Call of the Winged Panther

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Vermonia: Call of the Winged Panther is the second installment in the Vermonia manga series. It is created by YoYo with the characters Jim and Suiran featuring on the cover.

The publishers for this novel is Candlewick Press (United States), Walker (United Kingdom) and Mondadori (Italy). There is also an iTunes e-Book version.

This issue leads from the storyline of the previous installment: Quest for the Silver Tiger.

The next installment from this issue: Release of the Red Pheonix

Announcement and Release
Call of the Winged Panther (volume two) was first anounced for it's scheduled release due around October 2009 from an article on Publishers Weekly.

It was released on Amazon on February 23rd 2010 and iTunes e-Books in April 2014

Characters
Recurring Characters:

Naomi, Doug, Jim, Satorin, Rainbow, Sassella, Raitetsu, Captain Acidulous, Mel, Gazso

New Characters:

Lamto (flashback), Maika (flashback), Fly, Butterflies, Suiran, Irenu, Forest(flashback), Butabo, Naaman, Hanata

Plot
The book begins with Naomi turning into stone. Doug rushes forward to catch her, but could do nothing for her. Sassella leaves her perch from off the cliffs, confident in her curse and then declaring that she will take them all to General Uro. Doug tries to dodge the power she hurls at him, but gets hit in the foot. Holding Naomi and turning into stone himself, he doesn’t know what to do, but he knows it is up to him to save them and find the silver tiger. Satorin gets his attention and points at the shrine, which is right underneath him. Realizing they found the entrance, Sassella doubles her attempts. Jim and Rainbow distract Sassella, the princess erecting a barrier to protect them from being hit and giving Doug enough time to enter the shrine. He doesn’t want to leave his friends. Before completely turning to stone, Naomi urges him to find the silver tiger.

With Raitetsu prompting him, Doug uses his pledge to unlock the shrine. Without warning, the ground opened up and both he and Satorin fell through, leaving behind his friends to defend him for a few moments longer. They fall into a room of mirrors. They see Raitetsu’s prison but a large magic circle filled with runes hovered in front of it and Satorin recognized it as a shield. Before they could come up with a plan, Sassella jumps down into the shrine. Angry, she begin to transform into a bird-like monster, her hands and feet turning into talcons, ears and teeth becoming more pointed and hair moving like snakes. She wants to succeed in capturing all of them. Wings erupt out of her back as she thinks of her love and how her curse divides them, but her sadness turns into fierce anger. Doug tries to reason with her, pointing out that her curse was controlling her. She gets even more angry and hurls everything at him. Doug runs for the magic circle and uses his sword to hack through the shield.

Before he could reach the shrine, Sassella manages to hit him. He tries to get to the shrine but his legs are rapidly turning into stone and Sassella reaches out to grab him. Jim appears behind Sassella, distracting her and urging Doug to keep going. Jim then tackles Sassella and grasps her around the waist, the curse beginning to tiurn his arms into stone. Frustrated, Sassella struggles against his grip, but didn’t try to break free, knowing that doing so would break and thus kill Jim.

Doug manages to grab the door of the shrine. Sharp blades of ice surround him, blocking him off from Sassella and Jim. Raitetsu breaks free from his prison, telling Doug that it was the Queen’s will that their powers merge. Using his sabertooth, Doug places it in the tiger’s mouth and Raitetsu merges into his more human-like form.

Reception
Amazon: 4/5 Stars (adverage)

GoodReads: 4.25 out of 5 (adverage)

Quotes
''"You have defeated the enemy with a power weapon: compassion. You have all fought bravely. M queen would be proud of you." -- ''Raitetsu

"You must prepare yourselves for a long and difficult jounry. There are many dangers yet to come, my young friends." --Raitetsu

"Song of bards, strength of warriors, combine to open the doors to our past. Awake my magic. Allow us to pass." --Fly opening the portal doors

''"This is going to be easy." "Absolutely. The Telaam's defences are not as strong as we thought." --''Butterflies

Trivia
The hidden numbers inside the dustjacket of the same issue also relates to another puzzle in The Vault