Plain Text

Here is the plain text version from the text file Noah typed into Notepad (and starting March 2016 with his special text input program):

Updated 9/30/2016. After this, Betty and Noah worked on editing some parts to fix spelling and clarify who was saying what. Those changes were made to the chapter pages found here.

There once was a small house cat named Silky. She had black and white fur and liked to nap.

Yes she loved to sleep because then she dreamed. In her dreams she was a warrior. Not just any warrior, but the best and brightest in all the Great Forest.

This story is one of her favorite quests.

Once upon a time, in late March, Silky heard a knock at her door. Could treats have been delivered? she thought. No she hadn't ordered any yet. She went to the door and wondered who it could be. When she opened the door she found her best friend Noah.

"How are you this morning Silky?" he inquired.

"Splendid." she replied with a grin. "How is your farm?"

"Dreadful, I keep losing whole fields. I am finding I am missing animals too."

"How awful," she gasped."What animals have you lost?"

"Mostly pigs and sheep but what I find strange are the fields."

Silky's ears perked. She knew a new adventure awaited.

"What were the fields like?"

"Like ash. It was like someone had burned them."

Silky thought a moment. She had heard of strange creatures that could breath fire but had never seen one or heard of them burning fields. She felt she must see the fields herself.

"I wonder," she asked anxiously. "May I see the fields?"

"That's why I came to see you."

So the two friends left to look at Noah's farm. It was just as Noah had described. The field had been reduced to piles of black sand. Either the village kids played an elaborate trick or magical fire was involved.

"Have any of the kids threatened tricks lately?" Silky asked.

Noah thought a moment. "Not for a month now, since you stopped them."

Silky's last adventure had been to stop a group of kids playing vicious tricks. Silky suspected them but wasn't convinced they would go to such great lengths.

"Have you seen any strange creatures in the wood." She pointed to the surrounding trees.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Noah thought a minute. He seemed to remember something.

"Now that I that I think about it I have heard strange rumors."

"Rumors?"

"Whispers really about a strange animal. No one has ever seen more than a shadow except one, the Nightwatchman. He'd be the one to talk to."

His name is Chris and he was the most mysterious person in the village. He was also Silky's good friend.

Chris lived on the edge ofthe Great Forest. As his name suggests, he guarded the village gate at night. It was the only way to get to the Great Forest from the village. When he saw Silky approach it was almost dusk and he was preparing for his watch.

"Well if it isn't my fine feline friend," he teased."What brings you here?"

"Business I'm afraid. I'm here to ask about the shadow creature you saw."

"Now why would you want to know about that?"

"A local farmer had his fields turned to ash. I need to see if the two are related."

"Young Noah I presume."

Silky nodded and Chris sighed. "Look, I'll tell ya what I told him. It was too dark to see it clearly. I could only see it was no animal I knew."

Silky raised an eyebrow,"You have the best sight in the village. I don't believe that you couldn't see."

Chris smirked, "Would you believe old age ruined vision?" Silky shook her head.

"Can't fool you can I?"

"Never could. Now I'll ask you again, what did they look like?"

Chris sighed, "Very well. It was about the size of an average human. It was covered in shiny red and white scales like a dragon. The body was shaped like a mouse and the eyes were a bright, piercing yellow."

"So you saw a mouse-shaped dragon?" she responded with doubt in her voice.

Chris shook his head, "Believe what you will, I know what I saw that night."

"I meant no offense," she said hurriedly. "But that creature sounds so fantastical. I can hardly believe it."

Chris shrugged, "As I said, believe what you will. I merely answered truthfully."

"And I thank you for that," she bowed her head and gave a traditional farewell to show she meant no disrespect. "May the night watch over you as you guard its secrets." She waited for a reply and when she heard none she left.

"Hey!" Silky turned at Chris' voice. "May the daylight reveal to you the truth." She smiled and continued on home.

Two hours later, Silky had gone through every book she owned. She found no creature matching the one that Chris described. She sighed audibly. "I'll never figure this out on my own. I need help." She pondered about who could help her solve this riddle.

