Minx Ep. 02: Return to Anima

Minx shrugged. The tiger-man sat down in a chair and relaxed. She noted that he was heavier than Rudy, although Rudy was more muscular.

"Why are you keeping me here?"

"Because the rat-man claims that the hyperman wants you, and after looking at you I think that's quite likely."

"He does want me, and he'll be very upset with you if I, or my friends, come to any harm."

"We're surrounded by an army. What can he hope to do?"

"He has a ship."

"We're far from the ocean."

"I mean a flying ship." The tiger-man looked at her in disbelief. "And he has weapons that can kill you from a distance."

"Even if what you're saying is true, I suspect that any weapon that can deal death across a great distance is not a very discriminating one. It's in my best interest to keep you prisoner here in my tent, Minx."

She scowled. "How do you know he's in that — fortress?"

"He was observed. At first we thought he was simply a human, but then stories started circulating about a hyperman being seen, and he killed some animen. A few of us made the connection. I was chosen to lead the attack against him. What can you tell me about him?"

Minx looked away.

"Come on, cat-girl!" The tiger-man rose from his seat. "He could destroy us all and you're acting like a spoiled kitten! He's a hyperman! Don't you remember the instructions that Morovan left for us?"

Minx turned back to him and he calmed down. "My advice to you, General, is that you disperse your army and let me go to him. I can convince him not to hurt any of you. I can even convince him to leave Anima forever."

"Bah! Clearly you're smarter than most other cat-girls, so why can't you see the danger we're in? Why do you think a hyperman will listen to anything a cat-girl says?"

"I've given you the best advice you've had in a long time, General. You're a fool not to take it. That hyperman can kill you without ever leaving that place. He could kill everyone in this camp. Do you want that on your conscience?"

"Shut up, you stupid cat-girl! Why did I ever listen to Rudy?" The tiger-man stood and began pacing about the tent. "He said I should talk to you, that you could help us! But all I'm getting are your stupid, selfish fantasies!"

Minx sat and thought. How could she convince this animan to believe her? Rudy had trouble believing she wasn't really a cat-girl, this tiger-man would think her mad. Should she simply call Ship? Would seeing a flying vessel convince him there was more going on then he knew?

Suddenly, his arms appeared from behind her and a cloth was stuffed in her mouth. She tried to turn her head, but the tiger-man had the advantage of position and size. He quickly had her gagged.

"That'll shut you up!" He stood and walked around the pole and stood in front of her. "Don't worry, you won't be harmed. And once the hyperman is dead you'll be set free. Rudy seems to want you, as does Rarvey. One of them can have you, and the other can have your friend."

Minx watched, glaring at her captor all the while, as he went to a table and checked a few papers. About half an hour later he got up and left the tent without a word.

Minx sat, leaning against the pillow between her and the tent pole. She was dozing lightly when a sound outside the tent awoke her. She peered through half-closed eyes at the entrance, but kept her head low.

A few seconds later the bear-man, Bjarn, walked in. He took a quick look behind him and then approached Minx. "Psst! Cat-girl!"

Minx opened her eyes and tilted her head back. Bjarn took a couple of steps away from her. Then he advanced and lowered her gag.

"What do you want?" she asked in a disgusted tone.

"Hey, don't be like that. I treated you fairly."

"You let your lizard drug me, and then gave me to the priests."

"Well, you were handy. And I needed an offering to get in and ask the Prophet something." The bear-man ran his stubby-fingered hand through his hair and frowned slightly.

"Didn't get the answer you wanted, did you?"

"Naw. But things have turned out much better for me lately. I have a few questions for you, cat-girl, and I can make it worth your while if you answer me." He crouched down so their faces were almost at the same level.

Minx raised an eyebrow. "You're going to free me? Won't the General be rather upset at you?"

"I'm not stupid enough to try to free you, girl. I can talk to the General and maybe a couple of the other tiger-men, and convince them that you've nothing to do with this hyperman we're after."

"You seem to hold a lot of power for someone who was trying to beg his way into the Temple of Morovan a few short weeks ago," Minx observed.

"Well, things have changed. Morovan provides for the faithful." Minx turned away from him and looked to the entrance of the tent. When would the General get back, she wondered?

