She was tired. It’s been three days since the damn creature attacked her lair. By the time she realized what was happening most of her litter, as well as her mate, were already dead. Now she only had the one kitten left, her brother dying when she didn’t return from crossing the river fast enough. The little one started opening her eyes earlier this evening, the only one out of a litter of six. She knew that not all of them would have survived, but being snuffed out so early broke her heart even more. Especially since the creature was a mindless monster, it had no appreciation for the hunt, for the preservation of its game, glory of a fast and clean kill. No, it just followed their scent, relentlessly. She hoped crossing the river would throw it off their trail, but no such luck. How the creature managed such without even a nose, she didn’t know.
It was now close to the end of the third night. She barely remembered the last time she slept, not wanting to risk losing the only family she had left, she just kept running, kitten in her muzzle. She was faster than the monster, usually quieter, but it didn’t matter. She had to stop and feed her mewling. She needed sleep, the creature did not. Instead it just moved, uncaring, towards them. When she heard it crashing through the woods earlier in the night she decided she’s had enough. She was almost certain it was futile if even her mate, faster and stronger than she was, failed. But she had to try and save her last baby, and she couldn’t do that while they were hunted like game.
Hiding her daughter in the roots of a large tree, she doubled back and waited. The creature was easy to notice, pushing and snapping branches, rustling leaves and jostling rocks as it ponderously moved towards them. Coating her paws in shadow as her mother taught her she jumped out and raked at the monster. Slashes appeared on its translucent form, her joy quickly fading when they healed just as fast. She tried several more attacks. At first the monster didn’t react, simply kept moving towards where she hid with her mewling to feed her. When it finally did, she barely dodged the attack. It rippled, as if a stone hit the surface of water, and from the centre of that ripple a spike shot out towards her. Jumping sideways she shuddered at the sight of a bush, hit by the liquid attack, slowly dissolving. She thought the creature was slightly smaller, but she couldn’t be sure in the darkness. Desperate, she swiped at it several more times. each one taking a chunk of the creature, the attacks still seemed to leave it unaffected.
The fight lasted minutes, though through her lack of sleep and hunger it felt longer. Wanting to preserve what little strength she had left she dismissed the shadows off her paws. That was a bad decision. Apparently it was the only reason her attacks even worked at all. Without this advantage, she found her paw stopping dead in the middle of a swipe and felt a burning sensation like nothing she felt before. She retracted her claws, now sunken in the monster. Another bad decision, as the liquid from its body shot another wave of pain in her paw.
Limping, her right front leg barely touching the ground, she ran for her kitten. Picking her up, she turned to escape yet again. She didn’t know what else to do. She was just about to pick up her mewling when she felt a searing pain on her back, roaring in defiance. Focusing her mind, she grabbed her child and ran again. Gone was the silent stacker from days past. She crashed through the forest much like the monster itself, not caring for the noise or trail she might leave behind. Not that the creature cared anyway. She stumbled through the underbrush and coming upon a clearing she took a second to look around. There. Fire. And not the wild, all consuming fire that sometimes happened when lightning struck a tree or a drake was hunting. Instead, a small circle of orange, and by that circle a shape she didn’t expect to see so deep in the forest. Human. Her parents warned her humans were dangerous. That all of them could use things like her shadow, often to devastating effect. She knew the risk, the foolish gamble she was about to take. But her child’s life came first. And right now she had barely anything left to give. Desperate, she headed for the human, now looking in her direction, hoping for a miracle.
—
Alice’s heart was nearly at her throat, the whispered curse not helping her stress at all. The eyes rushed towards her, when they finally entered the light of the fire, her jaw dropped. In front of her was a massive cat. It was at least three metres long with its tail included. Some of the fur on its flank gone, the skin blistered and glistening in the orange light. As she watched, captivated, she saw the creatures limp. Wound like a spring, unsure of what to expect she waited, eyes glued to the feline. Instead of jumping at her, it limped closer. With a start she realised the beast was just as tightly wound as she was. A tiny peep came from the beings mouth and for a second Alice and Whimsy were confused at the apparent contrast. Such a grand, if wounded, creature making that noise. But then they spied the kitten hanging in the maw of, what they assumed was, their mother, the tiny baby looking around, bleary eyed. Whimsy’s voice came quiet as a whisper, even inside her head she had to strain to hear her.
“Shadow panther. Something’s massively wrong though. There’s very few creatures I know that could hurt one, let alone force it to leave its lair with such a young kitten. I mean, look, it’s barely opening its eyes, it’s at most two weeks old, that’s basically a newborn. Usually—”
“Not really the time for a zoology lesson.” Alice’s sharp voice cut off Whimsy. “What do I do?”