Perhaps the local healer had a more extensive library, she did treat all the local hunters and animals. She was just leaving the house when she saw Noah coming toward her and he appeared to be dragging something.

"Let me go!" She heard an all too familiar voice yell. "I didn't do anything to your stupid fields!" Noah dropped a young girl unmistakebly known as Erin, the leader of the mischievious group of kids.

"I found this little brat sneaking-"

"I wasn't sneaking I was snooping. There is a big difference!" Erin yelled indignantly.

Noah rolled his eyes, "Call it what you like, you were still trespassing."

Silky held up her paw and the two fell silent. "Now both of you need to calmly tell me what is going on. Why don't you start Noah?"

"Gladly," Noah glanced quickly at Erin. "I was trying to clean up the ruined field when I caught her running around the edge of the field."

Silky nodded and looked to Erin, "And how do you explain your presence there?"

Erin shrugged, "I'm a kid, I was curious. What's to explain?"

"I see," Silky sighed. "Erin, no more trespassing and Noah make sure any trespassers aren't just curious children. Agreed?"

"Yes ma'am," they both grumbled at the same time. "You may go Erin. Noah wait here a moment,"

Erin bowed her head and scampered off, leaving Noah standing alone in front of Silky, nervously shuffling his feet.

Silky waited a moment before speaking again, "What were you thinking?"

"Ma'am?"

"You can drop the formalities, there is no one to protest."

"Fine, then. What are you talking about?"

"I am talking about you dragging that teenage girl through town. Do you want to start a panic?"

"How would that start a panic?"

"Do you remember the havoc they wreaked last time? And you drag their leader through town.

"Look, I'm sorry but I just lost an entire field. I just wasn't thinking clearly."

Silky looked at Noah and sighed, "Just promise you'll be more careful from now on"

"I will."

"Good. I need to get going but good luck with your field."

Noah waved a silent farewell as the two parted ways. A young girl hiding in a nearby bush had watched the whole exchange and grinned, everything was falling into place.

Silky stood as still as a statue in front of the healer's house. She had just knocked on the door and was waiting for the door to open when she heard rustling in the bushes. Unsure what could be making such a loud noise she had stiffened and slowly reached for her sword. When she had a hold of it, she called out, "I am not afraid of you!"

"Achoo! Goodness gracious me, I seem to have found a large cloud of koliflour sprites."

A figure popped out of the tall grass by the front door. "Oh, I hadn't seen you come up Silky. I do hope I didn't keep you long."

"Not at all," Silky relaxed her grip on her sword at the sight of the healer. "I had just walked up the path to see you, Betty."

"For help or healing?"

"Help. There is a mysterious creature around that none of my books give reference to. I was hoping for some insight."

"Very likely I can help with that. I'm always full of insight." she laughed as she lead Silky inside. "What manner of creature are you looking for?"

"You know what, I'm not sure I could explain it well."

"What size is it?"

"Human-sized."

"What is its shape?"

Silky thought about this a moment before answering, "A rodent."

"Mouse or rat?"

"Mouse."

"Any other distinguishing features?"

"The skin and scales of a dragon."

Betty raised an eyebrow, "And the reason you couldn't just say mouse-shaped dragon was?"

"Then I wouldn't have gotten to play this wonderful game of twenty questions." Silky smiled as Betty laughed. "Any chance you could help?"

"Well," she began and walked over to her shelves. "I can tell you there is no creature in existence matching that description but it could be if it were created."

"You lost me."

"Long ago my family ran experiments for the king. Top secret stuff." She pulled a stack of old journals from the shelf that looked to be falling apart. "From what I've read in these, they were looking for a way to make the soldiers stronger."

"What does that have to do with this?"

"A lot of the experiments were done on mice and they were trying to put other animals with them. In one of these, I believe, is a diagram for a creature like the one you describ-" Betty stared at the open journal in disbelief.