"Oh, the General won't be coming back for awhile. He's in a strategy meeting with his officers and a few others. We're all alone, cat-girl." He gave her a few seconds to let that sink in, but was angered by the lack of affect on her. "Look! Where did you get those two little — things?"

"Two little things...?" she stared back at him in confusion.

"You know. You had one on your belt and the other sorta caught up in your hair."

"Oh, those. They're keepsakes. An old — lover gave them to me."

"Did he show you anything about them?"

Damn, thought Minx, he must know they're weapons or can be used as such. "No. They were pretty and he gave them to me. He told me they weren't worth much. Do you still have them?"

The bear-man reached into his shirt and pulled out one of her laser pistols. "So these aren't worth much then?" He pointed it at her forehead. "So if I pull on this little button, here, there shouldn't be anything to worry about?"

Minx kept her breathing steady. "They have buttons?" She stared, as innocently as she could, straight at the laser gun.

Bjarn rose to his feet and tucked the weapon back in his shirt. "Stupid me for thinking a cat-girl knew anything except how to fuck!" He paced back and forth a few times, and then stopped suddenly. "But I can't let you tell the General of my little visit, can I?"

"If you give me my toys back I won't tell him you were here."

Bjarn approached Minx and then quickly raised and tightened the gag over her mouth. He smirked and went to the entrance, where he peeked out and then, after a few seconds, left.

Minx stood and twisted around to get a good look at the chain. It looked solid and was certainly thick enough that she couldn't snap it. She pulled on it and found she had a body length of movement from the tent pole, but her arms were still shackled behind her! She imagined trying to pass her arms under her legs so they would be in front of her, but just didn't think it would be possible.

She knew Bjarn was planning to kill her, and she had to come up with some way to defend herself. She went back to the pole so he wouldn't be aware of how much manoeuvring room she had. He couldn't just shoot her with the laser pistol, she knew, it would be clear that someone had murdered her. He had to make it look like an accident, but how could he do that in the middle of this encampment?

She heard someone near the entrance again and saw Bjarn walk in, looking smug. He winked at Minx. She watched as he walked to one of the walls of the tent, and then lifted up the fabric. His lizard squeezed in. Bjarn grabbed it by its collar.

"Amazing things. Pedro and his kind have the ability to camouflage themselves by changing their colour. At night they become almost invisible when they want to be. Of course, everyone knows they're very dangerous and almost impossible to domesticate." Bjarn paused and stared at Minx. "That means they're hard to train."

Minx's heart was beating very fast. She had a good idea how he intended to keep her quiet. She tried to talk through the gag, but the sounds were unintelligible.

"You know the other thing that everyone knows about these creatures? Cat-girls are their favourite food. They roam from farm to farm, looking for the elderly and the slow, any cat-girls working off by themselves in a field. When they find a target they crawl as close as they can, fully hidden by their colour-changing trick. Then they bolt for their prey. Sometimes they simply knock the cat-girl down and lick her. Sometimes they extend their tongue to its full length. Their prey becomes docile and dopey very quickly. Then they eat their girl whole, always beginning at the head."

Minx's skin crawled. His description made it clear that he had witnessed these events. Her heart went out to those poor cat-girls.

"Some people think their tongues hold a deadly poison and the cat-girls are dead before they're swallowed. You and I know that's just not true. The victims are alive as they go down the lizard's throat, although they usually stop moving by the time the lizard is half-way through his meal. These lizards dislocate their jaws to get that big a morsel down their gullet. The whole feeding process takes quite a long while, sometimes."

"So, you see, poor Pedro broke free and I looked all over for him. Of course, I never thought to look in the General's tent." He gave Minx a cold smile. "I believe you and Pedro have some unfinished business, cat-girl. He won't be able to chew through the chain, but he will be able to swallow you completely. Since you're just another cat-girl they'll likely cut the chain and turn well-fed Pedro back over to me. A pity I have to miss the show, though. I've come to enjoy the spectacle." He looked down at the lizard. "Pedro! Stay!"

The lizard hissed at him. Bjarn released it and walked backwards to the tent entrance. The lizard's eye remained fixed on him. The bear-man took a quick glance outside and then slipped away.

