The Spirit of the Cat

Thomas' face tightened. His eyes darkened. His mouth opened in soft pants. He was close, she could see it. Alanna bit her lip hard, trying to distract herself from coming too soon.

Their movements quickened. Thomas put his hands to the sides of her face, holding her so that he could watch her eyes.

Alanna increased her pace, pounding against him roughly, riding him for all she was worth until he writhed in ecstasy. Then and only then did she allow herself to follow Thomas over the precipice and find her own pleasure.

Afterwards, Thomas simply held her, enjoying the closeness of being inside her. They fell asleep still joined.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Old Woman stood by the well of the Others, watching as time and fate swirled ever closer together in the dark waters. "The Dark One comes. The time for battle draws near, Old Man."

The Dark One was impatient. He yearned for battle. Old Man hoped the Compact would hold, but knew the Dark One found it increasingly to abide by the God's restrictions. He sighed. "I was afraid of that." His knees creaked as he dropped onto the ground nearby. "We are not ready for this, Old Woman."

Old Woman cast herbs upon the surface of the water. "Whether we are ready or not is of little consequence, Old Man. The story of our lives has already been written. We cannot undo the telling, we can strive only to insure that the outcome is as it should be."

Old Man nodded. "Aye, woman. So it is written, so it shall be." He rose wearily, stretching his hand out to grasp his mate's. "Come woman. The Gods wait for no man. Let us prepare for the times to come as best we can."

****

Alanna sat cross-legged, desperately trying to achieve a state of calm. Her assignment today was to find a way to communicate with her cat. The task should have been an easy one, at least Thomas had told her it would be easy. But every time she tried to empty her mind, her thoughts returned to her late-night conversation with Thomas. Alanna was despondent. She could deal with cranky editors and pushy publishers. But this business of battling the 'dark' absolutely unnerved her.

She sighed deeply, shifting uncomfortably from one buttock to the other. Whoever said the Lotus position was ideal for meditation was insane. She gave up, uncrossed her legs and dropped her head in her hands. "Why? Why am I a part of this? Why would the Gods choose me for this task? What does it all mean?"

A quiet voice eased its way through the recesses of her mind. 'You are needed, Guardian. Your purpose will become clear to you soon.'

Oh, Gods! Had she made contact? Alanna sat up so quickly she almost fell over. "What the hell?" she exclaimed.

'I do not understand your query,' the voice purred.

Just her luck. The cat's speech syntax was a throwback to a prior century. "Gods, can't anything about this mess be easy?"

'I have often been confused with the Gods. But I am not a God, I am merely a protector of the People.'

Okay. Maybe this would work if she kept her questions simple. Alanna tried again. "Are you my cat?"

'I am the Tjurunga. I am the one who has chosen you. I seek only to offer you comfort.'

Alanna crawled to a chair. "Why wouldn't you answer my call earlier?"

'I did not think you truly desired my presence at first.' The voice paused a moment or two. 'After awhile, I could feel your anxiety, your worry. I sought only to comfort you, Guardian.'

Well, the cat was sympathetic to her plight. That was a plus. Maybe. She licked her lips. "Okay. So..." She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. "I guess this isn't any weirder than anything else that's happened so far." She nodded decisively, "You're probably right. I could use a little comfort."

The Tjurunga spoke swiftly now. "We share one body, but we are still two minds. I know this is not comfortable for you, Guardian."

Alanna smiled grimly. "No, it hasn't been comfortable; but I'm trying very hard to get used to it." She paused. "Cat, why did you choose me?"

Alanna thought for a moment the Tjurunga would not answer. 'You are needed,' it whispered.

She nodded. "Yes, you've said that. Why me, though?"

'You are the Chosen One.'

She slammed a fist on her desk. "Damn it! This is like pulling teeth! One freaking minimal answer at a time. Why can't you just spit it out?"

Confusion spilled across Alanna's mind. 'I'm sorry, Guardian. What is it you wish me to spit out? Have we eaten something objectionable?'

Great. The stupid cat was a literalist. "No. I meant, why am I 'the Chosen One'?"

'Ahh...' The voice paused. 'The Gods foretold...'

Alanna waved her hand impatiently. She absolutely did not need to hear anymore of this prophecy bullshit. She needed actual answers. "Yeah, yeah. The Gods said I'm to do battle with the dark, mate with Thomas and make the world a better place. Right, I got that. Seriously, though. Why me​

Feelings of peace and serenity swept through her, enveloping her in a blanket of warmth. 'Be at peace, Guardian.'

