Something Extra - Hungry Heart - Ch. 14 (Patreon)

Chapter One  / Chapter Two  / Chapter Three  / Chapter Four  / Chapter Five  / Chapter Six / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight / Chapter Nine / Chapter Ten  / Chapter Eleven / Chapter Twelve / Chapter Thirteen 

Chapter Fourteen – Only the Love

“I know now!” Onyx said in an excited voice. “I know this path and where it leads! We can go save them! Let’s go and save them!”

A howling hushed them at that very moment. It was like a rumbling of wind and earth, the growling of a beast that didn’t or shouldn’t belong to the world of the living. It was a collective roar, maybe not the voice of a singular creature.

Varg turned toward the door. They were safe there, Onyx had said, but what could a young pup know about facing an army like the one rumbling like thunder outside? Varg had seen many things in his life, but that also gave him the knowledge that trying to go against those unnatural creatures would end up with them being crushed.

“Lord Onyx, when was the last time you’ve seen any of the people living here?”

“They don’t go out at night,” Onyx said defensively. “They’re not … they’re not beasts.”

Varg remembered the howling and the crying that had met them on their way to the keep. A short look at Duril confirmed that he wasn’t the only one.

“It would be a good idea to wait for the night to pass,” Duril offered his counsel.

“If only we could count on that,” Varg replied.

The horrifying howls seemed near, but the castle keep seemed to hold. It was as if something protected that part of it. The snake-like creature they had confronted earlier must be still stuck inside the throne room, but why hadn’t the army followed it inside?

“I could use some wise words right now, Duril,” Varg said.

“They must be afraid of something or … even us,” the healer began. “There has never been such an uproar before, is that correct, Lord Onyx?”

“Never,” the pup confirmed.

Varg stole a glance at him. He was glued to Duril’s leg and frightened.

“We must have done something to cause them to rise,” Duril continued. “All wild beasts strike when cornered.”

“It’s true,” Varg said. “They should have flooded this place by now. As near as their voices seem to be, they are kept at bay by something.”

“Then are we still safe here?” Onyx asked timidly.

“It’s hard to tell.” Varg didn’t want to lie to the young wolf.

“Confronting them outside would be,” Duril hesitated for a moment, “difficult.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Varg said. “Can Zul and Toru truly wait until daylight?”

They all turned toward the titan’s eye. Varg recoiled from seeing the rabbit and the tiger still tortured with flame bursts by the invisible evil in that place.

“We must save them.”

To their surprise, Onyx was the one to voice what they all thought while watching their friends being tormented.

“I’ve never shied away from battle, nor gone to sleep when called,” Varg said. “I agree.”

“I believe in us,” Duril followed. “I agree, as well.”

“And I have this titan’s eye!” Onyx shouted.

Varg frowned for a moment. Of course. The pup was right. Only those with a pure soul could look at it. While they didn’t know what punishment awaited whoever looked at it with dark intentions, it could serve as a weapon or a shield to help them pass through the army of night creatures outside.

“How are we supposed to move it?” Duril gave voice to what he too was thinking.

Onyx climbed on a ladder and looked at the eye from a higher vantage point. “It’s really big.”

Varg and Duril began moving around it, trying to find a way to remove it. A small, tentative gesture to touch it made Varg withdraw his hand with a small hiss. The eye was too hot to touch.

“There must be a way.” Onyx fidgeted on the ladder as he grew impatient. “We need it.”

Varg opened his mouth to admonish the pup for not letting the adults think when the ladder swayed dangerously, making Onyx fall right on top of the eye. Duril shouted, and Varg jumped to grab the irresponsible pup, but then something astonishing happened.

The eye simply disappeared and Onyx fell on the pedestal and then tumbled to the floor.

“Oh, no, I broke it!” Onyx exclaimed in pained disbelief.

Varg grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, partly because he wanted to check if the boy still had a belly, and partly because he wanted to shake him a bit.

“I don’t think you did,” Duril intervened.

The healer picked something from the floor and held it carefully in his palm. Varg stared curiously. The eye was there, still glowing, but not as dangerously as before. Duril offered it to him. “Do you mind holding it for a bit? I have an idea.”

“Put me down!” Onyx demanded. “And give me back my titan’s eye!”

“Not until you learn some manners,” Varg warned him. “Stop fidgeting or I’ll bite your ears.”