“I don’t— I’m not sure.” Whimsy’s reply was tinged with regret. “They’re supposedly quite clever, and I don’t think it wouldapproach you like this without reason. They’re night hunters and can use shadow magic, hence the name. I think it’s not planning to kill you. If it did, we’d not see it until it was on top of you.”
As if hearing Whimsy’s explanation, the feline circled the fire slowly, eyes still locked on Alice. It was almost on the other side of the fire from its approach when one of its legs buckled and it fell, the mewling kitten falling from its muzzle with a small whimper. The panther tried to rise, but was clearly too weak and looking up at Alice it hissed once, then looked towards where it came from before closing its eyes. The little kitten staggered, and with its nose high up in the air it sniffled for a second, then, wobbling on its tiny legs, moved towards the seemingly unconscious parent. Confused, Alice was trying to figure out what just happened.
Right on cue another loud rustling nose came from the direction her unexpected visitor arrived. Alice strained her eyes but could only make out a vague, circular shape, slowly moving towards them. It was about halfway to them when Alice heard Whimsy swear, loudly, in her head.
“That... That’s a slime. An acid slime, if the wounds on the panther are to go by.” She sounded almost frantic to Alice. “I don’t think you can fight it. The only way I know of defeating one is magic, preferably fire.” Alice stiffened, then spoke, slightly confused.
“Shouldn’t slimes be, like, the weakest possible monster?”
“If they’re young, and if you can use magic sure. This one is clearly not, what with the size, and you’re not a mage. Shit, you can’t even access your mana yet. You’ve gotta go. Now.” Whimsy’s voice got hard.
“No.” Alice surprised both of them with her staunch response. “I’m not leaving the panthers to just get eaten by that thing. All my life I said I’m a cat person, guess it’s more true than I thought.” She said with a wry smile. Small noises of distress came from beside her helping to reinforce her conviction.
Looking into the fire pit she grit her teeth and grabbed one of the merrily burning logs. The hot wood was unpleasant to hold, but it didn’t hurt as she expected. She took aim and threw it at the slime. The fired flared some as the projectile flew through the air, barely hitting the monster. A small trickle of steam rose from where the flame touched it, the creature stopping. Encouraged, she threw several more pieces of wood, some still burning, some just embers, at the slime. The attacker lost some of its volume, noticeably smaller now. Unfortunately, so did her ammunition supply, only a few small sticks left. Not wanting to lose the vestiges of light before sunrise she frantically thought of what to do next. Eyes locked on the slime, her mind racing, she saw the monster shudder. As a ripple started to form on its surface, Whimsy shouted in her head.
“Dodge! Now!”
Not wanting to take chances, she jumped, narrowly missing a spike of acid. It hit the tree behind her, sizzling with an ominous sound. Looking back, her eyes widened as she saw a hole, at least a third of the way deep, slowly widening in the tree as the slimy substance ate away the wood. She didn’t have time to ponder as another ripple formed and she had to once again jump away. This sequence repeated several times, each time Alice jumped further and further away from the fire. She had to watch out where she landed as more and more of the ground around her was covered in a layer of acid. This might work. She thought to herself as the monster shrunk even more, with luck it would kill itself with those attacks.
Unfortunately for her, the slime wasn’t that stupid. After a dozen or so shots the slime rippled again. Alice jumped, dodging the attack... But unlike before, this wasn’t a spike but an inch thick tentacle that came out. She barely hit the ground when it whipped sideways and hit her on the arm. The pain that shot through her drove her to her knees. Looking at her shoulder she saw a hole in her shirt, the skin under already blistering. Desperately, she ripped away the destroyed sleeve and, biting her lower lip in an attempt to distract from the hurting arm. Bundling the cloth she wiped away the offending substance from her skin. Looking up, her eyes widened again. She tumbled sideways as another whip of the tentacle came from above. Doing a full rotation, she fell on her ass and scrambled backwards, her arms and legs moving in a panic as the monster slapped the ground around and in front of her in a frenzy. In her haste she didn’t notice the creature driving her into areas already covered by the acid. She put her hand down behind her, and with a startled scream yanked it back, the palm an angry red. The momentary distraction was enough for the slime to land another hit, this time on her foot. She looked at it, tears in her eyes. What the fuck was I thinking? I’ve barely just started and I’m already going to die? Please no...
