by Whyte Panther(Luigi Fiorino)
All for the love of a woman.
To simply call her a woman is to diminish the splendor that she was. To merely lay eyes upon her was enough to send your soul endlessly soaring. To have her look into your eyes was to look into the very face of an angel. To touch her was to have heaven at your fingertips. To love her… ah to love her… sublime euphoria. Surely such a creature had never before set foot upon this earth. Surely such a creature never would, never could again.
It seemed that the object of my eternal affection had caught the eye of another. A sorcerer, in the truest traditions of earthly magic, had come to our village. He had been traveling for some time and as night began to fall he decided to stop and rest. It was a moonless, starless night. The cloud cover was particularly thick. A mist covered the ground. It was as if we all had been cut off from both the heavens above and the earth below. It was as if we were all hovering somewhere in between the two and a great unease swept over each and every one of us.
She did nothing more than smile at the stranger, but that was enough. He was immediately struck by her beauty. It was as if he could just not take his eyes off of her. He must have her. He followed her as she walked to the outskirts of town where I awaited her. He watched as she ran into my arms and we embraced for what seemed like an eternity. He stumbled forwards. The sound of his approach startled both of us.
He introduced himself and offered to entertain us with his skills. He amused us for a short while with various illusions, but my love slowly grew impatient. This was to be our night and our night alone and this stranger was no longer welcome in our company. He approached her and began to compliment her on her beauty. He reached for her hand to kiss it, she quickly pulled it away, but he persisted.
At this point my patience grew thin. I stepped in and asked the stranger to withdraw. He laughed. “You dare to insult the likes of me? I could banish you into the ether with but a wave of my hand!” How could he have known that I, too, was wise in the ways of earthly magic? The duel had begun. Upon attempting to cast his first spell, he became enlightened as to the nature of his adversary. I cast off his spell to his amazement. A spectacular display ensued. It went on for what seemed like hours. And then it happened.
She stepped in. And in the passing of but a second his spell was upon her. She stood there in complete stillness, almost as if cast in stone. We were both frozen in our tracks, the sorcerer and I. I begged him to release her. He paused. It would be done… but at a price. He would make sure that if he could not have her, that neither would I. He would change me into a beast, one of my own choosing. This would be the price of her release. The thought of her frozen there in time was more than my heart could bear. Reluctantly I agreed. I asked but for one more chance to hold her in my arms before the spell was cast. The sorcerer nodded.
With a wave of his hand she was released. I walked over to her slowly, the tears already filling my eyes. I took her in my arms and looked into her eyes. I caressed her cheek one last time. I closed my eyes and smelled her hair one last time. I pressed my lips to hers one last time. I told her I loved her… just one last time. I looked back to the sorcerer and bowing my head accepted my fate.
So it came to pass, centuries ago, that the sorcerer cast this spell upon me forcing me to assume the form of my feline namessake. I now wander the earth in search of the sorcerer in order to try to set things back to their natural state so I can once more set out in search of my one true love.
The writings on these pages were inspired by the feelings that drive me to continue my search. The search for my angel, for my one chance at true happiness. The search for a love, the likes of which the world has never known. They have come to me in the many visions and dreams I have had along this long, long journey. My passion for her will never die so long as this heart still beats within me. I begin each day in the hopes that the setting sun will bring this journey to an end, and find her once again in my arms.
