Sorry about the late upload. My Nanna died suddenly two weeks ago and I had to have time to mourn her death. So I was in no mood to update last week. Hope you guys understand.
Massacre
Chapter 2: Too Good to Be True
An hour later, the Sea Gale had finally docked at the port of the town Zenir, on the Autumn Isle. The town looked like it was rich, with perfect buildings, lavish paths and golden trees with its leaves falling off. It was a wonderful sight to see, especially with the children playing with the multi-coloured leaves.
The town was resident to cat ferals, the beasts that have cat like features such as claws or whiskers. There were a few other species of ferals, but everywhere the Golden Lions looked there were cats.
Morte felt calmed by the town, which had surprised her. She believed that thanks to the sights the town offered, that she would be able to control her emotions around the ferals. However, she felt strange that there were no humans in town or in slavery. Seeing that made her smile for the first time in a long while, proud that at least one feral dominated town was not putting the people under oppression.
Agan, who was walking next to Morte, turned his head to the right and saw her grin. He couldn't help but smile with her, holding the same reasons.
"Well, I haven't seen that smile in a while," Agan announced.
"I'm… just really glad I don't see any suffering in this part of the world," Morte responded.
Agan acknowledged Morte, and then scanned more of the area around him, attempting to process the luscious colours and activity. Zenir was one of the most beautiful tiny towns on the Autumn Isle, being hidden away by colourful foliage from city goers.
Soon enough, when they reached the residence of the Beastlord, Felis Rex, it appeared clearer and less colourful. The mansion was huge and was designed to be taller than any other building in town. It was a large two storey building that was painted mostly dark blue, with cream coloured beams to divide the house into its sections. The roof was a light reddish brown, matching the rest of the house.
The doors at the front spanned up to the second floor, making the humans feel inadequate to the size of the doors alone. It was indeed, a house fit for a Beastlord.
Morte especially, felt insignificant not just comparing herself to the building, but to the other humans around her. The twenty one older humans, standing around the eleven year old girl had her feeling very intimidated and tiny.
Agan used to be really short, but was currently going through his growth spurt. He was almost as tall as the other Lions, as he was growing very quickly. At least with his new height, Morte would feel a little bit more comfortable.
The leader of the Golden Lions, Quinton and Karna turned their attention to their group before the large doors. They were ready to make their huge announcement to the Golden Lions assigned with them, hoping they'll be excited about the future that they would present to the members.
"Lions, we are finally going to begin forging our alliance with Felis Rex and his army!" Quinton declared.
The group cheered, all except for Morte, who felt that siding with the ferals was a bad idea. They lie, they betray, they destroy everything in their way, including humans.
"We will finally stand a chance against the corrupted Beastlords and the Salvation Committee!" Karna shouted.
The Lions cheered even louder, as Morte grew afraid and uncertain of the future for the Golden Lions. She could see the ferals betray them as soon as the leaders sign the treaty. Agan noticed Morte wasn't joining in the chorus of cheers and averted his eyes from the leaders.
"Mort, is something the matter?" Agan hissed.
Morte didn't feel right telling Agan in the middle of the crowd, but she didn't have a choice.
"Agan, I just have a feeling all this is too good to be true," Morte whispered loudly.
"I know you may think that, but believe it or not, they're genuine. They gave us a letter signed with Felis Rex's paw print!" Agan exclaimed.
"It could've been anybody's. I think we're letting our guard down way too much," Morte responded.
"I agree with you on that part, but I'm confident our leader could recognise his paw print," Agan stated.
Abruptly, their leader's voice boomed again, suddenly forcing Agan and Morte to pay attention to him.
"You know your mission! Karna will assign your positions! We wish you good luck while we sign our alliance! Taking our first steps towards our human rights!" Quinton proclaimed.
The Golden Lions cheered extremely as their leader entered the mansion and waved back at them. Karna shut the door behind his superior and faced his audience of twenty Golden Lions.
"Alright Lions, we're going to send half of you to guard the Sea Gale, while the other half will patrol the town and set out in groups of two," Karna explained.
Morte began to ignore his voice as she directed her attention towards Agan. She'd rather not listen to where everybody else was stationed.
"I hope we can move around some areas of the town while on duty," Morte quipped.
"Mort, you're going to find out soon, just stay quiet and listen to your orders," Agan snapped.
"C'mon, what's the problem of talking quietly among each other?" Morte asked mockingly.
"Because it interrupts my focus!" Agan retorted.
"My little voice shouldn't be capable of doing that," Morte teased.
