“Dad,” Matakh gasped. His heart was hammering in his ears, and he felt sick to his stomach. “Where is he?”
“He’s getting your sister right now,” she assured him, heaping a blanket and emergency lantern in his arms. “Now get down to the basement. I’ll be right behind you.”
Matakh nodded and dashed from his room towards the stairwell. A loud whistling pierced the air, which he had just enough time to register as a falling bomb. The next instant there was a horrible shattering blast, and a flash of orange light blared through the windows. The entire house shook to its foundations, sending Matakh tumbling down the steps to the ground floor. He could hear the crackling of flames through one of the front windows, which he realized had been smashed in. To his horror, he realized that the explosion had come from the apartment complex just across the street, the entire structure now consumed by a raging inferno.
Kotaho suddenly appeared next to him, his arms bulging with survival equipment and Meea hovering behind him. “Are you alright?” he asked, helping Matakh to his feet.
“I think so,” he answered. His ears twitched, and he looked up towards the ceiling. The whistling was back, and it was much closer this time. “Does anyone else hear that?” The others all froze and trained their ears, and in the stillness that followed the whining grew louder at an alarming rate. Matakh gasped. “That’s…”
He was cut off when Kotaho suddenly leapt forward, forcing him to tumble back through the open door to the basement. The movement was so sudden that Matakh didn’t even have time to cry out. He heard Meea yelp, saw her falling down behind him and Linalia reaching to close the door after her.
“We love you!” his father’s voice yelled down to them, just as the door slid closed and the whining reached an ear-splitting crescendo.
“DAD!”
The next moment, Matakh’s entire world seemed to shatter into a million pieces. An impossibly-loud blast tore through the space, the very air seeming to convulse violently under the force. Both he and his sister were picked up and sent flying by what felt like a level-ten earthquake. All around them, the contents of the basement were likewise sailing through the air, smashing into the walls, ceiling, floor, and each other. A flying shard of glass whipped across Matakh’s cheek, but he failed to register the impact amidst the turmoil. He couldn’t even make sense of up or down anymore; the entire universe felt like it was imploding around him.
Outside, the little fox yelped as he was blasted backwards by the explosion engulfing the front half of the Etari house. He had been racing for the structure in the hopes of taking shelter there, but now those hopes were destroyed. The force of the blast tossed him into the hedge line around the house, his body bruised and scraped by the impact. Before he could pick himself up again, a piece of flying metal struck him in the head and knocked him unconscious, hanging limp in the shrubs as the Etaris’ home burned.
Matakh was slammed into the wall, only to fall to the floor again. As he rolled onto his back, he saw a wooden beam growing bigger in his field of vision… No, it was coming closer, and fast. ‘This is going to hurt,’ he thought as he braced himself for the inevitable. A solid thump filled his ears, accompanied by a searing pain to his skull, and his world was engulfed in darkness.
Meea saw her brother fall limp to the ground, and as the house finally settled she made to help him. But before she could bring herself to her feet, the ceiling above her gave a mighty groan and collapsed. She screamed out as a hail of plaster chunks, wooden beams and metal supports rained down, burying her alive. Within moments the lioness had been completely covered in rubble. Just before the dust settled another creak resounded through the space as another section of roofing collapsed and buried Matakh as well.
As the last specks of dirt began to settle, not a trace of the two lions was visible. The only sounds were the crackling of flames, the wailing of sirens, and the distant thudding of the air raid outside.
Pain. Sheer, mind-searing pain. It blasted through his being, knifing into his brain like a flaming, barbed sword and rending his spirit. He writhed in agony at the searing pain he felt somewhere in the general area of what he knew to be his back. All he could remember was a scream, and soldiers, and a massive explosion like the end of the world…
The pain surged again, and he recoiled, his spirit retreating from the torment. Though he had been nearing wakefulness, he couldn’t pass the barrier of sheer agony, and Matakh fled from the present and back to the past, to the world of his memories…
Chapter Four: Tears for the Lost
5 months ago…
He didn’t know where he was. All around him was white that billowed and drifted like clouds on a gentle breeze. He ran a hand through the banks of pale fog, a wispy trail following his hand and hovering in his palm before fading away.
He suddenly heard a gentle whisper, soft and serene. His ears perked, but the voice faded away before he could make out what was said. Hoping to hear it again, he stood stock-still and waited, hardly daring to breath. Several tense seconds passed, and then he heard it calling out once more. “Matakh…”
He started running in the direction of the sound, batting at the white mist in an effort to clear his path. Looking behind him for an instant, he could see a faint disturbance in his wake, but it closed up quickly once he passed. He briefly wondered how he would find his way back, but decided that it didn’t really matter; he meant to go forward, after all. He soldiered on through the fog, finally bursting through into a large circular chamber, its walls an unbroken line of the same cloudy white he had come through.
As he stood examining his surroundings, a young man suddenly appeared on the other side of the space and began striding over to him. Not an anthroktin, he realized, but a human. Or was he? In truth, he almost looked like a god. His eyes glowed with a golden light, flashing like lightning. A softer glow shimmered out from his whole body, faint next to the radiance of his eyes but present nonetheless His skin was like polished ivory, his hair shone like gold, and his robe gleamed and flowed like spun silver. And he didn’t seem to touch the ground as he walked. He floated just above it, each step landing on nothingness and giving off a soft yellow light. Matakh noticed that while the being was clearly visible, he could faintly make out the cloudy wall through his body, as if he was not fully tangible.
“Matakh Etari,” the being said, his voice soft yet strong as steel. In some strange way, it almost reminded Matakh of a soft thunderclap, and he noticed a slight shimmer shone from his mouth whenever he spoke. It was not a question, merely a statement mixed with a command. Matakh nodded and stepped forward.
“What are you?” he asked softly.
The being smiled bemusedly. “I am what you think I am.”
“What does that mean?” Matakh pressed, still not understanding.
“Exactly what I said,” the man replied. “What am I to you?”
Matakh thought for a moment. “Well, I’m not really sure. But I guess I would say that you’re an angel.”
The being nodded, and before Matakh realized what had happened he had changed shape. No longer human, but a lion with pure white fur, though his hair and eyes remained the same. Matakh took a step back. “How did that happen?”
The angel smiled. “I told you; I am as you see me. I am Eli, and I am a Guardian Angel, your Guardian Angel.”
He took a few steps closer and reached out a hand. “I don’t have much time, Matakh, so listen carefully. You have much work to do. Ahead lie four years