Menace

Chapter 1: Tale of Tenebris

"Hazel, can you tell Duffy to bring me a cup of catnip tea?" Queen Saffron purred. Hazel nodded and scampered to find Duffy, the queen's most trusted servant. Hazel was the daughter of Queen Saffron; the ruler of Astratora, a mythical queendom ruled by cats in Iowispea.

"Duffy? Duffy! Where are you?" The queen wants a cup of catnip tea," Hazel shouted. Her voice echoed throughout the stone walls of the gigantic cave. She always wondered how her ancestors hollowed out such a big cave.

"Yes, your majesty. I'll get it right away." Duffy meowed, trotting up to her. Duffy had a greyish-blue pelt, with a rather unusual tail.

"For the last time, Duffy. Don't call me 'your majesty'. Just because I'm the future queen, doesn't mean you get to call me that. I don't like it." Hazel snapped. Duffy left to retrieve the tea for the queen and Hazel dashed towards her room, slamming her paws against the cold dirt floor. She pelted into her room― a tunnel in the massive cave her ancestors chose to be the palace. The room was simple. The sun was shining through a large hole in her room that was shaded by leaves. There was a batch of fluorescent green mushrooms in the corner, a pile of soft moss and a rabbit hide completed with a small little pond with white sparkles, which lit up the cave with a beautiful, majestic glow, reflecting the light from the hole.

Hazel's spotted pelt glinted in the sun as she crept towards a small feather that had fluttered into her room. Wait for it... Wait for it... , Hazel thought. Before the feather could land, Hazel pounced. She threw the feather in the air again and batted at it before she pounced again.

"You will die little feather! For I am greater and more powerful!" Hazel mewled. She was about to strike the feather when her mother came in.

"Young kitty, shouldn't you be doing something else than pretending to kill a feather? You're getting too old for this. " Queen Saffron interrupted. She was at the entrance, with one eye raised. Hazel looked down at her paws and curled her tail around the feather.

"But what can I do? The whole cave is so boring. There's nothing to do. Other cats are too busy to do anything other than their jobs," Hazel complained. Queen Saffron flicked her tail towards a tunnel with a curtain made of willow leaves.

"Ugh. Not the library," Hazel grumbled.

"Once I join our ancestors, it is you who has to take care and run this kingdom...," Queen Saffron purred. "Just try to occupy yourself for now," she added.

"Yes, Mom," Hazel exaggerated her sigh. "Oh, woe is I. A poor, defenseless little kitten, being

ganged up on by her own dear mother. Ahh... I can't take it. The pain," Hazel flopped onto the floor― turning her head the tiniest bit to get a glimpse of her mom rolling her eyes― and wormed her way towards the library tunnel, which was hollowed out by her great grandfather. Piles of old study books filled the musty room with a scent that smelled like . . . crinkly leaves. How to be a Formal Kitten Princess 101....I've read that a bajillion times. Everything There is to Know About Tea Parties , not much, although I am surprised it isn't two leaves thick, 5 volumes of How to be a Formal Kitten Queen, I've read all the words of every single volume 20 times, Hazel reviewed. She scanned the books for hours― at least it seemed like hours― until she finally pulled out a dusty, maple leaf covered book, hidden behind a stack of old books. The binding was falling off, and the leaves were old and wrinkled. The Tale of Tenebris. Hazel pretended to flip through the leaves whenever any cat would walk through the wide entrance. She hardly paid any attention to the tale. Then the librarian, Ilkie, caught a glimpse of the book.

"The Tale of Tenebris! I love that book. It's about a former king who ruled Astratora before Queen Alura. He enslaved the cats, and killed any creature he could find that refused to follow his command― or any creature that wasn't a cat. The land was a disaster before Alura saved it from total chaos!" Ilkie paused. "Oh! Forgive me, I won't spoil the book for you," Ilkie exclaimed. She began to trot away, looking around nervously at an unseen threat.

"Tell me more!" Hazel begged.

Ilkie stopped in her tracks and turned. "Oh, princess," Hazel thought that sounded like a sneer. "I don't have to tell you when you could read it in a book," Ilkie put her paw on the book and flipped it to a page that had a picture of Astratora when Tenebris was under power. Hazel couldn't even recognize the land. It was nothing like the grand Astratora she lived in. Smoke filled the sky, cats were scowling, and the land was rotten and dry; plants withered and avalanches blocked the entrances to the caves. Hazel shuddered at the thought of living in a gloomy Astratora.

"Hazel!"

Hazel jumped and quickly turned around only to see Queen Saffron and Duffy by her side. "Are you reading something that would benefit you in your future life? If you're not, put whatever that book is away." Queen Saffron flicked her tail in annoyance.

"Hi mom. I'm reading... the Tale of Tenebris. It seems like an interesting book. Is it true that Tenebris was a cruel cat, capable of enslaving a whole nation? "

"Don't touch that book! Why is this here? Speaking of Tenebris is forbidden inside the walls of my cave!" Queen Saffron hissed. She clawed the book until the leaves were roughly ripped. "Ilkie! Come here right now! I want a very good reason why this book is here," Queen Saffron glowered.

Ilkie's ears drooped and she made her way to the queen, her tail dragging behind, and her head lowered. "Coming, your majesty."

"Duffy, please escort Hazel to her room," Queen Saffron commanded. Duffy nodded at the queen and beckoned Hazel with a flick of his tail. "Ilkie, you know better than feeding bad information about Tenebris to young kittens― especially my little Hazel. I don't want to hear anymore talking about Tenebris. Do you understand me?" Hazel could hear the muffled voices behind the thick curtain.

"Duffy? Can you tell me more about Tenebris?" Hazel mewled.

"I'm sorry, but the queen forbade us to speak of it," Duffy gave Hazel an apologetic expression, and Hazel's ears drooped in disappointment. Hazel sprinted ahead and entered her cave-room and lay down on the floor. Thoughts were rushing through her head for an extremely long time. What is mother so worried about? Will Tenebris ever come back to Astratora to seek revenge? How did Queen Alura defeat him?. . . She didn't have enough time to think more. Her thoughts were cut off by an ear-piercing shriek.