Tygra found the village again with no difficulty. As he approached the border, Celeste greeted him with a beaming smile and a big hug. "Tygra! Back so soon! I’m delighted!"

"Me too. I... I just had to see you again."

"I’m very flattered. It’s quite an ego boost to catch the attentions of a handsome warrior like yourself. Welcome back. May I lead you to the palace?" she asked.

"Sure." he answered. Celeste took his hand and the two walked together to the palace. She led him to a private courtyard where the servant girl, Mirlana, was pouring fresh wine into two glasses. Celeste dismissed her, and she and Tygra sat down.

"I love this wine. We don’t have anything like this at the lair."

"It’s a special vintage that my people make. Only those that have been to our village have had the pleasure of tasting it. There are many things that one can only find here."

"Such as?" he asked.

Celeste smiled mysteriously. "In time, dear Tygra."

Damien leaned against the trunk of a large elm tree. "She will be here in a few minutes", he thought. His psychic abilities had seen Chilla get angry and leave Skytomb, and he knew that she would soon arrive to find him. It had worked flawlessly. She would soon be his and his alone. He waited for her as he reviewed his plan. Talk to her, sympathize, butter her up, and take her to the palace, this time permanently. Feed her more of the magical wine that would make her forget her ties to her mortal friends, and she would be forever at his disposal. He then could take all of her energy, her power, and increase his own. By the time she realized what he was doing with her, he would have already taken all he wanted. She would be a permanent resident of the village, little more than a corporeal spirit, have no physical energy left, and would be unable to leave, like all the others had been over the years. He put on the most charming smile he could muster as he saw her arrive. "Chilla!" he called out in his hypnotic voice.

"Damien! I’ve been looking for you!" she greeted him.

"I know. I could sense your distress. I warned you about your friends. I hate to see that I was right."

"I couldn’t believe it! I go and cure those two jerks, and what do I get? Slythe accuses me of doing something to that other loser

Jackalman, and Alluro and the others make rude comments about me being with you. They have such nerve!"

Damien put a sympathetic arm around her. "I am sorry. What can I do for you? Do you need somewhere to stay? Somewhere to think it all over?"

Chilla looked up at him. "Could I?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course. Let me take you back to the palace, find you a place to stay, give you some food and wine, and you can forget all about them. You don’t need them anyway."

"You’re right. Let’s go."

Mirlana left the courtyard just as Celeste pulled Tygra into a passionate embrace. She stood in the palace hallway and winced. They’re doing it again. Why do they always have to do it this way? They have to play these cruel games! Will they never be satisfied? She walked farther down the hall and saw Damien with Chilla. "Oh no, the fool didn’t stay away! I can’t bear to watch this, not again!" she mumbled.

Damien gestured to her. "Mirlana, take Chilla to our guest quarters, and see to it that she is comfortable. I must speak with my sister." Mirlana nodded. Damien turned to Chilla. "You’re in good hands." he then kissed her lightly and left.

"This way." Mirlana said, and led Chilla into a beautiful room filled with plush furniture and ornamental plants. "You may help yourself to anything you need. There’s clothes in the chest, and a bath in the adjoining room."

"Wow. This is the good life."

"So they say." Mirlana said.

"What, you don’t agree?" she asked.

"Things aren’t always what they seem. Keep that in mind, while you still can." Mirlana said, and left. Chilla cast her a puzzled glance as she left. Mirlana regretted not telling Chilla the truth, she knew all too well what was going to happen to her. The same thing had happened to her centuries ago. Damien had seduced her, taken her in, and then made her a slave while he drained her vital energy from her. She would live forever, as long as she didn’t leave the village. If she did, she would perish instantly. Damien and Celeste both knew that Mirlana wouldn’t tell any of their new ‘victims’ about their fate-- if she did, they would banish her, and she would die. Although after watching Celeste and Damien play their sick games of seduction and betrayal enough times, Mirlana wondered if it wouldn’t be worth it, just to stick it to the two of them for once.

Mirlana sneaked down the stone stairwell into the area of the dungeons. She had always hated that part of the palace, but she was hoping she could help out the poor jackal creature that she had seen Celeste and Damien tormenting. She crept through the dark area, and peered into the only occupied cell.

Jackalman saw her and lunged toward the bars. "Let me out of here!" he screeched.

"I would if I could, but it would mean the end of me if I did. Why are you here? What was your crime?" she asked.

"Spying. That Damien guy caught me watching him sweet-talk Chilla."

"He was afraid you would warn her, I’m sure. Who are you?"

"Jackalman. One of the mutants of Castle Plundarr."

"Oh. I’m sorry, I don’t know much about the outside of the village. I have been trapped here for centuries. I used to be one of the warrior maidens, many lifetimes ago. My name is Mirlana. I’m one of the palace servants."

"What do you want?"

"To help you. I am going to see if I can get a message out to your allies, to ones who would free you, as well as Tygra and Chilla."

"They at least get nice accommodations."