Duril came back with the collar he had discovered earlier. “Let’s see if it fits.” He held the collar and Varg placed the eye inside the empty socket.

It fit like it belonged there.

“I believe this is the gift you were supposed to get on your twelfth birthday, Lord Onyx,” Duril said.

Varg put the pup down and took the collar from Duril to fit it around his neck. It had been made for him, without a doubt. “It looks like now we have a fighting chance against the enemy outside.”

He shifted into his wolf form right away. “Hop on my back, both of you. We’ll get to Toru and Zul.”

***

Duril grabbed a handful of Varg’s coat to steady himself and boosted himself up to Varg’s back. Then he reached down and scooped Onyx up and seated him before him. The young wolfshifter was trying hard to still a tremor in his body. It was admirable the way he kept his head high, allowing the titan’s eye to shed light in front of them, leading the way.

Varg ran down the long corridor as Onyx instructed him on the way out in a trembling voice. In a few moments, they would be outside. Duril braced himself. “We will be all right,” he murmured to himself, but also as an encouragement of sorts for Onyx, too.

The sounds were louder, more terrifying, but there was no other way for them but forward. The gates opened, allowing them to pass, and they landed in the square plaza located in front of the castle.

The first impression Duril had was that of facing a world sunken in the darkness of a night without a moon. All around them, a wall of black bodies made of thick mist rose. It was hard to call them creatures, or anything else. Together they formed an entity of sorts, from which arms and hands sometimes emerged, only to pull back into the mist. Wide mouths opened, growling and trying to bite them, but they, too, were nothing but fog.

“I don’t think they can hurt us,” Duril whispered.

“Counting on that,” Varg replied. “Just to make sure, Onyx, show them your titan’s eye.”

The light shooting from Onyx’s collar created a path through the darkness. Varg marched forward, slowly at first, then faster and faster. Behind them, the howling darkness followed.

“It wouldn’t hurt if I could lose them, right?” Varg asked, his voice faint in that sea of pained screams.

“I guess not,” Duril shouted back.

He looked behind. Since the titan’s eye couldn’t project its light anywhere but forward, the dark mist followed relentlessly, keeping up with Varg’s pace.

“Where to, pup?” Varg asked.

“That way, and then you turn left,” Onyx shouted. “And don’t call me ‘pup’. I’m a lord, you know?”

Duril smiled. The bone chilling shrieks were still with them, but there was comfort in knowing he could count on his companions. Despite his young age, Onyx proved that he was his parents’ son.

The forest opened in front of them. The gnarled trees sang a soft lullaby in contrast to the howls behind them although one had to struggle to hear their voices.

“Do you hear that?” Duril asked. “The forest.”

“That must be Lady Amethyst,” Varg confirmed.

“My mother?” Onyx’s voice was vibrant with new emotions of hope. “Is she … the forest? I know this song. She used to … sing it to me when I was little.”

“I believe she is trying to protect us,” Duril said. “She must be watching over you, Lord Onyx.”

“Mother?” Onyx called. “Are you here?”

The voice of the forest grew louder, fighting against the menacing roar behind them.

“I’ll make you proud of me, mother,” Onyx said with determination. “I will save Zul and rid these lands of darkness.”

Big words for such a young wolf. Duril’s admiration grew. It didn’t matter that they were marching blindly into a danger without a name. They had courage on their side, and they would prevail.

***

“You would make such good pets if only I cared about such things.”

The malevolent voice was in his head now, making it painful to grab onto his own thoughts. Toru growled and jumped, as another flame burst from the ground. He could smell burnt hair, which could only mean that the fire must have caught his coat a few times. Zul hopped from one paw to the other, executing a strange dance that would have looked amusing under any other circumstances.

“Here is the good news,” the voice continued. “Your friends are getting closer. Ah, I can feel the taste of satisfaction. When I swallow the wolfshifters, my grip on these lands will finally be complete.”

They had to warn Varg, Duril, and Onyx. They had to be the ones on their way there if what the evil voice said was true. But how? Toru circled the room, in search of an exit, for the umpteenth time. They were trapped there. He tried to climb the walls, but his claws slid on the smooth surface, making his attempts laughable and futile.

