It cannot be seen
But there's blood on the green
Only God knows I'm innocent
Take me, take me home!
Moon of the Growing Frost, 26th Sun
In the season of Deep-Ice
Year 133, Kingdom-Time
There is no room for weakness in the world of the Kingdoms.
A massive tom, with blazing ginger fur streaked with bold black stripes, was crouching on an outcrop of dark rock. Snow settled on his shoulders, gentle, drifting flakes that contrasted to the cold ferocity in his amber eyes.
Lightning Strike, Prince and Heir to the throne of the Eastern Kingdom, gestured his cats forwards with a flick of his tail. They marched in perfect unison, their paws making no sound on the rock, their fur coated with mud to blur their outlines and dull the more visible colours. Only Lightning Strike kept his fur untouched; his pride would not allow him to obscure his fiery beauty.
Suddenly his sharp ears swivelled, and he stopped, his knights halting a second after. The faintest rustle had shuddered through the air, and his instincts were warning him that the world was not as empty as it seemed.
Ambush,he thought quietly to himself, and several of the more intelligent knights were clearly thinking among similar lines, their bright eyes darting back and forth from him to the inky darkness ahead. While all Kingdom cats had excellent night-vision, the moon would vanish in two more nights, and was currently a thin cat's claw in the sky. Its wan light did not reveal what was in the shadows cast by tall rocks and the mountains themselves.
Lightning Strike paused to think carefully. This was almost certainly a trap. Ahead of them was a deep ravine, and he was prepared to bet his blood as a royal that there was a boulder very close to the high edges. If they went in there, they would die painful deaths.
He turned to his knights, and twitched his tail in thought. Finally, he spoke, his voice no more than a whisper.
"Moon's Light, Eagle Wings, come here."
The two knights that he had summoned crept forwards, their pawfalls still as silent as owl-feathers. Moon's Light, a small grey she-cat, only knighted a moon ago, was trembling, her eyes wide with terror. She knew what was coming. There was one reason, and one reason alone, why a Prince would summon such a low-ranking cat right before a battle.
Eagle Wings, a big brown tom, was more composed. He had once been a fine knight, but the years were hanging heavily on his shoulders. It was remarkable that he'd survived as long as he had. But now, his luck had finally run out.
Lightning Strike nodded to the ravine. "You two, scout around that ravine and see if you can find a strategic position." The lie hung heavy in his throat, but that was the way things were done around here.
There is no room for weakness in the world of the Kingdoms.
Eagle Wings gave a quiet nod. In truth, he was happy to leave the world this way. It was better than the humiliating kill at the claws of a younger cat. He lifted his head high and began to pace off into the night.
Moon's Light fixed her blue eyes on him, her shoulders continuing to shake. "Please, your Highness," she whispered softly. "Please."
Lightning Strike inclined his head. He was cold and determined, as was any cat that lived to his age. But he wasn't without mercy, and to see a young cat begging for her life hurt him.
"I'm sorry," he mewed gently. "May the Mountain Wolf guide your soul."
She looked up at the sky, where the stars blazed above them, and swallowed, before turning to walk after Eagle Wings.
Lightning Strike held his breath, the silence seeming cold and oppressive. He watched the stars. Although they seemed still and unmoving, he knew they were not. After just a short amount of time, they began to move, with the exception of the Wolf's Heart, a star that always pointed north. He kept his gaze fixed on them, as the quiet serenity of the mountain night was shattered.
A massive crackstunned the air, and the snarls of pushing cats reached his ears a second later. Now he saw the boulder; a massive thing, the size of four cats nose-to-tail, with nearly fifty cats shoving against it. Finally, with triumphant yowls, they shoved the rock off the ravine edge, where it tumbled into empty space.
A thin, quavering yowl pierced the darkness, and Lightning Strike couldn't be sure, but he thought it was Eagle Wings' voice. Then he lifted his head.
"Their ambush is ruined! Attack!"
A similar cry came from the throat of the enemy leader. He recognised the voice. Ice Storm.
The two surges of cats charged to meet, and he leaped to meet the Northern Kingdom Princess, who flattened her white ears, and lunged for his throat. He smashed her face aside with a giant paw, the stone extensions on his claws scoring lines across her cheek. He clamped his jaws into her neck, but she twisted away from him and kicked at his legs. They both drew back, barely breathing hard.
"Give up, Lightning Strike," Ice Storm spat, her white face glinting with red drops. "You will never be able to defeat the might of the Northern Kingdom."
Lightning Strike glanced around. He saw no reason to surrender, as his cats were holding their own against their enemy and were even beginning to drive them back. "You must be fighting a different battle, Princess. I think, for once, your cats are outnumbered."
Ice Storm gritted her teeth and sprang at him again. This time, he was ready for her, rearing up on his hind legs to sink his claws into her chest. She let out a small cry of pain, her teeth already hooking into his head. The Eastern Kingdom Prince used all his massive bodyweight to pin her to the ground, cracking several of her ribs in the process.
Ice Storm went still under his paws, realising at last that she was lost. Lightning Strike considered killing her, but he realised she was right about one thing; his Kingdom could not destroy hers in a war.
He tightened his grip on her. "Say the words."
She nodded. "You have bested me. My life is yours, now. What is it you wish?"
"Surrender."
Her eyes darkened, but it was Kingdom law that once a elämävelan, as such things were called, was asked, it must be answered. She nodded. "I surrender."
He released her. She lifted her throat in the deep yowl of retreat. The Northern Kingdom knights did not even twitch a whisker in protest, swarming out of the ravine as they fled north, to their own camps.
Lightning Strike glanced at the scene. Eight cats of his had died, compared to twelve of the enemy cats. There were no serious injuries, and for that he was glad. He was not in the mood to slay more of his own knights.
The Prince looked around, and lifted his tail.
"This land is ours, now."
For today,at least.
