Nugavi's Hatred

                “But I love you Mira.”

                A strong, muscular lion with a mane that shone as brightly as gold stood in front of a gate outside a long winding road that led up to a tall, gray castle, silhouetted in the darkness of the morning fog.  Opposite him stood a grey heron, her feathers a sky-blue and forest-green color, her beak glinting in the morning sun.

                “You are a fool, Nugavi,”replied the heron in a cold, hard voice, fixing him with a glare that pierced his heart.  “Did you really think that I would forgive you so easily?  And Zios offered me more than you could ever.  You are not worthy of me.”

                Nugavi tried to meet her gaze steadily. How could she be so cruel?  Suddenly he wilted under her gaze.  “But Mira-“

                “You’ve had my word, Nugavi.  Goodbye, and hopefully for good.” She turned around and marched through the gate, up the winding path, and into the castle.  She was so far away now.  Nugavi crumbled to the ground.

“Noooooooo!”

Nugavi awoke with a start.  His mane was tangled and knotted with leaves and twigs.  His fur was no longer golden but a dirty brown.  His coat smelled slightly of the damp leaves he was lying upon.

Nugavi growled softly.  Mira would pay for what she had done!  Every night, he was forced to relieve the memory of his most painful moment.  She has to be stopped, he thought.  I can’t go on like this. 

Nugavi paused.  How could he be so stupid?  Mira was gone!  Only her statue was left, and her spirit. 

Nugavi pondered this.  There must be some way for him to detach himself from Mira, to show he was not a supporter.  He couldn’t do it openly, he knew, but he would make Mira suffer as much as she made him.  A plan formed in his mind.  It would have to be done at night.

Nugavi crept soundlessly out of his “nest”, which was really a pile of dirty leaves and twigs.   He hadn’t enough gems for a den.  Silently thanking himself that his coat was so dark, he crept into the Township and up the path to Mira’s Temple.

Stepping inside it, Nugavi felt awe creep up his spine.  He had never been into the Temple, forcing himself to cut off all connections with Mira.  Anger replaced his awe.  Why would someone waste something so beautiful, on someone so cruel? 

Squaring up his hindquarters, Nugavi pounced up towards the ceiling and ripped the feathers off.  He was weak with grief, but his anger brought back his old strength.  He had been astonishingly strong before he had let himself fall apart, able to rip buildings down if he wanted to.

First, Nugavi unsheathed his claws and tore at the curtains until the fell into the river just west of the Township.  Then he picked all the crystals out and tossed them into the bushes (these bushes later bred and became the bushes you see in the Diamond Shop).  Finally, he summoned all his strength and slammed himself into the walls. 

He knew that was a mistake a fraction of a second after. 

The wall started to crumble and soon, it fell, an avalanche of cement.  Nugavi felt himself being thrown to the ground and weighed down by the stone.  He looked up and found himself at the foot of Mira’s statue. This was his chance.  He raised his paws to strike and...stopped.  Looking at the statue, he knew he could never destroy it.  This was his chance, but not to make Mira pay.  It was his final chance to make peace.  He lowered his paw back to the ground and let go, let go of that branch he was clinging to for life, stopped struggling against what was meant to be.  Sighing he closed his eyes, and could have sworn he heard a whisper.  Thank you, it seemed to say.  And an instant later, Nugavi was gone.  For days, his body lay there, undiscovered in the ruin that covered him, until it finally melded into the earth, lost forever.