If only Lord Opal hadn’t become the vassal of this evil force. Then, maybe, they would stand a chance. Toru regretted everything, following the scent, coming here, and now causing his friends to meet an untimely end.

But, no, they wouldn’t die for his sake. Not if he could help it. He began digging with his claws into the dirt beneath his paws.

“What are you doing?” the voice asked.

Toru would say a few things to that evil’s face if he could still talk. He would dig his way out if nothing else worked. Zul moved close to him and then he began to use his paws, too, to help out. It was desperate, complete madness, but a way out had to exist.

The voice laughed. Toru could feel heat coming from below as he dug.

***

“We are close,” Onyx announced. “Just a left turn and we should be there. Run faster, wolfshifter!”

“Just wait until this ends, pup,” Varg said with a growl. “I’ll teach you a few things, like how to respect your elders.”

Duril wished for that to happen, not because he wanted to see Onyx chastised properly, but because it would mean they would be safe and sound. He had a feeling that something was amiss however, because they had arrived at their destination without meeting any obstacles. While the dark mist made of bodies was frightening to look at, it hadn’t harmed them so far. They had the titan’s eye, true, and yet, Duril couldn’t suppress a feeling of foreboding growing in his gut. They could be walking straight into a trap, but he feared to voice that out loud. There didn’t appear to be another way for them to reach Toru and Zul, and who knew what tortures their friends must be enduring at that very moment?

“There, it must be there.” Onyx jumped from Varg’s back and hurried toward what looked like a sinkhole in the ground.

The earth rose in front of him, barring his way.

“Where are you going, child?” The voice came from the shape rising from the ground.

Duril and Varg came closer, too.

“Father?” Onyx asked timidly. “Is that you?”

They exchanged a short look. The howling was faint, at a distance from them now, but the lullaby was fainter too. Duril thought again of how it felt as if they had been allowed to walk in there unhindered, and only them.

“You cannot go any farther, child.”

“Zul is there, father. And why are you here? Why can’t I see you?” Onyx shouted.

“I’m right in front of you. This is me now and for all eternity. I’m here to protect you, forever.”

“I need to get to Zul, father.”

Duril could tell Onyx was crying.

“Zul failed you, child. I put him in charge of watching you, and he brought a stranger here. He must be punished.”

“Lord Opal,” Varg intervened. “We saw our friend in the titan’s eye. Whatever torments both him and Zul, it is pure evil.”

“The evil must be fed,” Opal said.

“Or it should be starved,” Varg replied.

The dirt shape moved and slunk across the ground, rising, once more, in front of Varg. “Wolfshifter,” Opal growled, “you have no place here. Turn back and consider yourself warned. There will be no next time.”

“They are down there,” Onyx shouted.

While Opal and Varg were arguing, the young wolf had moved nearer the sinkhole.

“Child, no!” Opal exclaimed.

Duril didn’t hesitate. As Onyx jumped through the hole, he hurried after him. Opal tried to catch up with them, but that left Varg an opening, and the wolfshifter followed them. Soon, they were falling through the hole, with nothing they could hang on to. Duril wondered briefly if they would become a heap of crushed bones once they reached the floor.

Their leap through the hole lasted only the blink of the eye. They tumbled onto solid ground. When he stood up, Duril saw that they were inside the place showed to them at the keep by the titan’s eye. His breath hitched in his chest.

A majestic tiger leaped in front of him. It was one thing to see Toru through the titan’s eye, a flicker of an image reflected by magic, and another to face him. Duril took one step back, too lost for words. In human form, Toru was an impressive young man, but nothing could rival the admiration mixed with apprehension Duril experienced at the sight of his tiger self. He hadn’t seen tigers very often in his life but, without a doubt, Toru was large for his species.

The tiger stopped and opened his mouth, displaying huge fangs. A growl followed. Duril stood his ground this time. He reached out for Toru and put his hand on his forehead. “Toru,” he whispered.

The tiger moved away from his touch and began pacing in a tight circle, growling.

“Zul, Zul.”

Close by them, another reunion took place. Onyx was all over the white rabbit, the same one they had seen in the titan’s eye.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Onyx asked, in an anxious voice.

“Because no one speaks here without my allowing it.”

Duril and Varg looked around in confusion. Whoever had just uttered those words, they couldn’t be seen or didn’t want to show themselves.

“Who are you?” Onyx asked. “I am Lord Onyx, the ruler of these lands.”

