Chapter Ten

We (Koris, Jaya and myself) were on a mission.

Sneaking out of the Refuge had been fairly easy; its security system was designed to keep unwelcome visitors from getting in, not to prevent us from getting out. All we had to do was wait until the patrols left, then nip outside after them. Trouble was, as the entrance only stayed open for a couple of minutes and none of our trio of young would-be heroes was a Cheetah Thunderian, we had had to figure out a way to keep the entrance from closing before we could sneak out. In the end, Jaya had jammed the door mechanism with her leather gauntlet, preventing the door from closing completely. From there, it had just been a matter of holding the door open long enough for all three of us to get through it. Jaya went last, grabbing her gauntlet as she left and just making it through the entrance before, the obstruction removed, it sealed itself again.

Anyway, we were on a mission to free those held prisoner by the Cult of Mumm-Ra and, right now, we were heading in the direction of Castle Plundarr. I had not cared for the place before and the thought of going back there filled me with dread. But I had to; as a future Lord of the Thundercats, it would one day be my duty to help those in need - such as the Cult's prisoners. No matter what happened, I had to see this through.

"Look there!" Jaya called in a loud whisper.

Koris and I hurried over to where she was crouching down, pointing to something on the forest floor. Looking closely, I could just make out the imprint of a bare foot, one with clearly defined claws. "Reptilian Mutant," Jaya explained. Like all Warrior Maidens, she was an expert tracker. "See how flat and wide it is?" By way of comparison, she stood up and placed her own foot in the print; it did not touch the edges. "And quite fresh too," she went on. "We could be near Castle Plundarr."

"But which way is it?" I asked. Though I lacked Jaya's tracking skills, I knew enough to know that the direction the footprint was pointing was no indication that the Reptilian who had made it had been heading in the direction of Castle Plundarr.

"I'll climb up and have a look," Jaya replied, pointing to a nearby tree which looked like it might be climbable. With that, she launched herself at the tree and, with the agility of one who has had much practice at climbing trees, began hauling herself up the branches. "You boys keep watch!" she called down to Koris and me. "And no looking up my skirt!"

Actually, ogling Jaya was the last thing on my mind; though I was at an age where I was becoming curious about girls, I knew this was neither the time nor the place. Besides, I could never think of her as anything more than a friend. Being a Thundercat, I was, by a tradition dating back to Old Thundera, only allowed to marry another Thunderian. And, since I was a future Lord of the Thundercats, it would be preferable if I chose a mate who was also a Lion, not that all that mattered right now; I was still a few years short of the age at which I would need to give the matter any serious consideration.

In any case, Jaya climbed the tree and stationed herself on a wide branch, crouching there like a predator lying in wait for its prey. In her hand, she clasped the throwing axe she used as a weapon. All Warrior Maidens were trained in the use of a range of weapons - spears, bows and arrows, slings, daggers, axes - before choosing the one they wanted to specialise in. Jaya had chosen the throwing axe and had been practising with it for the past year. Now, she crouched in the tree, holding her axe in readiness to attack.

Jaya had told me a little about the Warrior Maidens' culture. They were humans, related to the people living in a small, remote village, a people who had developed a custom of training their daughters, but not their sons, to be warriors. Somewhere down the line, several of these daughters had built the Treetop Kingdom and started calling themselves Warrior Maidens. Only young women were allowed to live in the Treetop Kingdom, their menfolk only coming to the arboreal community for what Jaya refered to as the "Breeding"; I don't think I need to tell you what that meant. In any case, the daughter of a Warrior Maiden would grow in the Treetop Kingdom and be trained so that she could become a Warrior Maiden herself. The son of a Warrior Maiden was taken to the village and brought up by the men and those women who had grown too old for life in the trees.

However, I was soon distracted from thinking about what Jaya had told me. A short time later, she scrambled down the tree to join Koris and myself at its foot. "That way," she told us, pointing to the west. "I saw Castle Plundarr over the trees."

"Was there anyone about?" asked Koris.

Jaya shook her head. "Not that I could see. We should get over there quickly - before any of the Cult show up." She hefted her throwing axe, the only weapon we had between us since my chakram was still back at Castle Plundarr and Koris's people did not carry weapons. "Come on!" she called to us.

