I.
The Kalahari Plains were in truth no more than a vast, sun-scorched desert that lay between the ghoul haunted forest of Werewood to the west and the fertile river valleys of the Zanthar to the east. Here indeed was a place that Hathor, goddess spirit of nature, had long ago forsaken. Not a single living entity; bird, beast, or insect, made its home there. No one had ever been known to cross it's wide wastes and any who dared to enter therein had never returned. Since time unremembered, it had been a place where death reigned supreme.
But one day the impossible happened, and a lone figure entered into that silent tableau. A living being of any sort seemed a grave impossibility amidst the desolation of that endless plain, an impossibly small creature set against the backdrop of those limitless wastes, but this lone adventurer was naught but a teen aged girl, and for one so fragile to be found wandering alone in the barren and inhospitable regions of the Savage Lands seemed a joke that only the gods would enjoy telling.
Her name was Kore, and she was very young, having seen no more than sixteen summers, yet she was already a figure most obviously blossomed into ripe femininity. Her breasts were large and round, as was her hips and buttocks, and would have been the pleasure of many a lusty man. Her flesh was sun darkened and well muscled, for her youth had been a life lived in the forest. She carried a bag over her shoulders and a long gnarled walking staff in her right hand.
She had been driven to the wastes of the Kalahari by necessity, and the flames that consumed her former home took whatever clothes she once had. Fate had never been truly kind to her. Before the passing of her sixth year, her mother and father had treated her as no more than a laborer at best, and at worst, an extra mouth to feed and clothe. The wizard Azimuth had rescued her from a life of drudgery and despair, and she'd been grateful for the new life he offered her, as strange as that new life had been.
Perhaps it would have been better if the wizard had let her die, she thought, for she'd become a curse both to him and herself. In order to save her friend Melissandra from what she thought was a fate worse than death, she'd managed to summon up a demon using forbidden lore she'd gained from study of the darker aspects of Azimuth's magic in his library. But she had been betrayed by Melissandra, and only later did she realize that they both had been manipulated into consummating a dark and devious design long anticipated by the demon imp, Zhagmyr Khan.
She'd freed Melissandra, but only at the cost of becoming a thrall to the demon, who would completely possess her body after a period of one year. Azimuth had been slain by were beasts of the forest, and with him had perished all his magic works, including the invisible barriers he'd constructed to protect them in their forest haven. Now she had been forced to flee the devil haunted forests of Werewood for fear of her life and soul.
She had come upon a vast waterless waste. As was well evidenced by her cracked and swollen lips and darkly burnt flesh, she'd been ill-prepared for a journey across the Kalahari Desert, a sun-scorched abyss that stretched for many days march in all directions. Her hair, once golden and crimson like the fire of a sunset, had been dulled by the dust of the trail. Her jade eyes had grown bloodshot and weary. Her loose-fitting doe-skin shirt was torn and frayed from sleeping on the ground. Her leather breeches were in tatters. Only her moccasins, laced tightly below her calves seemed to have withstood the rigors of the trail.
She had come driven by a desperate need, fleeing blindly from the doom that pursued her, straight on towards the doom which awaited. All that she owned she carried in the pack on her back. The water bag that hung by her side was already empty. She was weaponless, bearing only the ebon hued walking staff.
For a moment she halted, lifting her hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun. Naught met her gaze but the endless monotony of the barren plain. The desert swam to her vision. Her throat was parched and swollen from dehydration. She knew she couldn't go on much further. Her strength had abandoned her. The end was near.
She stumbled on impossibly, only to collapse within a few yards and fall sprawling into the bitter dust. She was unable to rise again.
She knew not how long she lay there. Vaguely, the knowledge that she was dying began to forge itself into her departing senses, but she was unable to force herself to rise. The world was slowly slipping away. What a waste, she thought. I could have done so much more......
A furtive sound alerted her weary senses. From over the top of a low dune, a sleek panther silently stalked. Half-heartedly, Kore began to chant a spell of protection, but she knew she didn't have the energy to complete it. The great cat's whiskered jaws drew back to reveal inch long needle-sharp fangs. Kore prepared for death. But instead of a snarl, she heard a whispered voice which seemed to emanate from within her mind.
"You are the one I was told to seek," said the voice, the voice of a woman. "Can you stand? I can lead you to a place where there is water."
It's all a dream, Kore told herself. Its all a dream and I've lost my mind. I'm dying in the desert. There is no great black cat talking to me. It's all a product of my fevered imagination.