“Ah, we meet again, Lord Onyx,” the voice hissed.

“I don’t know you,” the young wolf insisted.

“You once heeded my call. It is time that we finish what we started.”

Onyx fell silent. Duril could tell those words must have struck close to home.

“Your parents had to bring that wizard here and halt our plans,” the voice continued.

“What wizard?” Varg asked. “Pup, speak up.”

Onyx looked at them. “A long time ago, I ran away from home.”

“Because your parents didn’t love you,” the voice said with malicious joy.

Onyx revolted. “They did.”

“No, they didn’t,” the voice contradicted him. “Only I need you. They don’t.”

“They … they’re still alive, aren’t they? My mother … it’s her voice in the trees … and my father, he’s up above.”

“I allowed them to see you,” the voice explained.

Duril could tell it was all lies.

“You’re lying,” Varg accused, giving voice to that thought. “Why is our friend not speaking? What do you want with Onyx?”

“Not only with him. You’re a powerful wolfshifter, a guardian. Ah, I cannot wait to embrace you, as well. The tiger and the rabbit are only appetizers. The orc might give me indigestion, though.”

“Leave them alone!” Onyx shouted.

The entire time, both Toru and Zul seemed prey to an increasing state of agitation. However, they could only express themselves through animal sounds.

“It is me you want, isn’t it?” Onyx stepped forward, although the malicious voice seemed to be coming from all of the walls at the same time. “I’m here. Take me, but let them go free.”

“Such noble thoughts … But we both know that this isn’t the real you, Lord Onyx. You are jealous and petty. You wish harm to everyone, except yourself. You are like me. Do you recall what you told me that day in the forest?”

“Stop. No, don’t say it,” the young wolf begged.

“You said,” the voice continued in the same implacable tone, “that you would be so happy if everyone else disappeared, leaving you alone, forever.”

“That’s not true,” Onyx cried out. “I didn’t want them to die! I didn’t!”

“But they aren’t dead. Not quite, at least,” the voice said. “Just like you wanted.”

“No, no, I never wanted anything like this. I don’t like being alone!”

“Of course, your silly rabbit had to get in the way of everything.” This time, the voice sounded rather vexed. “Now, come, Lord Onyx, there’s no time to dally.”

The ground opened under their feet. Duril jumped backward. Varg followed his example. They stared down into the core of the earth, as it seemed. Hot lava moved, splashing now and then.

“With you, I will rise. I will no longer be confined to this dark place,” the voice continued. “You and that wolfshifter will help me. So, go on, Lord Onyx. Step into my embrace. You first.”

There was a strange sort of anxiety in that evil voice, and Duril caught it right away. Why did the voice want Onyx to go first?

“You won’t take another step.” Varg shifted and barred Onyx’s way. “You will die in vain, or worse.”

“But, maybe, then you can run,” Onyx pleaded.

There was a pull from that burning hot lava that had an effect on the young wolf that Duril could sense. It was strange to say why his apprehension was so acute during these moments, but it felt not only as something from the gut, but also as a whisper in his mind.

“Lady Amethyst!” he began shouting. “Lord Opal! Your son Onyx is in danger!”

“What are you doing, orc? Silence!” the voice demanded. “Come, Onyx. Don’t listen to the orc. Your parents won’t come to save you. They don’t care about you. They never did.” The tone and timbre of the voice changed, now maternal and sweet, but Duril shook his head, to prevent it from getting inside his mind.

Onyx, however, seemed seduced by it. He tried to move past Varg, but the wolfshifter pushed him back and barred his fangs with a low growl.

“Lady Amethyst! Lord Opal!” Duril continued to shout.

They were no longer the same parents Onyx had known as a child, but they still loved their son. In that world of darkness, they needed all the help the light of that love could give them.

“No, what are you doing? Step back!” the voice cried out.

Duril turned and looked. At the edge of the river of lava, the white rabbit stood. He appeared to be looking down, fascinated by the flow of heat.

“Zul!” Onyx shouted. “No, step back!”

None of them had time to react. Zul leaned forward and suddenly fell into the lava.

“No!” Onyx roared, desperation and pain lacing his voice.

His cries were overcome by something else, an unnatural growl coming from the walls. The embers blazed and transformed into narrow rivulets, hurrying down to meet the river flowing under their feet.