So we set off in the direction of Castle Plundarr, a place I would have avoided if at all possible. But, with Lannal and the Cult's other prisoners still languishing in the dungeons and awaiting a terrible fate, I knew I had to see this through, especially since it had been my idea in the first place. Jaya, being the only one out of the three of us who knew the way, took the leader and I followed her, with Koris bringing up the rear. We (Jaya and I) quickly fell into a fairly brisk march, both of us driven by the warrior instinct within us. But, in our eagerness to reach our destination, we forgot something rather important; Koris was much smaller than us and, with his shorter legs, couldn't hope to keep up with our current pace. Unseen by either Jaya or myself, he began to fall further and further behind.

"So," Jaya said at length, "you figured out how we get in?" By now, Castle Plundarr was coming into view, looking for all the world like a giant stone dragon guarding its den.

I hesitated. Trying to rescue the Cult's prisoners had been a spur of the moment idea, borne out of an urge to prove we were no longer kids. But I hadn't given any serious consideration to how we were actually going to go about it and nor had Jaya and Koris. Nonetheless, I was now faced with another of the challenges which face a Lord of the Thundercats, the need to come up with a plan of action. "Well . . ." I paused. " . . . there's got to be a way for one of us to sneak in and let the others in. And, since Koris is the smallest of us, I think he should be that one." At this point, I was still unaware that Koris was now far behind Jaya and myself.

"You're right," Jaya agreed. "Koris," she added, not taking her eyes off the Castle, "we need you to scout round and look for a way in. An open window or something. Can you do that?"

There was no reply.

"Koris?"

Jaya and I silently cursed ourselves as we realised what must have happened. Koris had fallen so far behind that we could no longer see him. Why hadn't we taken his smaller size into consideration before we went marching off? I grabbed Jaya by the hand. "Come on!" I urged her.

"But what about . . .?" She nodded in the direction of Castle Plundarr and I instinctively knew what she was thinking.

"Never mind that. Right now, we've got to go back for Koris . . ." I paused. "As a future Lord of the Thundercats, I must . . ."

". . . learn not to take on more than you can handle on your own!" a female voice called, cutting me off in mid-sentence. Jaya and I spun round at the sound of the voice. The female Psy Lunatac called Grimla was standing only a few feet from us, flanked by the mute Jackal Mutant, Jacklon, and another Lunatac. This one was short and squat, with white skin and blue hair which looked as though someone had hacked it off with a scythe. But strangest of all were his legs; they looked as though they had had metal pistons grafted to them at some point.

"So," Grimla said, an enigmatic smirk crossing her features, "the Thunderbrat returns - and with one of Queen Tia's lackeys. Too bad I missed all the fun at your Kingdom," she said to Jaya, with that same enigmatic smirk. "Not that it matters for a Psy Lunatac, of course - I can extract the memory from your mind."

"No!" Jaya whimpered, her hand flying to her mouth as her Warrior Maiden's courage failed her for a moment. It was plain that whatever the Cult of Mumm-Ra had done in the Treetop Kingdom had been so terrible that Jaya did not want to think about it. She was probably no more than fifteen or sixteen years old and she had seen her people all but wiped out . . .

"If I say you will show me what is in your mind, you will!" Grimla shot back. "There is no hiding from a Psy Lunatac's mind! And, while we're at it," she added, addressing me, "I believe we have some unfinished business concerning a fragment from a certain Statue . . ."

"I told you scum before - I'll never reveal its location!" I shot back. I turned to Jaya. "Let's get out of here before more of them show up!" I whispered to her. Young and impulsive I may have been, but even I knew better than to try and take on the entire Cult of Mumm-Ra single-handed.

Jaya took my cue at once, but, as we prepared to make a run for it, we heard Grimla's voice behind us. "You won't escape that easily, you foolish brats! Gravlok! Get them!" The next thing we knew, the Lunatac with pistons grafted to his legs had vaulted - literally vaulted - over our heads and was standing directly in front of us, barring our way.

Instinctively, I threw myself at the Lunatac, whose name I now knew to be Gravlok, and, lacking any kind of weapon, made to punch him in the face. A foolish mistake, as it turned out; Gravlok was a Graviton Lunatac, possessed of tremendous strength as well as jumping ability. Before I could land a blow, he grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back, laughing evilly at the look of pain which crossed my face.