"You outsiders are all going to lose everything unless you help me. Tell me about this Castle Plundarr, and how I might go about contacting it from here so I can help you all."

Jackalman proceeded to give her some information.

Lion-O, Cheetara, Panthro, and Snarf were in the conference room discussing Tygra’s note. "I have a really bad feeling about this, Lion-O. It isn’t like Tygra to just run off!" Cheetara cried.

"I have to agree. Tygra usually makes it clear exactly what he’s doing and when he’ll be back when he leaves unexpectedly. Snarf, snarf, I’m worried." "Come on Snarf, Tygra’s a big boy!" Lion-O chided. "I think you two are getting worked up over nothing. It’s probably like you said, he has a thing for this Celeste, and he went to see her. Maybe he just wanted some privacy so they wouldn’t be interrupted. You know how shy he is."

"Maybe, but even in love I think Tygra would be a little more responsible than this. Impulsive flights of fancy just aren’t his style." Cheetara argued.

Panthro raised his eyebrows. "Does the name ‘Silky’ ring any bells?"

"That was different! Mumm-Ra disguised himself and drugged Tygra with that narcotic fruit! He was acting like an addict, not a lovestruck fool."

Lion-O thought for a second. "Tygra has a bit of a problem when it comes to addiction. Silky’s fruit wasn’t the only instance. You two were on New Thundera at the time, but Snarf and I can attest to his acting very out of character one other time. Remember the keystone incident?"

"Bwrrr." Snarf shuddered. "Tygra was really out of control. It’s a good thing the sword made him come to his senses and that keystone was destroyed. It nearly did him in."

"So what are you saying? You think Tygra’s addicted to Celeste or something she has?" Panthro asked.

"Pleasure is a powerful motivator." Lion-O stated.

Cheetara frowned. "Intoxicating fruit and energy crystals are one thing, Lion-O, but do you honestly think Tygra could be addicted to a living being?"

Snarf shrugged. "What’s the difference between one sensual pleasure and another?" he asked.

"I don’t believe this! Tygra could be in danger and all you guys are doing is sitting in judgement? You should be ashamed of yourselves!" Cheetara said angrily.

"I’m not being judgemental, I’m just stating facts. One fact is that Tygra can take care of himself. A second is that we can’t jump to any conclusions, no matter how strange his note seems. We have no reason to believe that he is in trouble, not yet anyway. All that aside, Cheetara, you have to realize that Tygra does have an addictive personality, and it’s gotten him into trouble more than once. If this Celeste is indeed getting Tygra ‘hooked on her’ so to speak, you’re right, we should be worried. However, you all know as well as I do that it’s up to the addicted person himself to give up whatever it is that has a hold on him. No one else can make him do it. I think we need to give him time to realize that on his own if that’s the case." Lion-O said.

"What if Celeste hurts him?" Cheetara asked.

"If he’s in imminent danger, the Sword of Omens will warn us, and we can go to him then. In the meantime, I think we should let him be."

"I have to agree with Lion-O on this one." Panthro added.

"All right, but I think by waiting we’re making a big mistake." Cheetara said, and left the room.

Luna and Amok walked into Skytomb’s control room. Alluro looked up briefly, then returned to what he was doing. "Is Chilla back yet?" she asked.

"No." he answered flatly.

"It’s getting late." Luna’s tone of voice registered a hint of concern.

"I’m sure Chilla can take care of herself." TugMug said as he and RedEye entered the room, each with handfuls of junk food and Berbil Brew beer.

"Or Damien can do it." RedEye remarked.

"Of course, that doesn’t leave Damien as being too safe, stuck alone with her." TugMug laughed back.

"It’s not funny." said Alluro. "We don’t know the first thing about this guy. He could be dangerous."

"You thought it was funny enough before." Luna gave him an inquisitive look.

RedEye laughed. "Oh, is someone jealous of the mysterious Damien?"

Alluro narrowed his eyes. "Don’t be ridiculous. I am just suspicious because we have never met or even seen this guy, and at the same time Chilla was with him Jackalman disappeared. Slythe called again a little while ago to see if we had heard from him yet. He thinks we did something to Jackalman, and for once, we’re actually innocent."

TugMug laughed. "Us? Innocent?"

"All right, ‘not guilty’ then. We didn’t do anything to Vultureman, which means someone or something else did."

"If Chilla was with Damien though, that gives him an alibi too." Luna argued.

"It was a nice attempt at a cover story though, mister green-eyed monster." RedEye teased.

Alluro shot RedEye a look that could have frozen a volcano, and returned to the controls.

"I don’t know. Maybe we should look for her." Luna wondered.

"Don’t get all paranoid. Think about it, who out there could be meaner than Chilla?" TugMug replied.

"You do have a point there. All right, we’ll give her some time to get over it." Luna said. The lunatacs returned to their work. Nothing was heard from Chilla or Jackalman for the rest of the night.