“How dare you?” the voice hissed. “How dare you poison me?”

Duril hurried to the edge and looked at the river of lava. The white rabbit was nowhere to be seen. The only solace in that was that his demise must have been swift, albeit not painless.

The river bulged, making bubbles soar only to burst and sink back. It was convulsing, prey to a suffering that no one else could understand.

The walls began to shake. Duril stepped back.

“Grab the boy and hop on my back, Duril,” Varg shouted. “Toru, follow me!”

“No, Zul, Zul!” Onyx cried out as Duril took him under his arm and climbed on Varg’s back.

They had fallen from above, and there was no exit. But they wouldn’t go down without trying to escape. Above all, Duril trusted Varg and Toru. And himself, as well.

Onyx was sobbing uncontrollably. Duril wanted to have the right words to heal his broken heart, but he couldn’t find them. They were in danger, and weeping for those lost would have to come later.

The lava splashed, trying to get them, but its power grew weaker and weaker. Duril feared more that they would be buried by the rocks falling from the walls than by being burned alive.

It started with a small stone and some dirt falling on their heads. Duril pulled Onyx closer, to shield him as much as he could. But the falling rocks appeared to avoid them, so he risked a look.

The dirt was rushing toward the river of lava, choking it.

“That must be Lord Opal,” Varg shouted.

Duril addressed silent thanks to the former lord of the realm. When he had been called to protect his young son, he had heeded that call.

A sneeze from the right drew his attention to Toru. The tiger was shaking his head, as the dirt seemed to choke him. Duril let go of Onyx for a moment and began to rip his shirt. He hurried to wrap one piece around Toru’s nose and then climbed back on Varg to protect him and Onyx, too.

As well intended as Lord Opal was, he had no way of knowing that he was choking them with the dust that rose.

Then, another astonishing thing happened. Tendrils black like coal began descending along the walls. Duril touched them and discovered that they were made of hard wood.

“Lady Amethyst,” he whispered. “She’s making a ladder for us,” he shouted so that Varg and Toru could hear him. “Let’s get out of here!”

Varg moved first. Wolves weren’t the craftiest climbers, but anywhere he put a paw, the tendrils twined into a step.

Toru, on the other hand, was quick to find the way out, climbing fast. Soon, he stood on the edge of the sinkhole, stretching out one paw for them to grab. Beneath them, all hell broke loose. Duril could feel unbearable heat trying to get them. He ground his teeth together hard to stop the pain of blistering skin from making him let go of Varg’s coat.

Onyx was wrapped around his arm. Duril watched as Varg jumped as high as he could, shifting in the process and grabbing Toru’s paw. The healer’s hand met thin air, but Varg was fast to grab him by the leather bag he kept across his chest, and soon both he and Onyx were dangling above the abyss below.

“Pull us, Toru!” Varg shouted.

Duril looked down. A whirlwind of branches, dirt and fire moved, creating a vortex threatening to suck them in. His body swung to and fro, and he held Onyx tightly, praying that the leather belt holding the bag and now both him and the young wolf wouldn’t break.

Miraculously, he was pulled upward. Just as rocks and wood splinters were spit through the sinkhole, fountaining up into the air, he was thrown skyward and landed on hard ground. He still held Onyx tight as he was tumbling.

His breaths came hard and fast, his aching lungs hungry for the fresh air. Onyx was wheezing, trying to catch his breath as well.

And then, there was a warm rough tongue on his cheek, cleaning off the soot.

Duril raised one hand and grabbed a handful of rich coat. “Toru, I swear, you get us in the worst possible adventures.”

Exhaustion or something else overcame him and he lost consciousness, but not before catching a glimpse of Varg leaning over him, sporting a huge grin.

***

When he woke up, it had to be morning. Duril didn’t open his eyes, enjoying the sound of grasshoppers and birds, and the smell of fresh grass. As the events of the night past came to him, he stood up abruptly.

He looked around, eager to see his friends. He could see Varg, standing tall at a fair distance. He had one arm around the shoulders of a young boy. By how the boy stood with his head down, he could be crying.

By their side also stood a majestic tiger which now Duril knew to be his friend. Could it be that the gift of shifting had been stolen from Toru? All around them, nature was alive, and it felt as if the night had been nothing but a bad dream.

