Catopolis

Norbu vanishes once more.

Oh, hairballs and curdled milk! I should have known he’d go out and about. Worried and frustrated, he launches himself after his pupil.

This time it takes Tai Pan much longer to track down the boy’s whereabouts. Norbu’s silver cord stretches in a different direction every time Tai Pan reaches a new location: the school, the playground, the local mall. Tai Pan arrives at a crowded ice cream stand outside the mall just in time to see Norbu zip straight up into the nocturnal sky.

“By the Great Cat’s extra toes, will you stop this!” Before darting off in pursuit, Tai Pan takes a moment to quickly assess the people waiting for ice cream. One of them, a bearded and hirsute human male covered with tattoos, looks straight at him.

“You shouldn’t be seeing any of this!” spits Tai Pan.

The man gives Tai Pan an evil grin and quickly walks away.

Tai Pan hisses and mutters, “The enemies know Norbu’s loose! That’s bad! Bad, bad, bad…” He takes off into the sky in a hurry, expecting the worst.

Moments later, Tai Pan finally catches up with Norbu at the rhododendron forest near the towering mountains. He levitates just above his student’s head, next to the trunk of a large tree.

Terrified and cornered, the boy cowers against the bark. Only ten feet away, a nightmarish creature lurches toward Norbu. Filthy black and purple hair covers its entire body. On its face, jagged lips reveal a wide mouth with slime-dripping fangs above which purulent gray eyes bulge from slits. Standing on three thick spider legs, the monster raises two arms like a praying mantis, and clicks deadly serrated claws.

Landing between his pupil and the beast, Tai Pan shouts, “Hold it! I know you for what you are, Garakk Fearmonger. Leave this boy alone!”

Garakk takes a step back and hisses, “What makes you so sure of yourself, Titus-Detritus?”

“I know your kind. You feed on people’s terror. I’m not scared of you, you miserable scum. Your business is done here. Get lost! Go back to that slime pit you call home!”

Garakk reveals its fangs in a taunting grin. It hisses back at Tai Pan, “The boy’s soul is mine to feed upon. And I will have yours, too.”

The creature lunges. Tai Pan’s attention was momentarily divided between Garakk and Norbu, a great mistake. He realized that as the monster’s claws ensnared and lifted him.

Tai Pan fights like a beserker, biting and slashing at Garakk’s arms. Oblivious to the pain of multiple puncture wounds, the beast lifts him closer to its horrid fangs.

“And now, I will kill you!”

Furiously clawing at Garakks’s mouth and eyes, Tai Pan shouts, “I’m not afraid of you! You are powerless against me!”

The monster huffs a sardonic laugh as it tips its head and seizes Tai Pan’s silver cord between its slimy teeth. Despite his best efforts, Tai Pan ca

He shouts, “Norbu! Do something! Help me!”

The boy, terrified, screams and crouches at the base of the tree, his fingers in front of his face.

Hissing and gurgling with success, Garakk rips through the silver cord.

Horror-stricken, Tai Pan feels the essence of his life withering. A cold, numbing darkness submerges him.

Garakk shrieks in triumph, dropping the body and turning toward the child. Raising its claws, it opens its hideous mouth.

“I will take you one small bite at a time,” the beast exults, stepping forward.

“Stop!”

The imperious command comes from behind it. Lying on the forest’s cold ground, Tai Pan’s Astral body regains some of its brightness. His silver cord reforms, but too slowly for his need. With what little strength he’s managed to reclaim in the last few moments, he staggers to his feet, trying to look undaunted.

“It takes more than one death to kill my kind, Garakk,” Tai Pan a

“You can’t save him!” gurgles Garakk. “You are too weak!” It takes another step forward. Norbu screams.

It’s right, I am too weak. Tai Pan closes his eyes. It is time to call for help. To call in a favor.

His facile mind probes the night. A friendly soul answers, “Already cashing in, are you?”

Two other cats show up in their Astral forms, just as Garakk lifts an arm to strike at Norbu.

“Didn’t expect to hear from you so soon, mate!” says Mugs Greyshadow. “And I brought a friend, just in case.”

The other cat, a large brown-striped Maine Coon, takes in the situation with a cool glance, leaps over Mugs, and lands on Garakk’s back.

“Let’s get him!” the Maine coon snarls in a gravely voice, betraying a mind as thick as his fur. With savage fury, he claws away with all fours at Garakk, sending clumps of matted hair flying. The creature flings its spiky appendages backward, trying to reach its assailant.

Mugs turns to Tai Pan. “That’s Shindig Haywhisker. He’s the bouncer at the Fish Eye Cat Club. He’s good.” The gray studies his friend. “Oy! You don’t look right, mate.”

“Thank you, Mugs,” replied Tai Pan, ignoring the reference to his diminished appearance and denying any more talk about it by changing the subject. “Your friend is just right for this situation.”

“So that’s how it is,” Mugs says. Stepping forward, he hunches and begins to circle Garakk, studying the beast.

“Some nasty bugger you’ve got here for us, mate! Seen this before, I have-that’s an Astral killer, that is.”

Dodging Garakk’s claws with an unca

Mugs feints at Garakk several times, looking for weaknesses. Shindig does his best to avoid the beast’s claws, while delving deeper into its noisome substance. Blackish blood begins to drip from the beast.

Mugs steps back, looking at Tai Pan with an air of glee as huge switch-claws spring from his front paws. “Just got these, mate! If they don’t do the job, nothing will.”

He lunges again, slipping under Garakk’s belly. With a wail of savage joy, Mugs plunges two oversized sets of switch-claws deep into the repugnant flesh.

With a screech born of hurt, rage, and frustration, Garakk brutally kicks Mugs away and finally snags Shindig. The bouncer rebounds off a tree trunk and flops on the cold ground.

Mugs staggers to his feet. “Oy, something’s wrong here! That should have done him in.”

Tai Pan’s mind races. “He’s still feeding on Norbu’s fear!”

Mugs yells, shaking his head, “If it’s that, I don’t think we can stop him, mate.” He looks at his Maine coon friend, just staggering to his feet. “This is the first time Shindig’s ever been down.”

Gathering his strength, Tai Pan frantically cudgels his memory for bits of information that might help.

“I understand now,” he calls to Mugs. “Someone evil summoned Garakk and bound it to kill the boy. Only he can defeat it. Mugs, just keep it at bay a bit longer, will you?”

“Yeah, well, we’ll try.”

Shin and Mugs launch themselves against Garakk in a frenzy of screaming, hissing, and clawing. Tai Pan staggers toward Norbu and places his paws against the sobbing boy’s chest. Bringing his face close to Norbu’s, he purrs and says calmly, “Norbu? Look into my eyes. Look at me, Norbu!”

The terrified boy finally pulls his hands away from his face. His black eyes find Tai Pan’s. He discovers unexpected solace and courage in the steady blue gaze.

Tai Pan concentrates all his will and strength to force Norbu’s mind to stay focused on his words. “Listen, Norbu. Only you can defeat Garakk. That beast’s only weakness is its hunger for your fear. There is nothing for you to fear but fear itself. Snap out of it, boy! Trust me, and trust yourself. It’s time you did.”

Norbu’s eyes widen, betraying a new glimmer of consciousness, a new level of understanding.