She closed her eyes, accepting the comfort that was offered.

'You are a true Guardian, young one. Your hereditary line can be traced backwards through time immemorial to the blood of the very first Guardian. It is for this reason I chose you.'

It's a family thing? Who knew? "So why me? Why not my brother? Or my cousin or some other lucky family member?" She asked.

'Your brother would not be suitable. Nor would your cousins, all of whom descend from your mother's brothers. Your hereditary line is matriarchal, the power in your family flows only through the females.'

So it was all her Mother's fault. Huh. Alanna blinked slowly, lost in thought. "So... if I'm related to the original Guardian, and this gift or whatever comes down only through the women of my line... I'm what, related to Old Woman?"

'Yes.' The cat purred.

Life could, indeed, get weirder. "Is that why she's here? She's making an extra effort and helping me adjust because I'm family?"

'Partly.'

Alanna rolled her eyes. One word answers provided so much useful information. "Okay, then. If that's only part of the reason, why else is she here?"

The Tjurunga was silent for what seemed like an eternity. 'She must train you, Guardian.'

Uhuh. Alanna gave serious thought to banging her head on her desk top. "Train me to...?"

'To take her place when the battle is done.'

Alanna was confused. "Take her place? Where is she going?"

Sorrow flowed through her. 'Guardian.' Regret tinged its words. 'The old woman is not fated to survive this battle. She prepares you to take her place in the world. To assume her duties as mentor and wise woman when the Gods return her body to the earth and her soul to the Dreamtime.'

No, no, no! The Gods were confused. No amount of training could prepare her for that! "I should have known better than to ask." Alanna's boots slammed the floor with each step as she pounded out of the room.

****

Alanna searched frantically for her mentors. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her through the house and the garden. But both were empty. Neither Old Man, Old Woman, nor Thomas were anywhere to be found. She had to find Old Woman. Alanna needed the wise woman to tell her the truth.

"Where are they?" Alanna gasped breathlessly. They hadn't left her alone for more than a week, why would they start now?

"Perhaps," an oily voice rolled thickly through the air, "they have abandoned you."

Alanna whirled, startled. A stranger sat in the old wicker rocker to her left. "Who the hell are you?"

His smile caused the fine hairs at the nape of her neck to bristle. "Why, Alanna. I am your destiny. Surely they told you?"

Alanna's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean you're my destiny?"

The dark man rose. He was taller than Thomas, darker, much more foreboding. He walked towards her. His gait confident, his strides sure. "How disappointing. I thought for certain the Tjurunga would choose someone with a bit of intelligence." He walked a circle around her. "Of course, the Gods have always been a little crazy."

Alanna turned her head, following his path with her eyes. "I don't know who the hell you are..." Alanna growled.

The man stopped directly in front of her, reaching out a long-fingered hand to grab her by the neck. "Do you not?" His grip tightened. "Think about all of the players in this little game of yours, my dear. Who is it you have not yet met, hmm?"

Damn and double-damn! The Dark One! "But you can't be the Dark One! You're not supposed to show up until the equinox!"

He leaned his dark head down, pressing his lips to her ear and whispered, "Did not the Old Man tell you that time means little, Guardian?" He drew a long nail down the side of her cheek, leaving a deep welt. "Like your cat, I am not constrained by the world's concept of time."

'Call to me, Alanna,' her cat whispered in her mind.

Alanna's cheek burned. It was difficult to breath and she was loosing her ability to focus. Cat. She had to call her cat. Alanna clawed desperately at the hands wrapped around her throat.

'Call to me now, Alanna!' her cat growled.

Alanna took a short breath and desperately tried to focus her thoughts. There! She could see the cat in her mind 'Come,' she whispered silently. Alanna almost wept when heat rushed through her body. Sheer joy flooded her when pain crept through her jaw and the itching started. She raised a hand, watching gratefully as her image began to blur. "Yes!" she cried.

"No!" The man holding her shouted and dropped her to the ground. "This cannot be! You cannot have mastered the Tjurunga so soon!"

Alanna roared triumphantly, stalking forward towards the Dark One on four feet now instead of two. 'Bad man. Evil man.' The cat growled. 'You will not hurt what is mine!'