Duril winced when he saw the blisters on his arm. That had been no dream. Somehow, they had managed to escape alive. He stood up and walked toward the group.

***

Varg squeezed Onyx’s shoulder. “You will honor them,” he said in a stern voice.

The young lord of the land was still crying. He didn’t even seem to be aware that he was now in human form. When Varg had woken up, he had found the boy crying at the edge of the sinkhole that was now filled to the brim with dirt and broken branches. Lady Amethyst and her husband must have managed to seal the evil inside, spending their last breaths to protect their son and the lands they had left in his care.

Onyx was a lanky twelve-year-old, his brown hair shaggy and unkempt. His eyes were large and seemed huge in stark contrast to his thin face. But Varg had great trust in the young wolfshifter. He had proved courageous during their head-on assault with the evil that lurked underground.

It was a rule for all evil to try and find a way out, to spread into the world. Sometimes, such dark gates emerged, but they needed great power to sustain an opening between the realm below and the one above. Varg’s guess was that the evil couldn’t imprison Lady Amethyst and Lord Opal and had been trapped by them in that place.

The evil had still needed Onyx to grow its power. It must have lain in wait for hundreds of years for the young wolfshifter to roam into those parts, but the boy’s parents must have made sure that wouldn’t happen.

Until Toru had walked into their lands and set a series of strange events in motion. Varg wondered about the young tigershifter now more than ever. He was no ordinary tiger, and he was no ordinary shifter.

Only now, Varg observed out of the corner of one eye, Toru seemed incapable of shifting or speaking. That worried him, but they had all the time in the world to look for a cure. They could go back to Agatha and ask for her advice. And there were many powerful wizards in the world. They would find a way.

“I’m not crying only for mom and dad,” Onyx said through sobs. “I lost them so many times… each time I remembered. But Zul,” he choked and seized his chest. “He was my only friend.”

“And only his love for you saved us.”

Onyx began crying harder. Varg was searching for the right words to make the boy’s pain lessen when he sensed someone coming. He turned to see Duril walking toward them. The healer must have a better way with such words than him.

The young wolfshifter left Varg’s side and hurried into the healer’s embrace. Duril wrapped his arm around the boy and then caressed his head. “It’s all right,” he said in a gentle voice. “You can cry.”

Varg turned and pretended to look stoically forward. It was hard to hold back tears when someone told you it was all right to let them flow.

Toru moved closer and stood by his side. “So Duril knows now?”

“Can you speak?”

“Hush, not so loud,” Toru whispered.

“Can you shift?”

“I haven’t tried it yet.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

“Is Duril upset with me?”

Varg groaned. “I so want to bite your ears. Or your tail. You have no idea what you put me through. You should have told him.”

“I should have, but – Hey, what’s going on over there?”

Varg wanted so much to give Toru an earful about everything that had happened ever since he had left Whitekeep, but the tigershifter’s words drew his attention.

The mound of dirt and broken branches moved like it wanted to burst. Could it be that they still needed to fight the evil? Varg reached for the pommel of his sword.

The mound exploded, sending small rocks and splinters everywhere. Varg covered his face in the nick of time and stepped back.

Suddenly, something white and fluffy shot through the air, spit out of the belly of the sinkhole. Varg couldn’t believe his eyes. The ball of white fluff tumbled on the ground and then rose on two paws.

“Zul, you lucky rascal!” Toru exclaimed.

Varg smiled. The rabbit seemed disoriented, but otherwise, in one piece. Under their eyes, he turned into a beautiful young man, thin as a willow, with silver hair cascading down his back.

“Where is Lord Onyx?” were his first words.

Varg just pointed at the young wolfshifter. The wonders he had witnessed during his short time in Vilemoor never ceased to amaze him.

“Zul!” Onyx cried out.

He hurried toward Zul who caught him in his arms.

“You can speak, and you can shift … and you’re alive!” Onyx shouted happily, as Zul embraced him over and over again.

“You too! You shifted, Lord Onyx!”

The young wolfshifter seemed to notice that only now. “I guess I did!”

Duril walked toward them. “It looks like everyone is back to their usual selves. What about Toru?”

Varg wanted to comment on that and get Toru to talk to Duril. When he looked, the tiger stood with his back to them, and his tail was hitting the ground like a metronome.

TBC

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