"What's wrong?"

"It's gone."

"What's gone?"

Betty looked up at Silky, "The page, it's been torn out."

Hours later they had searched the whole house and found no trace of the missing page. Silky left Betty's house with the promise to return and help search the old journals.

The plan was to rest the night and return in the morning to look them over with fresh eyes. Silky wanted to talk to Chris before he went on duty. It was pure luck she happened to come by his house as he was heading out. "A moment Chris," she called to him as he was closing his door.

"A moment is all I got so make it quick," he called back to her gruffly.

"The creature we spoke of earlier might be the result of a government experiment. Be careful on watch tonight, no telling what special strengths or powers it might have."

Chris raised his eyebrow, "Sure it can't just be a new species? My experience is that when people blame the government it isn't really them."

Silky shook her head, "This is serious Chris. Betty's family ran the experiments and it looked to be some scary stuff."

Chris laughed, "I'm just kidding. I'll be looking out for it. If I do see it I will try to get a closer look."

"Just be careful."

"I will try but I make no promises."

Silky saluted him, "That is all I ask. Have a good night."

"You as well. I will report anything I find in the morning," he turned to leave.

Silky waved and bounded home to sleep the night.

An insistent knocking woke up Silky the next morning. Still yawning she opened the door to find a distraught Noah. Her eyes opened wide at the sight of her anguished friend and all remnants of sleep were gone. "What has happened?"

"It's Chris," Noah choked out. "They just found him a couple of minutes ago."

"But he's okay right? I mean this is Chris we are talking about."

"I don't know, it didn't look good from what I saw."

"Tell me what you saw," Silky hissed.

"No I can't Si-"

"You listen here," Silky growled threateningly. "I told him to watch for those creatures, so if anything happened to him as a result then I have a right to know."

Noah's shoulders sagged as he let out a long sigh, "He was burned real bad and that's all I saw. Honest."

"I believe you," she replied solemnly. "He must have gone after one of those things."

"Look I'll take you over there to see him. Maybe he'll say something if you're there."

"Give me 5 minutes."

Only 3 minutes had past when Silky came out of her door to find an anxious Noah waiting. Without a word the two started their journey to see their friend.

Apparently the whole town had come to see how Chris was doing.

Everyone parted ways as Silky made her way to the front door. She knocked tenatively and waited for Betty to answer. When she finally opened the door her eyes were so red from crying Silky feared the worst.

"He's not...I mean he can't be..." was all she could stammer out, not able to bring herself to say the word dead.

"No, he's alive," Betty replied, her voice surprisingly even. "But I fear he might wish he were."

"Why?"

Betty motioned her in, "Perhaps you might like to sit while we talk."

Silky breezed through the door and went straight to the sitting area. "What happened?"

Betty sat down across from Silky, a forlorn look on her face. "I didn't know what else to do. This town can't lose him. I had to save him any way I could."

"What are you talking about?" A thought crossed her mind. "What did you do?"

"I used the journal experiments to help him. It just came so natural, it was almost like I had done it before," Betty's voice sounded distant, like she was in a daze. After a moment she shook her head, her eyes full of panic as she turned to look at Silky. "There was something we missed in the journals. A page we overlooked."

Silky shook her head. "What is going on? What happened to Chris? I need to know what happened to Chris."

Betty relaxed before speaking, "He will be fine I think and you can even see him in a moment. There is something I must discuss with you first. In the jour-"

"ENOUGH WITH THE JOURNALS! I only want to know about Chris! What have you done to him?"

"I told you already! I used the experiment to save him but what I'm trying to tell you is you are in the journal. Silky you're one of the experiments."

Silky thought a moment before answering in a calm voice, "I don't care what you did or did not find, I only want to see Chris."

Betty nodded toward the back room, "He's in there but he is asleep after the procedure. Be warned he may appear different now."

"Thank you," Silky walked past her and stopped short as Betty grabbed her ear.

