The Jackals of Sakhmet - Kasha's Plot: Part Six

Lee let out a gasp, staring through the fist-sized hole in the wall in horror. She couldn't think of what to say. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so she shut it again.

      "I know what you're thinking…" Lycos whispered, turning her back to the hole, so all Lee could see was her back. "I was foolish for trusting her… Kasha was the same way as a child… Why couldn't I see she was just using me…?"

      To Lee's dismay, Lycos started crying, large tears rolling down her cheeks and landing with a splash upon the ground. Lee shifted uncomfortably. She'd never seen a grown-up cry…

      "Lycos…" Lee whispered kindly to the Aisha. "Don't cry. We'll get through this… we just need an idea how."

      Though Lee could not see her, she was pretty sure Lycos gave a weak smile, reassuring Lee that her words had brought her comfort. If only her words could comfort herself. Lee had no idea how to get through this.

      "I really wish you were here, Cole," Lee sighed to herself.

      "Wish granted."

      Lee gasped and looked up. With a wide smile on his face, Cole stood in front of her, holding out a paw to help her up.

      "Cole!"

      Lee took his paw, pulling herself up. For a moment, the two of them stood in front of each other awkwardly, not knowing what to do, but Lycos broke the silence by clearing her throat rather loudly.

      "What was that?" Cole asked, jumping slightly. Lee laughed.

      "That's Lycos, come meet her-"

      "Wait, Lycos? I thought you were in an alley!"

      Cole knelt down to the hole and stared at Lycos, who was laughing as if she had heard a funny joke.

      "I am, it's just, this corner of the building is right next to the alley, so I can see anyone through this hole, and I guess Lee found me instead."

      Cole was confused. When he had first met Lycos, she had seemed a lot more troubled, but now, she seemed almost calm. As if she was reading his mind, Lycos became very urgent again.

      "The two of you need to find Scarab and tell him it's in Kasha's staff! Hurry, before all the necklaces are sold!"

      Cole was about to ask what the necklaces did, when Lycos started screaming.

      "NO! NO, LET ME GO!"

      "LYCOS," Cole and Lee screamed in unison. They both crowded around the hole and pressed their faces against it to get a better look. Two shadowed figures seemed to be wrestling Lycos, trying to force her out of the alley. If there wasn't a wall blocking them, the two children would have jumped on the figures, but they could do nothing to help her.

      "RELEASE HER!" bellowed Cole, pounding his fists on the wall. With a stern look on her face, Lee grabbed Cole's fist and lowered it. She stared at him seriously.

      "Cole, we can't help her! But what we can do is find Scarab!"

      "We don't know who this Scarab is!"

      "No, but I have an idea where to find him. Quick, let's go!"

     * * *

      "How many necklaces have been sold?"

      "All of them."

      "Excellent…"

      Kasha stood behind the sales table, gazing around at all the pets who had bought one. To her great pleasure, all of them wore one… each and every last one. The Cybunny next to her started packing away the empty boxes in which the necklaces had come in, Niger giving him assistance.

      Omar had quietly, and unseen, stepped up to Kasha, who, without withdrawing her gaze from the pets wearing her product, placed a paw on his head. She pulled him close to her, as if he was her own son. This felt great!

      "Let's see if this really works," she whispered to Omar, who was glaring at a Chia who had walked by. Kasha pulled out the ruler-sized staff she had before, and muttered something to it. The two waited for the red glow to stop, and once it did, the two looked around.

      Omar spotted a young Cybunny, much younger than himself, start hitting the Zafara that held its hand. She started wailing loudly, still hitting the Zafara's paw.

      "Emily, what's wrong?" asked the Zafara, picking up her sister. The Cybunny wailed louder, trying to pull free from her sister.

      "Emily," the Zafara struggled to keep the child in her arms. Kasha and Omar smirked, laughing to themselves. The necklaces did work. How? Omar and Kasha were witnessing a young Cybunny, who was sporting one of the necklaces, screaming because she wanted away from her Zafara sister.