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
—
She came in and out of consciousness. The fear, tiredness and damage finally catching up to her as she reached the human. She heard sounds of fighting, screams. She saw small fires flying, then heard the sizzling sound the monsters attacks made. Forcing her eyes open she saw the human jumping about, dodging the spikes the slime shot a them, pulling the horrid creature away from her and her kitten. She could feel the little one licking at her muzzle. She couldn’t however, feel her lower legs. She tried moving them and felt her upper body move a bit, but nothing from about halfway down her spine. Looking at the fighting human she saw when the current of the battle changed. Expecting another spike the human dodged, but instead a tentacle came out and moving sideways landed a hit, downing the human. It managed to scramble away, but when it reached an area that was attacked before it must have hurt one of its forepaws as it made a high pitched noise and lost balance, despite sitting. She had to do something. Hissing, she mustered all her remaining strength, gave her mewling a gentle lick on the head, and stood up. Gathering what little power she had left around her muzzle she let out a roar and jumped, aiming for the tentacle falling towards the human.
—
Alice was ripped out of her own head and the ennui of dying yet again. An ear splitting growl came from beside her and a shadow landed in front of her. The slime’s tentacle ripped clean in half dropped from the panther’s shadow coated muzzle, sizzled, and lost its shape. The feline sat on its rump, the back legs trembling, one front paw in the air. Facing the slime it gave a defiant roar again. Alice knew however the creature was in no shape to fight. Her own legs shaking, she stood up, careful not to touch any of the acid around her. The panther swiped away another tentacle, its paws covered in shadow again, though Alice thought it was getting less dense. Looking around for anything to help them fight off the terrifying slime her eyes landed on her basket, an idea coming to her. Turning that way, she pat her protector on the back and spoke with a note of hysteria in her voice.
“Keep it busy!” Hoping the panther would understand, and last long enough, she jumped. The entire area was covered in the slime’s acid, luckily the basket, somehow, managed to avoid the same fate. She landed near it getting down on her knees and with her good hand found she was looking for. Satisfied, she grabbed the cloth covered item and stood up, turning back to the fight. The slime was now moving towards the black cat, it was less than half a meter across now, compared to the two she thought it started with. It was still dangerous, wildly swinging its appendage at the panther it moved towards. It seemed confident in its victory, the swayed more and more with each swipe of its paw. She didn’t have time. Gathering herself Alice looked at her feet, searching for a safe place to step. Sometime during the fight the sun has come up. Its rays shone through the forest, helping her see the glistening coat on the browning grass. She found her angle, and taking four quick steps towards the monster, she leapt. Cloth clutched in her right hand she felt its contents crush under the desperate grip. She reached the zenith of her jump above the slime and praying, threw the bundle at it. The slime reacted instantly, changing the target of its attack from the panther to the oncoming projectile. All it succeeded in doing, however, was dissolving the cloth and spreading its contents into a powdery rain, sealing its own fate.
—
She felt the human touch her, and heard it say something. She had no idea what it said, but touch was warm and filled with intent. She didn’t have time to look around and see what it was planning as the slime kept its attack. The slime was much smaller now, but it persisted in its offensive. Moments passed as she felt her shadow growing weaker with each strike she swatted away. As the monster started moving closer, its attacks more intent on wasting her energy than hitting her, she took a quick glance towards the human. It was looking around the ground, nodded to itself and picked something up. She didn’t know what the small bundle was but the human seemed satisfied. It looked back towards them, quickly scanned the ground around itself, and taking a running start, it jumped. It clearly overshot, flying above the monster. Just as she was about to deflect another attack, her shadows faltered. So, even this wild gamble failed. Or so she thought, as the tentacle suddenly changed direction, moving away from her and hitting the bundle that the human threw at the slime. As she watched a fine powder, white and smelling of herbs, exploded in the air. Coating the slime, it froze in place. A dark brown layer formed on its surface. Almost desperately, it tried to absorb it, moving the brown deeper into itself. As it kept falling, more and more of the monstrosity turned colour. The tentacle, still wildly flailing above the slime suddenly stopped, then fell in a heap. With a final shudder the slime stopped and fell apart, spilling into a muddy-brown puddle. It was over.
—
Alice came to a skidding halt as she landed, turning around, she sunk to her knees. The slime was gone. She let out a shuddering breath, raising her hand in a victorious fist, and spoke, her voice quivering.
“Thank god that worked.”
“No kidding. I don’t think I’ve ever been this worried about someone... Since the war anyway.” Whimsy’s voice, filled with relief got a plaintive tone. “Please don’t do something like this again.”
