~ LHARS ~
When the Gateway opened before him, Lhars sighed with relief.
Once again he stood in an archway, the light of the Gateway's guidance flashing and pulsing around him. But he left one foot in the Gateway itself as he leaned out.
He was back in that sterile, human habitation that he rembered from his life as a cub. And he was once again grateful that he hadn't had to live there as an adult. The sll alone…
At first he thought the room was empty. He saw only the couches, chairs, a television on the wall, and that wide, low coffee table between the seats. But as he leaned further out, the females appeared, one by one, staring at him, bleary-eyed, their faces puffy. They'd obviously been asleep.
"Are you ready?" he whispered?
They stared at him, different faces peering around two doors at the end of the room.
"We have to go as quickly as we can!" he urged them. But none of them responded, they only stared, blinking, or looked at each other to asure their friends responses.
He had to rember they were children—at least so of them. He wanted to growl, but he didn't want to frighten them. He tried to smile.
"Sasha-don sent ," he murmured, trying to keep his voice calm and quiet. "She said the prophecy is fulfilled today. You can co with and et with the other females, and with Sasha-don. We're going to take you away from here so you'll never have to face the humans again. You'll be safe. I promise."
It had taken over an hour to convince them to co out from behind the doors, then almost another of conversation to persuade them that he wasn't lying. Lhars beca increasingly nervous, asking over and over when they expected to be interrupted by the humans.
"They don't co in the mornings. We have food."
Lhars was relieved to hear it, but unwilling to rely on a simple routine to keep them safe.
"Please," he said, for what seed like the hundredth ti. "Didn't Vayl or Sasha or soone tell you about this?"
"Yes, but it was never supposed to be a male. We talked of it after you left last ti. We're scared that you might be a trap."
"I'm not a trap!" he hissed urgently, then closed his eyes to calm himself when the two closest jumped. He put his hands up, as if in surrender. "I'm sorry, I didn't an to startle you. It's just very important that we get moving so we aren't discovered. Tell … what can I do to make you feel more confident? I won't be going through the Gateway with you—that's entirely in your control. You choose where you go, and you will go without . You'll et Kyelle—my female—on the other side. And Sasha will co too. But… we have to get there if you want to see them. If you want to be free! Your mothers… if you have them, they'll be there too." He hoped.
There was another long interlude while one of them claid to scent him for truth, but it had the air about it of a child mimicking adult behavior.
The female cleared him, though, which seed to make the others more comfortable.
"Have you packed?" he asked urgently. "Are you ready?"
Three of them produced bags which they walked across the room to drop on the floor near where he stood, but none of them approached him.
"I can't leave the gateway to help you, it will close. This is the only safe way to—"
Adrenalin shot through his system as loudly, but in the distance, screaming alarms began their eerie cry—the kind that wound up from a wail that chilled, to one that pierced even through the secure buildings.
The females' eyes all went wide and they gripped each other.
"That's the alarm!" Lhars hissed. "We have to go! Please! Co with . We'll find you clothing or food or anything you need on the other side, but you have to co before they realize we're taking you. We can't co back after this. This is our last chance! Please! Focus your mind on the safe place—where the other Chira have gone. Where you will never have interference from the humans again. Lock your mind on that place and run—follow the lights that guide you. PLEASE!"
The females looked at each other, so of them visibly trembling. Then finally, the one that he'd spoken to last ti picked up a bag and threw it over her shoulder. "I'll go," she said quickly. "I'll go first. You all follow ."
Lhars nearly wept with relief.
But then, as the female was breathing and blinking at the cave, gathering her courage, another alarm, closer this ti, began to wail.
Lhars gestured at her frantically. "Please, we have to move, now!"
Then he heard a roar that raised the hair on the back of his neck. So loud, it careened over even the alarms to reach his ears.
Yhet, he thought with dismay.
Desperate, aching for his friend, as the female finally stepped up to the Gateway, Lhars t her eyes and bowed his head. "Focus on the safe place, where the other Chira are. Focus on Kyelle. She'll get you there. Just… don't change your mind."
The female nodded once, then licked her pale lips and stepped in past him.
One down, ten to go.
While Lhars cajoled and persuaded, reminded each female of their goal, and finally ushered them into the gateway, his mind was only ever half on the scared faces around him. He tried desperately not to hear what was going on outside, but even at this distance, it all reached him.
Voices shouting over the loudspeakers of an attack at the gates.
Vehicles roaring past the building where Lhars stood, stealing females out from under their noses.
The whap! whap! whap! of helicopter blades in the air overhead.
And those terrifying roars.
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