"We need to talk about this. Don't think you can brush it off."c

"I know. We'll talk when I come out." Betty nodded and sat back in her chair. Silky continued on to the door and walked through. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dark of the room. When her eyes had adjusted she made her way to Chris's bed side. She looked down at his face and noticed his face was unnaturally wet. It was not from sweat but looked more like the wetness one might see when an animal has first shed an old skin. She saw him stir in his sleep and noticed something strange move under the blanket. She held out her paw tentatively, debating if she should pull it back to investigate.

"I remind you he will appear different," Betty's voice came from the doorway.

"I don't care, he is still my friend. No matter what has been done to him." She pulled the sheet back to reveal Chris had a lizard's tail. Silky dropped the sheet and backed away slowly. "What have you done? Did he even know what you were doing?"

"Of course not! He would never have allowed it!"

"Then why would you do it?"

Betty looked to the sleeping figure anxiously, "Let's talk out here so Chris can sleep."

"If we must," Silky fixed the blanket before following her out. As she walked out of the room she saw Betty had laid out the journals with the page open to a picture of her. "What is the meaning of this?"

"This is the page I found last night. It was tucked in a folder labeled 'successful.'"

"I thought you brought me out here to talk about what was done to Chris. Why do you have this out?"

"Sit down, I have a long story to tell you," Silky sat down on the chair opposite Betty. "Long ago my family was called to see the king. He was going to entrust them with a special task."

"As charming as I'm sure this fairy tale is we have other problems to discuss."

"Just listen and you'll see why it is important," Silky inclined her head to tell her to continue. "The king needed a stronger army. His numbers had dwindled after his most recent conquest and he was in search of a more...durable army. He'd charged my ancestors with creating a super army. They were given no other instructions other than he wanted the soldiers to be indestructible. So they began to use formulas to strengthen new recruits. Those who didn't die were driven mad from the side effects. So they started from scratch and worked to splice different animal species with the human recruits. I'll only let

you imagine the horrors that brought. They were just about to quit when they came up with the idea that perhaps they were going about it the wrong way."

"How many innocents died from the experiments?"

"I-I don't know, there was no tally."

"How many?"

"I can't be sure, but possibly in the thousands."

"THOUSANDS!!!!!"

"I know the numbers soundi high but they are low for an experiment of this size."

"Did they even know?"

"No they just followed orders."

"So why dixfd it end with me?"

"You weren't the experiment your mom was."

"But you said I was."

"In a sense you are, the children she would have were to be the real experiments. You see they implanted special embryo injected with human DNA. When the litter was born you were the only successful offspring."

"What does that mean?"

"You were the only one to survive. Am I linking anything together yet?" A long pause began.

Just as the silence became awkward Silky asked, "Funny how everything is always connected?" She got up and went to leave.

"Wait Silky!"

"No I've heard enough. Tell me when he wakes up," She left the house and went back home. She had been given a good deal to ponder.

Good sleep eluded Silky that night as she remembered everything she'd learned that day. Her final thoughts before going to bed that night were

littered with visions of the innocents that lost their lives in the name of science. All of it so they could make her.

It was hours before anyone dared go near her home that morning. All feared the anger that would come of her guilt.

Later that day, Noah braved a knock on her door. When she opened the door her face was a mask of sorrow. She invited him in to talk about everything she learned. Only an hour past as fast

as Silky relayed the story to Noah. "What are we going to do? There is no moving on from this."

"Don't ever think that," Noah said quickly. "It will be alright, you'll see."

"Maybe everything will be forgotten by this time next week. Maybe Chris will magically return to normal too." Silky sighed and walked to the window.

Noah came to stand beside her, "None of this is your fault you know. Not Chris. Not the experiments that led to you."

"Doesn't stop me from believing it is."

"But it isn't. You have to move on from this if you want anyone else to."

She laughed some at his words, "How did you get to be so wise?"

He nudged her, "I learned from the best."

"Let's go see Chris."

