Spirit Animals: Life Of Tarik - Book 1

Broken Fang

Tarik felt himself lifting his body off the ground. He blinked multiple times, his vision slowly coming back to him. He could hear screams and gasps of the Greencloaks around him. Lumeo's angry squeals could also be heard in the crowd.

He dug his hands into the sand, steadying himself as he slowly looked in front of him. There, stood Lynk and an entire army of his men. Tarik's eyes widened in fear, and he froze.

Lynk grinned wickedly down at him, his sword drawn. Fang stood by his side, ready to attack with claws unsheathed.

Olvan stepped forward. "What is this?"

"I guess your tranquilliser is unreliable," Lynk said, focusing his attention onto the Greencloak commander, the amulet around Fang's neck glinted in the sunlight at his words. "And some of your men, too."

Tarik looked back at where Chinwe was. She too, had woken up and was just as confused as he was. Fang's men stood shoulder-to-shoulder with weapons ready. He guessed that they were also Greencloaks, as their cloaks were also green.

He also guessed that the amulet around Fang's neck had woken them up.

"Take off your cloaks," Olvan said firmly. "You're not worthy to defend Erdas and it's people."

Lynk stood silent for a moment. "Not worthy?" he echoed. Fang growled lowly, now staring into Tarik's eyes.

Tarik stared back, unsure of what to do. He didn't want to hurt the cat, but he couldn't tell if Fang suddenly hated him now. He didn't dare look away, afraid that he would pounce onto him and rip his body to shreds with those large fangs.

"I came for two things," Lynk raised his voice loud enough for everyone to hear, the sky suddenly turning darker as storm clouds rolled in. "Chinwe and Tarik."

"You will die before you have them," Lishay hissed. Tarik was surprised to hear that coming from her, she was certainly more fiery since he saw her last.

"Will I? Or will you?" questioned Lynk.

Ricko stepped forward and took hold of Tarik's arm, slowly dragging him away from Lynk. Fang saw this and quickly sprang forward, yowling. Before Tarik or Ricko could react, black and white fur had jumped in front of them.

It had been Zhosur. The tiger roared savagely, toppling over Fang as he scratched the mountain lion's soft belly with one swipe of his claws. Fang used his rear legs to try and kick Zhosur off, but the huge tiger was locked on.

Lynk looked panicked, and stood with eyes wide. Olvan's expression seemed content, satisfied at how Lishay's spirit animal jumped in. Zhosur was much bigger than Fang, and could easily kill him. Lumeo slipped out of the crowd and joined Tarik's side.

Ricko had dragged Tarik far enough from the fight. He sat with Dorian and Chinwe just behind where Olvan and Lishay stood. Finn and Errol were in a fighting crouch not too far from them, watching the two cats snap at each other.

Fang managed to break free from Zhosur's grip, turning around at the tiger and hissing before latching himself onto his back. Zhosur growled angrily, spittle flying and turned his large body to bite Fang's dangling legs, but he was too far to reach. Both cats were bleeding from multiple wounds, especially Fang who had a torn open belly.

Tarik watched them fight with his eyes wide. He had wanted Zhosur to stop, but he knew there was nothing he could do. It had been Fang who attacked first, after all. He glanced at Lishay, her expression serious, but her brown eyes were wide.

But it had also been Fang that had freed him from Lynk in Zhong.

"Make them stop," Lynk said to Olvan.

"That is their choice if they want to stop," Olvan replied.

Zhosur finally shook Fang off and grabbed the lion by the neck. Lynk hesitated at this and seemed afraid of what would happen next. Tarik sat on edge as Zhosur threw Fang into a nearby wooden wall of one of the hut's. The mountain lion fell to the ground, defeated. The amulet around Fang's neck had snapped off under him.

Zhosur began walking back to Lishay as loud creaks could be heard from the small building that Fang had hit.

"No!" Lynk cried as he reached out a hand while rolling up his sleeve to summon Fang back into passive.

But it was too late.

"Get back!" Olvan ordered Lishay as she and Zhosur ran away.

Fang looked up and blinked. He looked at Lynk, then at Tarik. The cat seemed to nod at Tarik, as if saying goodbye. With a loud rumbling, the building came crashing down on top of him. Tarik's jaw dropped in shock and he covered his mouth. Lynk stared at where his spirit animal once was, his eyes filled with horror. The man looked down at the tattoo of Fang, only to find that it had faded.

Fang was dead.

Lynk hesitantly removed pieces of wood, digging to where his spirit animal lay. He paused for a moment, and Tarik could see that the amulet had been split in half. It looked like a broken fang now. Fang's large paw stuck out from under the wood, the rest of his body submerged.

Olvan calmly approached Lynk, who for the first time looked to be defeated, and rested a large hand on his shoulder before he fell to his knees. Olvan crouched down by his side, and whispered to him. Tarik couldn't make out what he was saying, but he assumed that Olvan's intentions were to comfort Lynk.

A loud clap of thunder echoed in the distance as the sky began to lightly rain on top of them. Ricko let Tarik go before joining Lishay who had been dabbing at Zhosur's injuries with a wet cloth. Chinwe and Dorian were silent, watching Olvan and Lynk.

Fang's death had happened within seconds. Tarik realised how easy it was to lose a spirit animal. His eyes flickered to Lumeo, who looked up at him with his dark, little eyes. As if knowing what he was thinking, Lumeo moved closer.

The rain seemed to get heavier. Most of the Greencloaks decided to move under their tents that they had set up for shelter. Lynk's army remained still.

"We should probably give them some privacy," Dorian suggested.

Tarik nodded slowly, while Chinwe did not react. The feeling of grief had now hit him, and it surprised him at how hard it was. He felt a deep pain in his chest, and a sadness in his heart that seemed to be also stuck in his throat. He covered his face and leaned his elbows on his knees.

Images of the mountain lion flooded his mind, the memories of him being freed in Zhong, being chased into a river with him. How the cat had defended Tarik from Lynk's men, how he had been taken away after Nara was killed. It made him wonder...

What had Fang's intention been all along?

He felt Dorian pull him to his feet. "Come on."

Tarik stood and so did Chinwe, except she kept her head down. Tarik's eyes flickered back to Lynk and Olvan.

He watched as Lynk stood.

Tarik's heart dropped.

Lynk screamed in anger, drew his sword, and sliced Olvan across the chest, cutting through his chain mail armour. Olvan had reacted too slowly, as he didn't jump back in time. With a flash, a giant moose appeared and Olvan drew his sword, bleeding from his chest.

"It has begun," Ricko whispered behind him. "The war has begun."