Chapter 1: Day of the Tigers
For one hundred years the Holy One watched the wicked practice of Iya reign in the land. The king over that land was Jerid, a black panther who became king through deceit and malice, and he ruled by those means as well. His poison spread through the land so that the citizens of Shavron followed their own desires; far worst than the days of Jezerah and the devil fox. However, even in all this wickedness there was a creature, an old badger named Tilmis, a judge of commerce that remembered the Holy One and his ways. The old badger was sitting at his desk, by candlelight, with his head planted upon one of his hands. He was frustrated and pain-stricken by the sounds around him. He heard a scream of terror, and then it stopped suddenly in the night. The badger's face turned to the sound, as tears filled his eyes. Instantly, he heard a chorus of chanting. Tilmis ran to his window, and far into the city he saw an amber light. He knew what it meant: a citizen had just been sacrificed to a Iya's moon god. Anger burned inside him and he shouted into the streets: "Murders! God sees what you do! This sin will destroy us!"
His call was never heard under the incessant chanting in the night.
Righteousness was snuffed out throughout the years and few remembered the stories of courage and repentance. Tilmis looked up to the heavens with watery eyes.
"Why won't they listen? O Lord, do you mean nothing to them anymore?"
It came to pass on that summer night, while the badger continued to wail over the recent occurrence, that the Lord came to Tilmis and said,
"Tilmis, Shavron has become a stench in my nostrils. The king has left me and in the process has led the country in dark pathways instead of light. I will bring upon this land a dreadful plague, it will be known as the day of the tigers. On that day, many will be taken into captivity, while others will fall to the sword and the arrow. They will go to a land far from here. Since Shavron bows to dead gods, I will show them what it means to serve one. But I will show mercy to Shavron again. Therefore, go to the king and tell him this message: If you continue in your ways of wickedness, I will destroy your reign and the land itself. The Shavronites will be mocked and scorned. But if you would turn back to me and follow My ways, I will not destroy you. I will remove the day of the tigers from you."
When the morning came, Tilmis went to the palace of the king. He was nervous. He rubbed his hands together as he repeated the Holy One's message to himself. He had good reason to be nervous. He had brought a message, like the one last night, six times before not only to the king, but to the Shavronites as well. With every message he got the same response: indifference. Now this was the seventh time; and Tilmis was afraid not only for is life, but for Shavron too. Once he entered the palace door, the guards escorted him to the king. Jerid was reclining on a long chair, eating a bundle of grapes. He paid no attention to the old badger. Tilmis had to clear his throat to get a response from the king. The panther placed the bundle of grapes on a silver platter and purred before speaking.
"Oh! My faithful judge of commerce, have you come to annoy me again? Or, have you come to tell the news from the merchants‘ grove? Have you brought me more riches?"
"No, but I have brought you something." said the badger nervously.
When Jerid heard this, he was thinking of a special gift that Tilmis may have brought him. He was also hoping that Tilmis had forgotten about the messages from the Holy One. He sat up in his chair, with wide eyes, and demanded his gift.
"There is nothing to show, but I have something to tell you."
"Not one of your silly messages from the Lord," the panther said slouching even more than before, "Shouldn't you be traveling or something?"
"Jerid, the Lord spoke to me last night. Shavron is in grave danger. The Holy One is angry. He threatens to send a dark plague among us if you and the Shavron do not turn away from the evil you do."
Jerid rolled his eyes.
"I speak of truth!" he said sternly, " The idolatry in this kingdom surpasses those in others. It has even gone beyond the days of the past rulers. Do you not hear the screams in the middle of the night?"
"I have and still do," said Jerid, " But as long as it doesn't bother me why should I interfere? If their gods demand sacrifice I see no harm in that." he said hunching his shoulders," The law I gave states that any Shavronite may worship anything as long as it does not affect the well-being of the monarchy. It keeps them happy, Tilmis, and it keeps me secure on my throne."
"It's a foolish law!"
Jerid shot straight up from his reclined position. His eyes were fixed on the badger as he spoke.
"Be careful how you speak to me. Although you are a judge, I am still king. To call the law foolish is to call the king foolish. Besides," he said as his temper subsided, "why can't you be like the other two judges? They don't bother me about matters of the Holy One.
All that stuff is so long ago. Hey, maybe you need a little more revenue to calm yourself, eh?" he said rubbing two fingers together.
Tilmis made his way to the door, but before he left he turned and said,
"Take the words of the Holy One to heart. Do as He says or your reign will end."
"Is that a threat to the king!" shouted Jerid.
"It is not a threat from me; it is a command from our Creator."
"Get out I will not see you face again and if I do it will be you last day alive."
"You have spoken correctly on this matter," said Tilmis,
"You will not see my face again. The badger left the king‘s palace.
The Holy One came to Tilmis during the night.
"I will tolerate this no longer,” said the Holy One, “ Shavron has forgotten Me and treats Me as a jester. The tigers are coming. They will destroy the buildings, the statues, and the livelihood of this land. You will leave tonight---take nothing with except the silver horn the Shavronites placed in the statue of Gabriel. I will settle you down in peace in your remaining days; but for the others, either death or captivity will be their option. However, I will not forget my love for the Shavronites. There will come a time when they will return to serve me again, but until then they will serve evil and know its sting.”
The badger obeyed the Lord and he went up to Gabriel‘s statue unawares and took the silver horn. When the day of the tigers came to Shavron, king Jerid was taken by surprise. A soldier from the east gate sent a message stating that a multitude of tigers were marching in their direction with all sorts of nasty war devices. Jerid sent as many soldiers, at least those that weren't too lazy to respond, to counter the force of the tigers, but this was pointless. By the time the soldiers reached the east gate, the tigers had already broken through the wall and where pillaging everything in sight. The tigers wiped out Jerid's army, leveled all of the building in Shavron, killed Jerid and the two judges, and took the crown and crests as part of their spoil. Over the next few days, the tigers did the same thing to the other cities. The conquest was made easy: for the Lord used the tigers as His instrument of judgment.
The tigers took prisoners and those that they could not, or those who refused, were killed. It was a dark day for the Shavronites. They were chained and led far away to a land called Tajir. Even some died because of the long journey. So it came to pass that the Holy One's judgment fell upon Shavron. Nothing was left in the land that was of value; Shavron became a wasteland. But as God promised He would not let his wrath burn against the Shavronites forever.