They stood in front of Betty's house unsure whether to knock or to just open the door. Before they could decide what to do, the door flew open. "Oh good, you're here," a frazzled Betty exclaimed. "It's Chris. He's awake and he's angry."

Silky raced past Betty into the house to see Chris. He could be heard from the parlor, he was yelling so loud. Looking at the room she saw the be uusheets in a heap on the floor and a figure crouched in the corner. "What have you done to me?" he growled.

Silky knelt at his level and coaxed him like a frightened child, "Chris listen to me, you were dying and we had to help you somehow.

"To be honest, that is not entirely true," Betty stood in the doorway. "You were injured beyond my ability to heal, you would have lost your legs."

"So what monstrosity did you change me into to save my legs?" Chris growled.

"I simply mixed some of your DNA with a lizard's"

"For what purpose?"

"To regenerate the damaged tissue in your leg. The tail was an unfortunate and unforseen side effect," her voice was even but her eyes betrayed the hurt she felt at his anger.

"Unfortunate?" he yelled incredulously. "It would have been better if you had left me alone. At least I would have still been human."

"I know, but you would have been crippled," she yelled back at him. They ignored the hurt in Silky's expression as Chris mentioned being less than human. "Tell me what I should have done!"

"Let me die or let me be. Not turn me into a freak."

"A freak like me?" The two stopped and looked at Silky when they heard her voice.

"No that's not what-"

"What you meant," Silky laughed as she stood. "Of course you didn't. No one ever does until after they realize they have insulted someone. Just look for me at home after you've decided what is or isn't human."

Silky stormed out, running past a confused Noah. She didn't stop at his voice calling her name. He didn't catch up to her until they got in front of her house. "What is going on? I mean did you see Chris? Is he okay?"

Silky snorted, "He's just fine, just upset about the method of his salvation. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to be alone for a while," and she slammed the door in his face.

Noah blinked a few times before walking a little ways into the woods,"Is the plan falling into place?"

He smiled and looked to Erin, "Most seamlessly."

"Good, soon we shall be revenged on that cat."

"Assemble the warriors, it is time to move to phase 2.

Erin remained with the assembled warriors before she left to report back to Noah. She wanted to give them further instruction so all would go smoothly. "Can you remember all I've told you now?" The dragon mouse nodded. "Excellent, we can not have anything go wrong when the time comes." She turned and grinned while she walked away.

A light knock on the door broke Silky out of her reverie. She went to the door and opened it to find Betty waiting at the door. "May I come in?"

Silky thought a moment before stepping aside to let her pass. She walked in and sat down on a sofa. "How are you holding up?" Silky did not answer. "Chris is really sorry about what he said. It was only a few moments after you left we realized what fools we were all being." Silky still did not answer. "He thinks it might give him an advantage in battle, knowing he could regenerate limbs."

Silky sighed, "I knew he'd come around eventually. He's too sensible a man not to." She sat down across from her. "Is he home yet?"

"I dropped him off on my walk over here. I thought he might recover more comfortably at his own place."

"Sound thinking," there was a small awkward silence before Silky spoke again. "I just want you to know I am not angry with anyone for what was said. You don't have to feel guilty anymore about it. Chris either."

Betty visibly relaxed, "That is a relief. I-"

"I said I was not angry. I didn't say I wasn't hurt." She got up and went to the window to look out, her back to the room. "Just give me some time. I'll find you when I'm ready."

"And we'll be waiting."

Silky heard the door close but didn't turn to look. She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she heard the door open again. "I told you I..'d come when I was ready." Thinking it was Betty or Chris, Silky turned around. But she was surprised to see Erin smiling in her living room. "Silly kitty," Erin giggled. "You won't be ready for this."

Silky looked around warily, "What are you talking about?"

"Of course," she stood and walked to the back door. "You haven't met my new friends."

"Friends?"

"You'll see," She opened the door. Two monsters walked into the room and stood by Silky. "Well, what do you think? Aren't they just marvelous?"

"You stole the plans?"

"Yes," she giggled. "But I didn't do it alone."

