled up next to his body and cried saying one word over and over again.

"Linka…"

Meanwhile, in another part of the canyon, Raga, a very popular Keyra but extremely mysterious, heard the cries and roars of the battle between Linka and Balmor. He recognised Linka's voice at once as he had often travelled with the tribe and many times talked to the intelligent but boring Linka. The tribe had done so much for him in the past, as he was an orphan until they adopted him and brought him up. He was now however, fully grown and travelled the world by himself. Seeing his friend in trouble he ran full speed to where the battle was raging.

When he finally got there he looked about him and saw nothing except a strange blue object that was huddled on the floor. He walked warily up to it and examined the little object, to see a pair of warm brown eyes shine up at him.

"Chem," he asked, "What's the matter, what happened?" The cub was about to speak when some mad laughter made her stop and Raga growled and looked around him to see Balmor walking towards him, his coat was stained with blood.

"Look who it is!" Balmor roared his black eyes piercing through Chem's friend as he laughed out loud, shattering the desert silence.

"Balmor! I should have known it was you!" Raga roared. His voice made Balmor step cautiously back and Chem slowly limped towards the figure for protection. "Don't worry Chem, I'll protect you."

"But that's what Linka said," the cub sobbed rubbing her head against one of Raga's red, tattooed legs.

"Linka?" Raga asked, his eyes darting around to the various rocks and dead trees. Balmor roared with laughter and even managed a few sarcastic roles on the floor. "What have you done to him?" The young cat's eyes burned with anger.

"He…he…" Chem stammered.

"Killed him!" Balmor growled.

"No!" Raga howled and leapt into the air sending showers of sand everywhere, but Balmor was too quick and leapt aside before the new Keyra could pin him. Balmor grinned and showed his lethal fangs. This time he leapt into the air and pinned Raga with little effort. His claws ripped at Raga's red fur and his saliva dripped from his mouth.

"What makes you think I'm not gonna kill you too?" the striped cat asked his eyes darting with madness. Raga had had enough. He was angry and he could feel the power building in his muscles. Just as Balmor was about to strike he pushed the body off of him sending the cat flying, like the evil beast had done with Chem, over the sand.

Chem ducked as the flying body passed over her head and she stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at him. "That will teach you to mess with the Keyra!" she said proudly.

Balmor limped to get up but his back legs wouldn't respond. He practically dragged himself further away from the two staring coldly at him. "I'll get you both!" he rasped before limping off into the sandy mists.

Chem ran over to Raga and they both rubbed heads for a while. Raga comforted the cub as much as he could but still she was shaking with anger and fear. He moved away to study the body of Linka. Chem stayed behind not wanting to see and she began to gasp for breath again as she cried. Raga however was looking in a way pleased and his eyes seem to be burning with a faint joy. "Maybe, just maybe…"

He pressed on of his tattered ears against his friend's chest and listened, 'Yes, he's still there,' he thought, 'well just about anyway. I need to get him back to the tribe as quick as possible.'

Chem had wandered over to see what Raga had been doing. Her inquisitive face was wet with salty tears and she burrowed her face into Linka's hair.

"Chem?" the red cat whispered. The cub ignored her friend at continued to breathe in the scent of Linka's fur. It usually comforted her more than anything in the world, but now it just made things worse.

"Chem?" Raga said again patiently. The cub looked up with wet eyes and Raga said, "I think he may still be alive." Chem gasped as if something had caught in her throat and she squeaked into Linka's ear,

"Linka! Linka! Speak to me!"

"He can't here you my little friend but we need to get him back to the tribe as quickly as possible, do you understand?"

"Yes, oh yes," Chem sobbed, this time with happiness.

"Ok, go now! There is no time to lose!"

"No time to lose, no time to lose!" she repeated to herself and began to run back to the rest of the Keyra.

"Oh and Chem?" Raga called out behind her. He ran up beside her and took his pendant from around his neck. "Take this, it will bring you luck." He draped it around the cub's thin neck but because the pendant dragged across the floor, he had to drape it a second time. Chem smiled at him and said once more, "No time to loose!" She ran a few more feet before turning her head to look at Linka's body. She sighed with worry and her eyes shone with hope as she ran off into the darkening mist.

Copyright of Meghan Fisher