Suddenly, the air in front of Alanna blurred. In the space where the Dark One had stood now appeared a great serpent. 'Think you to best me, young one?' It hissed. 'Best the Dark One?'

"Alanna, no!" Voices cried out across the garden. "Do not do this! It is not yet time."

The cat ignored the voices and swiped at the serpent with a great paw.

The serpent moved swiftly out of reach. 'Hah! It is too soon. Too soon!' The serpent sang. 'You are no match for me, for me!' It slithered closer, curling to strike. 'Come and greet me, young one. Come greet your destiny!'

A hard body slammed into Alanna, knocking her to the side. 'No!'

Alanna shook her head, rising to rejoin the fight. Only to discover the serpent was no longer there. Alanna shifted quickly, returning once again to human form. "Where did he go? What just happened?"

"Gods breath, Alanna!" Thomas reached out, roughly pulling her to him. "I did not think he would come for you before the equinox. We were supposed to have more time..." He buried his face in her hair, drawing on her scent, reassuring himself that she was safe and whole.

Old Woman's voice whispered through their minds. 'We are out of time, children.'

"No, it can't be!" Alanna turned and saw the old woman, still in cat form, lying on the ground. Her body was twisted at an awkward angle and blood ran from the many punctures in her neck and chest.

Alanna looked on in horror as the cat curled into itself, painfully doing what it could to help the Old Woman regain human form.

Alanna pushed away from Thomas, running to her mentor's side. "What happened? You're hurt!"

Old Man lifted his mate into his arms, cradling her body against him. Even though he had known his mate would perish in battle, his soul was not prepared for the loss.

"Do not grieve for me, Old Man." Old Woman whispered, her eyes reflecting her love for the man who had walked beside her for millennium. "I will see you again in the Dreamtime." She held her hand out to Alanna. "Come, child, we have little time now. Take my hand."

Alanna's eyes filled with tears, "But..."

Gods save her from impertinent children! "Take my hand, child!" Old Woman commanded.

Alanna clasped the old woman's hand desperately between her own. An arc of light flew between the two women. Alanna gasped as burning heat rushed up her arms and through her body. She tried to let go, but could not. "Please!"

'Hear me, child.' Old Woman's voice whispered through Alanna's mind. 'Accept all that I have learned through the ages. Know all that is, all that was, all that will be. Remember, child. Remember...'

Alanna's eyes snapped open. It was not supposed to be like this. It was not supposed to happen this way. The cat had said Old Woman would die in battle. That time had not come yet! Tears ran down her cheeks. She looked down, desperate for one more look at her mentor's face--only to find the old woman's body was no longer there. "No!"

Old Man folded his hands into tight fists, ignoring the blood that covered them. His ancient eyes were dark with pain and sorrow. His heart grieved. "Old Woman is of this earth no more, young one." He had walked beside his mate for centuries. Now... Now he could only see her while Dreaming.

Old Man rose, staring for a moment at the ground where his mate had taken her last breath. "Come, Guardian. We've little time now." He turned, walking briskly towards the house. He never once looked back.

Alanna looked to Thomas, sorrow and despair threatening to overtake her. He held his hand out to her and together they returned to the house.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Alanna sat at the table in the kitchen, holding tightly to Thomas' hand. "I know who he is now."

Old Man poured a cup of tea for each of them before sitting down. "The fight between light and dark is as ancient as the Gods themselves, young one. The Dark One..." His gnarled hands wrapped tightly around his mug. "Should he win this fight..." his voice trailed off.

Yeah, Alanna had seen Old Woman's memories first hand. She knew the Dark One's nature. If he won, the impact of his victory would be like that of a nuclear bomb. Alanna nodded her head. "I know. If the Dark One wins, everything is lost."

"Yes, that is so." Old Man placed his cup on the table before him. "Everything—all that was, all that is and all that will be—will be destroyed forever."

Alanna sighed, clearly overwhelmed by loss and her new responsibilities. Old Woman's memories were almost too much for one person to hold. "Old Woman showed me all that she knew. But... Her memories..." She shook her head.

Thomas could feel his mate's pain and frustration. He stroked the back of her hand, rubbing his fingers in circles to soothe her. "The prophecy says only that the battle between light and dark ends when the chosen confronts her destiny on the day the newborn sun races across the sky and day and night are equal. Then, and only then, can the Dark One be defeated."

