Half-lings Pt 5

Leandra and her pride watched as Michael transformed from a man to a huge Man-beast. His long talons and teeth alone sent waves of fear through all of them. Each one knew that this Man-beast could kill them without much effort at all. They watched Leandra as she changed into a She-cat. Her fangs and destructively long talons also had the ability to kill any of them. They were depending on her to end the battle between the cats and man-beasts. To sit and allow one to change before they could kill him was something they had never imagined witnessing in their lives.
"Leandra, he will recover quickly," her mother whispered to her. "If any of the cats realize that you love this beast, or the man inside of him, they will turn on you. You must not say a word to anyone concerning this issue, daughter. And sweetheart, I Do understand more than you might know of the frustrations that go with loving a human."
Leandra nodded and then she returned to Michael. She felt Michael stirring under her touch. He awoke to stare right into Leandra's eyes. He felt his entire being respond to her look and he fought back the urge to take her in his arms and hold her. He was glad he felt no desire to harm her. He stood and looked around him.
"Normally, I would say this was my worst nightmare come to live. Under the circumstances, I am grateful that we might fight side by side in a mutual agreement to drive those that would kill us, away. They Will come tonight! They have already begun their killing spree and they will be here sooner than we wish."
"They have weapons and we nothing to battle them with."
"You have your smarts, you can fight with a fury only those of us that can change could know. We must be ready to give our last breath to the enemy if that is what it takes to defeat the humans."
"I am with Michael. We Must stand and fight if we are going to survive as a species."
"Ok Michael. Tell us what we need to do to defeat them. We will follow you unless it appears you are Not fighting to save us also!"
"Wait! I have a question? Where is the rest of your clan? Why are you the only one fighting?"
Michael turned to look at Deanna just as she was changing. She was larger than most of the She-cats. Her breeding was a true breeding between her father and mother, both from a line that was much larger and vicious than most of the prides.
"I told you, Deanna, our clan was attacked and nearly wiped out. Those that did survive are not fit to fight. We must do this with out them."
Darkness had fallen now. The shadows that followed them through the trees left to question whether it was their own or those of the enemy. Leandra and Michael walked side by side. Now and then, he would gently reach down and touch her fur. She growled low, not an unfriendly growl at all. They found a place that allowed them to look out over the den and gave some cover to them. The moon was full and gave off nearly as much light as the Sun.
"We must stay low until we have the humans drawn in close enough to ambush them. If they see us first, their weapons could hurt enough of us to be costly.
There was a sound to the right of them. Behind them, there was another loud sound. Michael looked over at Leandra. His eyes said it all. Fur standing straight up, from head to tail told Michael that she understood.
"God Michael, they are all around us! What do we do!?!?"
"We stand and fight daughter!!!! You don't need a beast to tell us how to do that! Make a circle and do not let them penetrate the lines!!!
The others did as Deanna told them to do. Fifty She-cats stood in the circle, a site most men would run from if he had half a brain. These men did not care. They moved in slowly, deliberately, weapons readied. One of the humans spoke out loud.
"This is where it all ends for you freaks of nature! Tonight, under a moon-lit sky, we are sending you to where-ever it is that Cats go! The beasts are all dead! We took care of that earlier! One thought he was safe inside of a car with the doors locked! Funny thing is, humans don't need to get too close to the creatures. Just a little fire and well, fried beast-man is back on the menu!"
Leandra saw the look in Michael's eyes before she heard the words come from his mouth. He said his brother Jordan's name. The intensity of his words and the snarl that followed told Leandra that tonight, would not be a quiet night nor would it be a night void of blood. She reached out her paw to stop him but his strength was too much for her. He shoved her paw away and stepped forward.
"Tell me, before I kill all of you, I want to know what we did to you that has caused you to hate us so much that you are willing to die tonight!!!"
There was a silence in the air. Even the wind stopped blowing as if it wanted to hear every word spoken. "You are Freaks!!! You taint our blood and corrupt a good world! You take our men and women at will and make them your slaves! You are more disgusting than the witches of the East Coast! One of you killed my Grand-father long ago, just because he was human. No other reason!"
"We are not the ones that killed them! We stay to our own and bother none! You... you killed my brother and now I must avenge him! No more talk!"
"Wait! Who are you? I want to know who it is that I kill or kills me!"
"I would tell you to remember the name, Michael, but you will Not live long enough to care!"
The sound of high powered rifles resonated through out the forest. Screams of She-cats dieing could be heard all around the circle. Leandra jumped from the circle into the cover of the Forest. Michael turned to follow her. He felt claws dig deeply into his back, blood flowing freely from his gash. He turned to kill who-ever had attacked him but stopped as he looked into Deanna's eyes. She swayed from side to side as Michael reached out to catch her.
"Why? Why did you attack me???" Michael felt the warmth of blood on his arm. He lifted Deanna and knew. She was bleeding badly from two gunshot wounds. He could not save her.
"Michael, the man that seeks to kill you... I know him. He will not stop until you are dead."
"Why, Deanna? Why does he hate me so?!?!?!?"
"He was in love with your mother. She never told him what she was. He never told her. He was from a tribe of Beast-men that had found a cure to their beast side. He wanted a son that was pure blood. She gave him You! Kill him Michael. He will kill you if he can. Save my precious daughter."
Deanna paused and took in a deep breath. She had changed back to human form. Michael knew she was almost gone. He brushed the tears from her eyes. "Michael... love my daughter and take care of her. But first, kill... your... fath..."
Michael laid Deanna on the ground gently. Tears filled his beast-man eyes for the first time. And then, he heard Leandra scream out as another shot rang through the forest.
"No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God, no!!!!," Michael cried out.