The Great Ajul

"Ah!" Swatting away a mosquito that kept beckoning to draw more blood from her arm, Cat leaned further in the grass. She was sitting at the edge of Helok forest in high grass next to the Outlook, peering out into the night. She was waiting until she heard the sound of horns blare so that she could begin the hunt. No, she was hiding. Hiding was the word.

Her father, Saith, must have questioned her disappearance by now, she thought. But what good would it do him? He was, after all, the Heliar and needed to entertain his guests without any hinderance in his festivities. Although Kilik's small blunder dampened some spirits, it wasn't enough to call the most important event off. The Hunt.

Cat's stomach growled in the quiet night. The night was absolutely peaceful. Only small rustling of animals in the brush could be heard throughout the forest. It was a great night to hunt, with plenty of opportunity.

She had escaped out of the banquet hall where they were having dinner to the stables. That was the only time where she knew it would take a while to be noticed. Since there were so many royals from surrounding kingdoms there, she was almost certain that the Heliar had no time to deal with her. The absence of Kilik also helped.

At the stables she had met Cobrantes.

After the Dance of the Swords and the incident with Kilik, Cateile started to turn her interest in Cobrantes into suspicion. She found herself not wanting to be in her older sister's presence. After the incident at the stables, she was more than certain that Kilik's injury was planned and if it wasn't, then that would be a miracle.

Pulling out a piece of bread and jerky from the sack at her hips, she munched on it. She had been smart enough to steal some food to eat before she disappeared. She made sure that it was not highly aromatic food, lest it be a hinderance in their hunt later.

The yearly Hunt was not a normal hunt that helped put meat onto the table. It was more than that. It was the hunt for guardians.

Full grown guardians who may have lost their masters are released into the wild to flourish. They can only be tamed by ones that they allow to tame them. It was no simply task, because depending on the guardian, they could be infused with powerful energy, or they could be infused with very little. It would be dependent on the master that they had before. Guardian Lions absorb the energy from their masters and can even become more powerful than them. Their aim is to protect their masters at any cost necessary.

Cat had her eye out for one guardian in particular. The Great Ajul. Ajul was a guardian lion to the previous Heliar, Saith's father, Sutjak. Sutjak was one of the most powerful leaders in Kajor's history. As the leaders grew stronger, so did the guardians.

Saith had gone year after year for the Hunt with the same aim each season. To tame his father's beast. No one had yet to tame the animal. Some had even died at the expense of it. A lot steered far away from the cave where the beast lurked. Ajul was not like the other guardians, running around freely during the Hunt to challenge to hunters. Ajul stayed hidden in it's lair, uninterested in the festivities.

The horns were blowing!

Ulov's ears perked up and he lifted his head from the mound of grass he had been chewing on. His neighing signaled that he understood it was time to begin.

"Cat rushed over to Ulov's side and gracefully flung her way up onto his back. Clicking her heels slightly into his side, they headed off. Cat gripped the basket of arrow's strap against her chest and took a brief glance down at the bow she held at her side. She oddly experienced Deja vu when she looked down at her bow. As though, she experienced this before.

Paying it no mind, she pranced off into the night on Ulov. The sun was beginning to set and the forest around her began to darken even more. She had to get to the cave before sundown so that she wouldn't get lost.

'Ah!" A hard object hit her side. Ulov jerked to a stop almost throwing her off of him. Looking in the direction from where it came, she saw Qemor off in the distance with Cobrantes.

"Little kitten, you wouldn't happen to be attempting what I think you are."

"What does that have to do with you?' Cat sassed back to her. Yes, of course she was attempting something that could get her killed, but so be it. It was time to prove to her father that she was no less a warrior than her son. She was almost envious that Cobrantes was allowed to grow up in the military in Lusidor.

Well, she wasn't allowed, Cat had to remind herself. She was abandoned and found her way in the military.

"It will not be as easy as you think, little one! We will go with you." Cobrantes held a wide smile at Cat, which she was sure she was faking.

"No, that will be all. I do not need assistance to take this guardian."

"Do not deny me. Or I will have to find myself running of to...let's say...join the Heliar with his hunt."

Cat understood all too well that Cobrantes was threatening her. She was basically letting her know that she could either let her join her or let her father join her. If it was the latter, then Cat wouldn't be involved in the hunt at all. Her father would surely make her wait outside of the cave with several guards standing guard.

Maybe they had the intention of trying to capture the beast for themselves? Maybe that was the reason Cobrantes wanted to obtain Qemor's position in the Hunt. But if that were true, then there wouldn't be a need to hurt Kilik so badly, would there? She could've just asked her father. She was sure he would have no choice but to allow it. Qemor did hold a high position as the Second of the Queen.

Cat snapped back to it to find Cobra and Qemor were already heading in the direction of the cave. Rolling her eyes out of annoyance, she followed behind. How could she stop them? She guessed that it was for the best that she had backup anyway. She had heard the horror stories in regards to the Great Lion Ajul.

"Hurry up Kitten! We wouldn't want you to get eaten out here alone!"