Shortly before dawn, Mirlana cracked open the door to Celeste’s suite in the palace. She saw Celeste fast asleep on the bed, Tygra beside her. Good, Celeste is asleep too. Maybe I can get help for them now without them finding out. She had just finished checking on Damien, who was fast asleep in the room she had put Chilla up in earlier. Chilla was with him, and now she saw Celeste too was also safely in dreamland. Mirlana shut the door quietly and walked to the exit. She held the shoulder straps from Jackalman’s outfit in her hands. He had given them to her as part of their plan to alert the others of what was going on. She could not leave the village, of course, but she knew if she tried she would be able to summon one of the forest creatures to take the evidence of his capture to Castle Plundarr, and the creature could then show them where they could find and rescue their friends. Mirlana didn’t realize that the mutants were bad guys or that Jackalman and Tygra were bitter enemies, so she assumed that the inhabitants of Jackalman’s castle would save them all.

She approached the edge of the village path leading into the forest. She felt her strength fading. She couldn’t go much farther, or she would cease to exist. She concentrated and sent out a mental distress call to any nearby creature. After a few minutes a large bird landed at her feet.

She tried to recall how to communicate with the animals. She barely remembered, it had been so long since she had lived among the warrior women, and was no longer familiar with their ways. Still, she was determined to give it her best shot. "Please, my friend, I need a favor from you." she implored the bird. It looked up at her unafraid. "Take this to Castle Plundarr, and show them the way here so they can save their friends. It’s very important." The bird scooped up the straps in its beak and took flight.

Mirlana breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she would be able to save them after all.

Cheetara walked into Cat’s Lair’s dining room and sat down. The only other Thundercats up yet were WilyKit and WilyKat. Cheetara silently poured herself a cup of coffee and helped herself to three of Snarf’s berbilberry pancakes.

"Good morning Cheetara!" both of the kittens greeted her.

She gave them a wan smile. "Good morning."

"What’s wrong? Didn’t you sleep well?" WilyKit asked.

"I’ve slept better." she admitted. "I’m worried about Tygra. He didn’t come back last night, did he?"

"I don’t think so." WilyKat said. "Snarf told us what happened. I hope he comes back soon."

"So do I. Tygra does so much around here for us. I hope he knows how much we need him—and miss him." WilyKit said sadly. "Is he mad at us for teasing him do you think?"

"He said in his note that he wasn’t. I don’t think he’d hold a grudge over that. I think that Celeste has some kind of hold on him or something. He’s infatuated with her. That’s not like Tygra."

"Maybe we should find him and talk to him." Kit suggested.

"Lion-O’s orders were that we let him be for now. As much as I hate it, he’s probably right. Tygra probably just needs time to sort through his feelings. He isn’t very in touch with them sometimes." Cheetara said, picking at her pancakes.

WilyKat’s eyes sparkled. "Lion-O didn’t tell us not to find Tygra."

"I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Kat."

"Yeah, but if we just happen to be on a chance spaceboard run through the unicorn forest and spot him purely by coincidence, no one could blame us if we offered an apology in person and asked him what was going on..." WilyKit said mischievously.

Cheetara laughed. "You two..."

"Hey we’re not called ‘wily’ just because it sounds cool!" WilyKat stated.

"Just remember, this conversation never happened! Lion-O, Panthro, and Snarf would not be happy if they found out I let you go out after Tygra."

"What conversation?" WilyKit grinned.

"Yeah, as far as you know we’re just going out for a spaceboard joyride!" WilyKat said as he shoveled the last bites of his breakfast into his mouth. "Come on Kit, let’s get going." WilyKit nodded, finished her breakfast, and darted out after brother.

Alluro was awakened by a whack on the back of his neck by a riding crop. He grunted and rubbed his neck as he sat up. He had fallen asleep at the control console sometime around 3 a.m. and his back and neck both ached from being slumped over for the last four hours. "Wake up!" Luna said impatiently.

"What? What time is it?"

"A little after 7 hours into the day. Didn’t you go to bed last night?"

"No, I was working. I guess I fell asleep. I think I’ll go to bed now." he mumbled, standing up and heading for the doorway. Luna smacked him with the crop again.

"No you’re not. We’re going on a Thundrilium excavation today. The Thundercats didn’t get it all yesterday, and we have to get a move on and get it before they decide to come back for it today. With Chilla gone, I need all the rest of you to go and get it while I hold down the fort."

"They’ve probably already gone for it."

"No, I think they’re taking it easy today. RedEye just saw the kittens leave on their spaceboards on the scanners. Cat’s Lair is quiet. That’s why we have to move now."

"Luna, I’m exhausted. I was in a coma yesterday, and was up to all hours of the night working."

"That’s no excuse to be lazy! You can rest when we have that Thundrilium!" she screeched. "Be ready in five minutes!"

Alluro muttered a string of four letter words at Luna and went to find something caffeinated to drink.

The lunatacs left for the Thundrilium site ten minutes later. None of them paid attention to the large bird holding shoulder straps that flew past them, toward Castle Plundarr.