"Stop acting like a child Mort!" Agan yelled.
Agan's outburst caused Karna to stop speaking, glaring at the guilty foster siblings. The other eighteen members were also staring at the duo, frustrated with them as they broke their cheerful mood.
"Ok Lions, head off. Agan, Morte, stay here for a moment," Karna ordered.
Half the members went in the direction of the Sea Gale, while the other half began heading in the areas they were ordered to patrol. They had every faith that Karna would have a good spat at the kids.
Morte and Agan looked up at Karna, attempting to avert his eyes while staring at his face. However, Karna wouldn't let them, stamping his authority upon them.
"Stop arguing and focus on the mission! This is no place for sibling banter! Remember, you're supposed to make ourselves look good in front of the citizens here!" Karna warned.
"Yes mother," Morte rudely stated.
Karna glared at Morte and replied, "Look, you must take this seriously. Our reputation in this town must make a good first impression to convince the citizens that we will support them through adversity."
Agan and Morte nodded right away, although Morte only responded to convince Karna that she was in agreement with him.
"Since Morte is here, you guys can patrol the entire town, and be backup for the other members if they engage in combat," Karna commanded.
"Why is that?" Agan asked.
"I think Morte would be better off moving around town instead of remaining in one area. Do you agree?" Karna questioned.
"Yes, it'll kill the time," Morte answered.
"Ok. Well, I wish you two good luck. And stay good," Karna responded.
Morte and Agan turned their backs to Karna as he headed through the large doors of the mansion. Once the foster siblings walked a hundred metres from the building, Morte looked back at the mansion and grinned.
Agan noticed her expression and asked, "What are you smiling about?"
"Best orders ever! Well, second best compared to killing ferals," Morte answered.
"So, what do you plan to do?" Agan questioned.
"Well, we're going to check this place out, and if it's not clean then we'll kill those ferals!" Morte shouted enthusiastically.
"We're not authorised to kill ferals, Mort. No matter how much you want to, we cannot cause chaos while they sign the treaty."
"Then, is it fine that we check through the stores and other significant buildings?"
"Karna didn't say anything about checking the buildings."
"Well then, let's go!" Morte declared.
She sprinted off ahead of Agan, running along the path surrounded by leaves. Agan ran after his excitable teammate, making sure she doesn't bump into ferals recklessly.
"Mort! Hold up!"
Karna was escorted to a room that was decorated luxuriously. The room had many expensive paintings on the walls, with a coat of arms and stuffed mounts on the walls. To make these objects stand out, the walls had been painted blue, to set up a calm atmosphere.
There was also a fireplace embedded in the wall, with two brown couches and a small table surrounding it. The leader of the Golden Lions, Quinton, was sitting on the couch to Karna's left, while Felis Rex was positioned on the opposite couch.
"Ah, welcome Karna. Please, sit next to your leader and we'll discuss our treaty," Felis Rex declared.
Karna approached the leaders and sat down next to Quinton. Quinton looked over at his second, then diverted his attention to the Beastlord.
"Felis Rex, wasn't your son supposed to be here?" Quinton enquired.
"My son, apparently, is too busy dallying with the ladies on his pleasure cruiser, the Zifnir. I wish I never bought him that boat," Felis Rex hissed.
"Alright, we understand Felis Rex," Quinton stated.
"Anyway, I have some concerns regarding your group," Felis Rex announced.
"What are you worried about?" Karna asked.
"Why do you as a species recruit very young people into groups? I think it's extremely dangerous for children under adolescence age to be involved in groups that specialise in combat," Felis Rex questioned.
"Are you talking about Morte?" Quinton enquired.
"Is that the auburn haired girl?"
"Yes."
"Why did you recruit her in the Golden Lions, the most respected group that fights for humanity?"
"She's a very skilled swordswoman, more skilled than some of our own," Quinton answered, "She has been practicing swordplay at a very young age, and she works well with other members when it comes to combat."
"Alright, as long as she keeps a cool head and defends my people, I'm fine with her."
"Should we get back to the treaty?"
"Yes. Of course."
Author's Notes: The only thing of note is that Felis Rex in this fanfic is not the Felis Rex you see in Sands of Destruction. The Felis Rex title is just a title bestowed down upon the Beastlord of all cat feralkind in this case. I also assumed that Felis Rex (Sands of Destruction) had the Zifnir for several years and was a gift from his father, the Felis Rex in this fanfic.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this somewhat short chapter and I hope to update around this time next week!