“No promises. I’m pretty sure we’ve got a lot of fights ahead.” Alice’s response was like a cold bucket on Whimsy’s frayed emotions. Relief soon followed as Alice continued. “Next time, though... Let’s make sure we’re prepared for what might come. That was way too scary.”
As she spoke, Alice heard a thump, looking around she saw the large shadow panther collapsed. It was facing towards the now dead fire, her paw stretched out. She got up with the intention of checking on the feline. She saw it breathing heavily, still trying to move, eyes focused intently ahead. As she approached, it let out a small whine, looked up at her then back towards the remnants of her camp.
“The baby.” She and Whimsy said at the same time.
Between her injured foot and the puddles of acid liberally covering the area, it took her a minute to hobble over. She saw the small kitten, its eyes opening and closing, nose twitching frantically. She gingerly picked it up, the little creature stiffening in her hand. She gently petted its head, a single finger of her injured hand delicately stroking between its ears and down its neck. She heard the larger feline hiss as she did so, but after the fight they just had she was fairly sure it wouldn’t attack her. She also was too tired to worry, all of the adrenaline leaving her body. As she reached the downed panther she fell on her ass right next to its head. Putting the little one in front of its parent she watched as it groomed her little one, purring. Emotionally spent she leaned back into the fur and closed her eyes, steadying her breath.
The sound of mewling slowly penetrated the fog around Alice’s mind. She opened her eyes, suddenly remembering the events of the night. She must have fallen asleep. Looking around she saw the kitten pushing its tiny paws into the bigger cats muzzle. There was no reaction. She put her hand on the large, furry neck hoping to feel the felines pulse. The skin was cold, despite the sun being close to being right above them, no movement under it.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have— I could have—” Her voice broke as she gently stroked the creatures head, thick tears blurring her vision.
“Nothing. You should have, and could have done nothing. The acid slime’s acid is stupidly strong and viscous. Maybe if you cleaned the wound the instant they arrived. But there was no time before the infernal thing came after them.” Whimsy’s voice was very gentle. “More importantly, what do we do now?”
“You don’t know that! Maybe I could—” Alice retorted, anger in her voice.
“Nothing. Trust me love. I’m almost sure she knew that too. That’s why she came to you, and why she helped you. She hoped you would help her back—”
“And I failed! She’s dead!” Alice interrupted again. She was angry at herself, angry at her powerlessness and failure. Whimsy’s voice, still calm and gentle, burst the growing bubble of self-loathing in Alice’s heart.
“—Help her, by taking care of her baby.” She finished her earlier thought.
Alice turned to the kitten, her heart breaking again as it tried to wake its mother up. She reached out, putting a hand that almost entirely covered the mewling she grabbed the little one again and brought it to her chest. It didn’t fight her, but kept letting out tiny squeaks, its eyes now firmly open, looking at its dead parent.
“You’re right. Seems we have a new party member.” Looking down at the tiny ball of fur she sniffed, wiped tears off her face with the remaining sleeve of her shirt and hugged the kitten tighter. At the motion it turned its head towards hers. She brought her face down closer to it, their noses touching for a second, then gave it a gentle kiss on the head.
“I promise I’ll take care of you, little one. I’ll keep you safe.” Seemingly sensing the intent behind her words, the kitten buried its head in her chest, squeaked a few times, then relaxed, asleep. Alice gave a sad smile. “Guess the night caught up to you too, huh?”
Keeping the fluffball secure, she stood up and headed for the camp. She considered burying the mother, but she had no tools to do it, nor did she want to risk another run in with something dangerous. It’s been several hours since the fight, at least, and the smell of blood would likely attract some unsavoury characters soon enough. She didn’t stop, simply swiping the basket into the crook of her wounded arm. She daintily placed the tiny kitten in the basket, after making a little nest from the cloth inside, covered it with the larger piece of fabric and moved out, heading for the forest. Whimsy dutifully guided her as she slowly hobbled away.
Taking one last look at the clearing, a shudder ran through Alice’s spine. More than half of the grass was dead. Brown patches littered the entire area. The black shape of the fallen shadow panther stood out. Another pang of regret hit her, but she once again grit her teeth and, turning, walked away. She now had a little one to care for, and she was sure it would wake up hungry. She really hoped Whimsy’s assurances they would reach the village before evening were true. She looked at the basket with the sleeping kitten.
“We’ll have to figure out a fitting name for you, little one.” Her words echoed through the forest as she slowly made her way towards their destination.