"Never send a cub to do a grown-up's job!" he laughed. Then, still keeping a tight hold on me, he vaulted into the air and landed at Grimla's feet. She, I noted with some alarm, had Jaya's unconscious form draped over her shoulders, having evidently captured her while I was occupied with Gravlok. But how had she done it? I knew enough about the Warrior Maidens by now to know that they would not allow themselves to be defeated as easily as Grimla had defeated Jaya.

"What have you done to her?!" I demanded, struggling vainly in Gravlok's strong grip.

Grimla smiled. "Merely hypnotised her. Psychic powers have their uses - especially when it comes to subduing rebellious little girls. She'll wake up in time. And, meanwhile, we are heading back to Castle Plundarr and you brats are coming with us."

"Never!" I retorted, wincing as Gravlok tightened his already powerful grip on me. Just how much strength did these Graviton Lunatacs have?! If he kept putting this kind of pressure on my arm, he might end up breaking it. Worse, it was my right arm he was crushing and I happen to be right-handed. I knew from Pumar's weapons training sessions that a person could learn to fight with their off-hand if their main arm was too badly damaged, but it took practice.

"I never said it was optional," was all Grimla said.

And, so, I found myself a prisoner of the Cult of Mumm-Ra once again, fastened to a large wooden table by my wrists and ankles as Grimla stood over me. "So," she said, looking at me as though I was no more than an insect, "are you ready to reveal where you hid the fragment yet?"

I said nothing, keeping my face blank and focusing my gaze on the light fitting overhead.

"Well?" Grimla pressed when I showed no sign of saying anything. "Answer me, you insignificant cub!"

I still said nothing, determined that, no matter what happened to me, I would never tell the Cult of Mumm-Ra where I had hidden the piece of the Statue of Omens which Wilykit had given me. It was her legacy to me . . . No, more than that - it was her legacy to all of us. I was the new Guardian for the Thundercats and I was not about to betray that trust.

"In that case," Grimla said in a voice without emotion, "I shall have to force that information from you . . ." She turned her unblinking gaze to me and, the next thing I knew, her eyes began to glow and I found myself unable to look away. "Storm of Thundera," Grimla said in a powerful hypnotic voice. "You are in my power. Resistance is useless! You will reveal to me exactly where you hid your fragment of the Statue of Omens!"

"Never!" I gasped, already aware of her mind probing mine. Well, I wasn't going to let her get at the information she wanted that easily. I was going to think about anything other than the Statue of Omens, especially the piece of it which I had hidden in Cats' Lair. Struggling to ignore her persuasive voice, I conjured up a mental image of my childhood, a time long before the fragment had been entrusted to me . . .

I was seven at the time, Hunter was five and Lata, Sita, Sylvia and Tigon weren't even born yet. We were sitting with Wilykit, listening as she read to us out of "Felindra's Fables".

". . . but the two children realised they had wandered too far into the forest and were now lost among the trees," Wilykit said, reading from the book which lay open on her lap.

"Little Cattali began to weep. "Oh, Felor!" she cried. "Whatever shall we do?" For it was getting dark and she had heard many terrible things about what lurked in this forest at night."

""Fear not, little sister!" said Felor. "We shall find a way out of here!". He took hold of Cattali's hand and they began to walk, hoping they would find the trail which led out of this dark and terrifying forest."

"Cattali . . ."

At that moment, the memory was cut off abruptly, as Grimla's voice intruded into my thoughts. "How very interesting - a Thunderbrats' bedtime story. But that's not what I wanted to see." She stared at me more intensely than before. "Do not resist me. Reveal the information I want - now!"

In that moment, I realised that she meant to search my whole mind, probe every memory, every scrap of knowledge I possessed, until she found what she was looking for. Well, she wasn't going to get what she wanted! I was going to resist her powers, even if the effort killed me. Already, I could feel my head aching like it had never ached before; this, I supposed, was a side-effect of Grimla's powers of Persuasion, but the agony was almost indescribable. It felt as though a thousand hammers were pounding away inside my skull.

"I'll never . . . tell you!"