"If you wish to further doubt the evidence of your own senses, then stay here, by all means, and die," said the pantheress. "But I've been sent here to rescue you, whether you would believe me or not. Do you have strength enough to go on? The oasis isn't far."
Kore mustered the last vestiges of her remaining energy and stood before the great cat.
"Lead on," she said.
The panther spun lithely and set a nimble pace across the empty desert sands. Kore somehow trudged along behind, placing one leaden foot before another in an agonizing ritual of torture which seemed as if it would never end. Then, miraculously, when she thought she could go on no further, green grass and golden flowers began to spring up before her wondering eyes, and there, like a miracle of the gods, was a thin crystalline ribbon of water sparkling merrily in the afternoon sun. Huge willows lined its shore, their shade providing a much needed haven from the fiery demon that shone above.
Kore cried out with joy and fell to her knees in the cool water, splashing it over her dust streaked face and arms. Then she brought the cool nectar to her lips and drank her fill. Sanity returned slowly to her eyes.
"Do you feel better now?"
The pantheress was watching her from beneath the sweeping branches of the willow.
"Yes," she replied. "I thank you for your timely rescue. But how did you know of my danger?"
"I was ordered to find you and lead you to this safe haven by the cat queen, Shiamat. I am called Taerlen. I am one of the few of all my people who speak the tongue of men, for I am the daughter of Shiamat. That was why she chose to send me."
"Its most strange," said Kore. "Why should the queen of cats concern herself with me?"
"Because of a friendship she once made with a wizard. He saved the queen's life and this was an opportunity to return his favor."
"Azimuth," Kore said.
"Aye. That was the name of the wizard. He is a friend to all the beasts of the land and water. He knew my mother in the elder days."
"He was my mentor. We lived together in Werewood. He was slain and our home destroyed after I summoned a demon in order to save my friend . But the demon tricked me and now I seek some means to free my soul from eternal bondage. If I do not do so within the space of one year, I will be possessed forever by this demon, whose name is Zhagmyr Khan."
"That is a tragic tale," Taerlen commented. "Yet what is it you seek in these desert lands? There is naught that dares to live here."
"A vision of my mentor, which came to me in my dreams, told me to make my way to the city of Nantarri, which lies to the east, and when I arrive, I am to take passage on a certain ship I'll find docked there. I know no more, but it may be the only way to free myself from eternal bondage to Zhagmyr Khan."
"There were once caravan routes which stopped at these oases often in the time of my ancestors," Taerlen said. "But there were more rains then and now the traders no longer pass across these desert sands. Water is extremely scarce in these accursed lands, especially now in the heat of summer. This is the garden of Shiamat, and once it spread for miles along this forgotten vale, full of flowers without number, verdant forests, birds and all manners of four footed beasts, but now this is all that remains, the last refuge of the living amidst an utter desolation."
"I am eternally grateful," Kore said, "Though I fear I've naught to repay you for your kindness."
"The earth is kind," replied Taerlen. "The goddess is kind, and she gives to all. My kindness to you is but a repayment to her."
The pantheress stared up at the sun, which was at last sinking swiftly towards the western horizon.
"Rest here for a time," she said. "The day is swiftly drawing to a close."
II.
The sun at last sank behind the western horizon. Night fell swiftly. There was no moon, but the stars were flung like fairy dust flung across a midnight field, a stream, a cloud of shimmering light coursing cross the ebony sky.
Kore quickly fell asleep in the cool shade of the trees. For the first time in many days, she had no nightmares.
Taerlen woke her many hours later.
"The moon rises," she said. "Shiamat comes."
Kore shook the sleep from her eyes and looked around dazedly.
"Shiamat, coming here?" she asked, startled. "But why? Why does the queen of cats concern herself with me?"
"Because though you don't remember me," I know you only too well!" spoke a new voice.
Across the desert sands came a wondrous procession of three great cats. The first was a snow white tigress with immense golden eyes. She was flanked on both sides by two great leopards who walked in perfect pace with her, though always keeping several steps behind.
"There was a tigress like you when I was very young," Kore whispered. "I remember we used to play with you, all three of us girls when you visited Azimuth. That was a long time ago."
The white tigress rose up on her hind legs, and with an impossible delicacy, hugged Kore with both of her forepaws. In a moment, it was no longer a tigress that embraced her, but a very tall and beauteous lady. Her lithe form was draped in a long robe of white silk, and her hair flowed white and shining across her shoulders and back. Her eyes were still golden and cat like.
"To me, it seems only moments have passed," Shiamat said, and she smiled.
"This is beyond all wonder!" Kore exclaimed. "Legends are now come to life!"