The reptile swung its head around immediately after Bjarn's departure, and Minx and the lizard eyed each other. It took a few steps toward her, changing colour as it did so. But it couldn't seem to decide on any one hue, perhaps because the interior of the General's tent wasn't uniform in colour. The beast returned to its natural mix of yellow and brown. It advanced a few more steps toward her, tentatively, as if unsure of how to stalk prey that was watching it.

Minx thought frantically. There was nothing within easy reach that she could kick at the beast and do some real harm with. Her only hope was that someone would come in and see what was going on.

The lizard advanced again. Its mouth opened slightly, and Minx prepared to try to dodge its tongue. She couldn't remember how fast it lashed out. There was a slight and suggestive movement in the beast's throat and Minx quickly dodged behind the pole.

The tongue flew past her face and then whipped back into the creature's wide-open maw. How it missed slashing its own tongue on those sharp, triangular teeth Minx had no idea. She spread her legs, ready to move if it charged her.

The lizard advanced another few steps and Minx spotted the bulge and roll in the throat muscles. She jumped back to her right and felt an impact on her left shoulder. She instinctively wrapped her lower left leg about the tent pole and braced herself with her right leg.

The beast's tongue pulled at her, and Minx knew that if she hadn't braced herself she would have fallen head-first right in front of the carnivore. She tensed her muscles, resisting the pull as best she could. Her right foot slid a little forward just as the lizard inched forward, as well.

She wondered why the poison didn't seem to be affecting her. She felt a tingling where the tongue was stuck to her shoulder, but no other ill effects. The creature took a couple of steps toward her, and Minx cursed silently. She knew that in the end the lizard would win this silent tug of war, because it could advance on her but there was only so far she could retreat. However, Minx refused to give up.

As the beast slowly approached, its weight was pulling her into a crouch and bringing her upper body closer and closer to the ground. She knew there were only seconds left before it lunged for her and had a grip on her head. At that point she would have no hope of survival.

An unexpected roar at the entrance to the tent caught the attention of both her and the beast. Minx turned her head to see Rudy standing there, holding the tent flaps wide open. Fran was peering inside beside him and there was a look of horror upon her face.

The lizard's tongue released Minx and disappeared behind its teeth. With no force pulling her forward Minx was thrown back, but she did manage to see Rudy dash across the tent with his sword held high.

Minx struggled to right herself, and after several seconds Fran appeared beside her. The cat-girl helped Minx to her knees and removed her gag, and then the two watched in awe as Rudy and the beast battled ferociously. Rudy's sword was stuck in the ground, with much of the lizard's tongue wrapped around it.

The loss of its tongue only seemed to have made the beast more savage. The two combatants raked each other with their claws and bit each other with their fangs. Blood flew from the two with every lunge, throw and flip. The end of the battle came suddenly, when the lizard reared up and Rudy ducked underneath. He held the beast in place while he raked its abdomen with his talons until a large gash had opened up. Then Rudy repeatedly reached in and pulled out whatever innards his claws could catch on. The lizard grew weaker and weaker, until it simply collapsed. Rudy pulled out a few more handfuls of bloody gore before he finally stopped and stared at his defeated opponent, as he dropped its body to the ground.

Minx glanced at Fran, who was staring at Rudy in adulation. "Fran, you were very brave to come into the tent with that thing still alive."

"I had to, Minx. You were in danger!" Fran had not taken her eyes from Rudy. Rudy had slowly risen to his feet and was wiping blood and streamers of lizard flesh from his arms and hands.

"Go to him, Fran. He needs you," whispered Minx.

Fran leapt to her feet and ran to the tiger-man, grabbing a sheet from the bed on her way. She helped Rudy clean himself.

"What in Anima has been happening here?" shouted a voice at the tent entrance. Minx turned to see the furious General, shadowed by what were probably his officers.

Minx tenderly rubbed her wrists. They were sore, and the skin was scraped raw in a few places, but she felt much better with the chains removed. The cast an accusing glare at the old tiger-man.

"I am sorry, Minx," said the General, for what was probably the fourth time. "I really never meant any harm to come to you. We were going to free you as soon as the hyperman was dealt with."