      "Hey, get your filthy paws off her!" yelled another voice from somewhere down the street. A woman Cybunny was stepping up to the Zafara, taking her sister in her arms. The child grew quiet.

      "Let go of my sister!" screamed the Zafara. "What do you want from her?"

      "You were attacking this poor child! She clearly doesn't know you!"

      "Emily, it's me! Don't listen to her! Emily!"

      Niger had walked up to Kasha, laughing along at what he saw. Yes, everything was going as Kasha planned. All the Cybunnies in the city of Sakhmet only obeyed her and other Cybunnies, which meant… which meant that she had complete control.

      "As long as my staff is safe," she said to Niger and Omar, leading them away to the city gates. "Then I rule…"

     * * *

      "So Kasha is planning to make all the Cybunnies in Sakhmet her mind-slaves," Cole summarized, while he followed Lee to the outskirts of town. "And she's using the necklaces to take control of them. But how can she control them all?"

      "With her staff," answered Lee, checking around the now deserted streets, to see if the coast was clear.

      "She pulled out a staff, said something into it, and then she activated the necklaces! That's why Omar's acting funny! She's turning Cybunnies against all the other species of pets!"

      Cole snorted. Who could be so evil? There was no such thing as a better species.

      "So, Lee…" he started, once they were on the outside of the city gates. The Grarrl guards were nowhere to be found.

      "You think that if we find this group called the Dunes, we can find Scarab?"

      "Yes."

      Cole sighed as he looked ahead of them. If you had read the very beginning of our tale, you would understand why he sighed. As I said before, the vast lands of desert were not very pleasant. With the sun nearly blinding them, the two set off to find the band of desert thieves, the Dunes.

      The journey was rough. Once or twice, Cole could have sworn he spotted a scarabug scuttle through the sand, hissing at him. He learned to ignore it. The sun seemed like it would never go down! How long had they been out in this heat? It was dangerous.

      Lee let out a loud moan, and fell over into the sand. Cole ran over to her, lifting her up on his shoulders.

      "Can't give up now, Lee," he said firmly, trying to shake her back to consciousness. "We've come too far for that."

      Lee moaned once more, but managed to pull herself off of Cole's back. She stumbled for a moment, and Cole caught her, but she stood up on her own in the end.

      "It's too hot," she mumbled, wiping off her forehead. "I need water… I can't go on like this…"

      Now that she mentioned it, Cole was feeling a bit light headed as well. He shook his head, hoping he would feel better, but that just made him dizzy, and he plopped back in the sand, lying on his back. Lee lay down next to him, closing her eyes and covering her face with her paws.

      "We have to find Scarab," Cole muttered. "But at this rate, that's impossible. We'll never find him…"

      "Never say never, kid…"

      Cole and Lee shot up in the speed of light, and looked behind their backs. Three magnificent black Unis stood in behind them, each carrying a passenger, a Yurble, a Scorchio, and a Bori with a white hood concealing his face.

      The Bori was none other then Scarab, leader of the Dunes…

      "You two alright?" he asked, climbing off his Uni. Cole and Lee's mouths hung open, making it so they could not speak. Scarab and his colleagues chuckled. He held out a paw for the two of them to take.

      "Judging by your looks, it seems like you've had a lot of surprises today. What're two kids like you doing out here. Do your parents know?"

      "We don't have parents," Lee told him quietly. Scarab and the others exchange nervous glances.

      "That so?" asked the Scorchio. Lee and Cole nodded.

      "Well then, what're you doing out here?"

      "Delivering a message," Cole said, turning to Scarab. "Lycos said, 'It's in her staff…'"

      Everyone was silent for a moment, Scarab contemplating what Cole just said, and then urgently, he said to his colleagues, "Round up the others! We've got some work to do… You two," he pointed to Lee and Cole. "Come with me."

      "Where are we going?" Lee piped up. Scarab smiled mysteriously at her, mounting his Uni. He gently patted its backside, gesturing for Cole and Lee to come on as well.

      "To the rescue," he answered, once Cole and Lee were safely on. And together, our heroes rode off back to the city of Sakhmet, coming to the rescue…

To be continued...