Alanna pushed away from the table with a frustrated groan. "What the hell does that mean? Nothing in Old Woman's memories tells me how to defeat the Dark One. Only that I must defeat him—or sit back and watch as everything and everyone I've ever known is destroyed."

Old Man watched Alanna pace the length of the kitchen. The young Guardian's strongest trait and greatest flaw was her propensity to worry something to death. "Think, young one. What did the Dark One say to you before we arrived."

What did he say? Alanna pushed a hand through her hair. "He said..." She thought a moment. "The Dark One said he was my destiny. That he thought the Tjurunga would have chosen someone with more intelligence; but, the Gods were crazy, so..." She shrugged.

Thomas's brow rose in question. "The Dark One said he was your destiny?" He turned to the old man. "That's a bit odd, don't you think?" Could there have been more to the prophecy than Old Woman told them?

Old Man's eyes took on a distant expression. "Yes... yes, it is. The prophecy only showed one path. I wonder..."

"You wonder what?" Alanna asked.

Old Man shook his head. "I must think on this." His physical form melted swiftly to nothingness.

Alanna waived her hand towards the chair where the old man had sat. "I really hate it when he does that."

Thomas stood. Taking Alanna by the hand he pulled her down the hall towards the bedroom. "Come, my dear. I would spend all the time I can with you before we battle the Dark One again."

Alanna smiled wearily. She had lost a great friend today. And maybe she would lose the battle with the Dark One, but at least the Gods had brought her Thomas. Even if it was only for a short time.

****

Thomas' hands roamed Alanna's body. "Mine." He growled softly. "My mate!"

"Ahhh, Thomas." Alanna arched, trying to make contact with as much of him all at one time as she possibly could. Sorrow and desperation had served to make the needing intensify. She and Thomas had coupled only hours before, but the way her body ached for him now it felt more like days.

"Your body calls to me, Alanna." He purred against her neck. She stroked his erection with a firm hand and he shuddered against her. "I want..."

"What?" Alanna gasped as Thomas' nimble fingers found her. Her body softened. Moisture pooled between her thighs as her body rode his hand. "Oh... Thomas..."

He turned her, pushing her to her hands and knees before him. The pale curve of her bottom was enticing. "I need to mate, Alanna." His thumb pushed inside her, testing her readiness. "I need to mount you, to take you like this."

Something in Thomas' voice unnerved her. Alanna tried to pull away. Thomas' hands grabbed her roughly and he used the weight of his body to push her down. "Yes, that's it. Fight me. Fight me, little one. Twill serve to make the victory sweeter."

She struggled against him, the cat within her stirring to life as it too sensed the presence of its mate. "Thomas, please."

He mouthed Alanna's neck, nipping at the soft spot just above her shoulder.

"Ah, Gods." Alanna cried out.

Thomas shifted forward, pushing his way roughly between her legs. She could feel the hard length of him, his heat burning against her tender flesh. She bucked her hips against him, crying out at the intensity of the sensations rolling through her.

Thomas' teeth scraped across her neck once, twice, then fastened tightly, holding her in place.

Alanna grew passive, dropping her shoulders and raising her hips to him submissively as if she were a female cat at the peak of her heat.

With one quick thrust Thomas buried himself deeply inside her.

Alanna cried out, shifting her hips and pushing back to take him in even deeper. "All of it, Thomas!" she cried. "Gods, give me all of it!"

Thomas pulled out and drove in again hard. She was wet, but still really tight. It felt so good. So very good! He pulled her up slightly, angling his hips so that the friction from his cock moving in and out rubbed right against her most sensitive areas.

Alanna needed something. Something more. The friction was good, but it wasn't enough. She sobbed in frustration. "Thomas please!"

Thomas' hand smoothed across the tender cheeks of her ass. His thumb stroked up and down against her crack and she cried out. He leaned forward, easing a hand between her legs to gather moisture and bringing it back to play along the pink pucker of her ass.

Alanna's breath caught. Memories of another time, another man flooded through her. Fear rode along her nerves. "Thomas, no. I... it's been a very long time. Please..." she begged.

Thomas ignored her. He spread the moisture he'd gathered carefully across her rosette, making sure to coat her well so he would not injure her.

Pleasure overrode the fear. Dark desire fluttered through Alanna, increasing the needing. She wanted.... She needed... She had no words to give him. Desperately, Alanna pushed back harder, humping her hips against him to try to find release.