"And what of Bjarn?" asked Rudy, with his arms crossed across his massive chest. Fran was still fussing over his many wounds.

Everyone at the table was seated. Those beyond, Minx assumed they were officers, were standing so they could see and hear everyone. Fran was also standing, but she fidgeted about and wasn't paying attention to anything that was said.

"I've men out searching for him, but we haven't found him yet," replied the tired-looking General. "I've freed Minx, and I accept everything that you told me earlier was the truth. Will you support me?"

Everyone waited silently to hear Rudy's answer. Minx had learned that there had been a shift in power in this army; many now wanted Rudy in command, but she wasn't sure why.

"You're the General and I swore to serve you."

The General let out a sigh of relief that was audible to everyone at the table. "So, we need a plan to get this hyperman to leave the House of Morovan..."

"Why?" asked Julius. "Don't get me wrong, I mean no disrespect to any of you. But why can we simply not go in there and get him?"

The horse-man priest turned to Julius in surprise. "The House of Morovan is forbidden to the animen. Morovan himself commanded this. How can you not know this?" There were several nods among those at the table.

"Well, actually, he didn't," Julius argued. "The Creator said 'all animen will be welcomed home' and elsewhere in the Book of Morovan he states 'the view on high is forbidden to all animen'. He also differentiates between animen and aniwomen at several places in His Book."

"By The Creator! That old argument? This was settled years ago! The view on high refers to the House of Morovan. Where else could it refer to?" asked the horse-man.

"Well — actually it may refer to somewhere else," Minx said. Everyone turned to her and Julius gave her an odd smile. "There is another place, high above the House of Morovan. It sits in the sky directly above it and is so far away it cannot be seen. But it is there, nonetheless."

A few openly scoffed at her testimony. The horse-man simply said, "By The Creator! I'll be right back!" and then dashed out of the war council.

"How can you believe in such a thing, cat-girl?" asked one of the officers. Minx noted that the General looked at Rudy and the younger tiger-man simply nodded in response.

"Because some have seen it!" shouted the horse-man pushing his way through the crowded tent. He came to the table and set a telescope down on it. "This tool is used by sailors to help in navigation. I was given it as an offering many years ago and I've been experimenting with it. One day I turned it to the sky and I was amazed by what I saw. Come outside and I'll show you!"

He pushed his way out of the tent, followed by every occupant. The horse-man trained the telescope on the area of sky directly above the House of Morovan and searched. With a satisfied smile he handed it to the General. After a few minutes, the General passed it off to someone else and went back into the tent.

Minx followed him in, and they waited for everyone to take their turn and then return. She was touched by how sombre the mood now was.

"So you see," began the horse-man, "it is possible that Julius and the cat-girl are correct! Although, I'm not very certain about that..."

"It just floats there above the House of Morovan..." said the General. "Why did Morovan put it there?"

"To protect you," said Minx. Rudy, Julius and Fran looked at her sharply. "Obviously the 'view on high' was put there by Morovan to watch over Anima, possibly to protect it as well."

The General looked at her. "But it just floats there..."

Minx opened her mouth and then stopped. How could she explain orbital mechanics to a people that didn't even have gunpowder?

"Morovan wrought many wonders, General," said Julius. "I trust his house is open to us, but that place," he said, pointing up," is not."

"I believe you," stated Rudy.

The General looked at Rudy and a crafty look came into his eye. "Many will refuse to go. But a brave and respected Captain might be able to lead a squad into the House of Morovan to capture or kill the hyperman."

"I volunteer," said Rudy loudly, rising to his feet. "You'll have to stay outside and watch over the army, General. If the hyperman escapes us, or if he kills us all and then emerges seeking vengeance, we'll need someone to lead the attack upon him."

"I'll go," said Minx, ignoring the smile Rudy directed at her. "This can be resolved peacefully, and I'll make sure that happens. When do we leave?"

"You leave as soon as you've assembled your squad," commanded the older tiger-man, looking Rudy in the eye. The younger tiger-man nodded and then left the tent. A few of those within the tent followed him out.

In the end, Minx was surprised to see how small the group was. She had been afraid that a larger group might contain some hotheads, and that could have led to violence. Julius was there, as was Fran. Minx had instructed them to stay close to her once they were inside the structure.