Silky turned to look at the opening door to find Noah walking in. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Never would have expected me to betray you," Noah sneered. "Then you don't know the history between my family and you."

"What history would that be?" Silky inquired.

"I thought you'd never ask," Noah motioned for Silky to sit down across from him as he sat down in the chair he stood by. Silky sat down stiffly. "It began many years ago, with a greedy king. You see, he wasn't happy with just his own kingdom. He wanted the ones around him too. The problem was he

didn't have an army big enough or strong enough to take them. And what do you do when you have undeserved riches and something you want but can't get?"

"I wouldn't know."

Erin giggled, "You pay to find a way to get it silly."

Noah sent a piercing glare in her direction, "No interruptions, please." Erin zipped her lips with a mischeivious grin. "Good. Now as I was getting to, the king needed a more powerful army to get the land he wanted to obtain. Sound familiar?" Silky remained silent. "Oh come now. Didn't our dear healer tell you a similar story?" Still nothing. "I bet she did and I bet you didn't like what you heard. Luckily, I won't rehash the gruesome numbers for you. Needless to say, there were many failures before we got to you."

"How were the experiments kept a secret?" Silky asked in a low voice.

Noah smirked at her curiousity, "Lots of gold and the promise of a swift execution if they breathed a word. Just to give you a few examples." The silence spanned a few minutes before Noah spoke again. "Let me continue with my story then. After countless had already perished in the name of the king's foolish greed, he decided men were just not good enough."

"And there were almost no soldiers left to experiment on," Erin giggled.

"I said no more interruptions! Go outside and check on the troops where you will not interrupt further." Erin pouted but did as she was told. "It is true vh what she said. No plot twist was so perfect as the king making the switch to using animal specimens as a base. And no greater insult to his army." Noah's eyes darkened as he spoke. "My family had been the first to volunteer, our strong military heritage should have made us able to endure anything. Unfortunately, the healer's family didn't perform the experiment correctly and dit failed. My once proud family was disgraced and who should be brought up in our place but a flea-bitten animal."

"Me."

"No, your stray cat mother that they pulled off

the street. Their new prodigy made us all look weak as she gave litter after litter of perfect genetically altered kittens. Kittens that would one day replace us as his army. Every soldier felt threatened by this new threat to their livelihood. It didn't take much to rally them to...rectify the situation."

"You are talking about mass murder."

Noah shrugged, "What is the difference between a thousand humans and a thousand of your kind in

the name of science. Either way someone pays the price for someone to get their name in science. No one is safe from that."

Silky stared at Noah a moment before speaking, "Either way it is senseless murder."

"No matter, what is done is done. The point is that after all was said and done you were somehow still alive. The king kept you as a pet for sometime before sending you to combat training. My grandfather trained you."

"How is that even possible? We grew up together in this village."

"Those memories are false. Just another modern miracle of science, the ability to erase and create memories. It was necessary to continue the experiments on your longevity."

"My what?"

"Well you became something of an anomoly. Somehow they found that your DNA had mutated to give you immortality. They wanted to find the part of yours that had given you that trait. You are the key to giving the crown exactly what they wanted; an invincible army. My family became your handlers as our penance for starting a rebellion. So here we are. I am sure you have some questions for me."

Silky glared at him a moment before answering, "Give me a reason why I shouldn't just report you to the guard right now?"

Noah chuckled, "I expected something a little more cliche but I suppose I should expect the unexpected with you. I wonder though what good reporting to the guard will do when I am the head guard of the town."

Silky slumped down in her seat, defeated. There was no hope for her now.

"The poor kitty knows that no one is coming to save her," Erin giggled in the doorway. "For either of you actually."

"What are you playing at servant?" Noah growled.

"I am not your servant," she said through clenched teeth. "I am your partner but no more. I believe you will take orders from me now on." She motioned to the forces now surrounding the small cottage. Hundreds of dragon mice were at the command of Erin. "I never had any intentions of working with you forever, only long enough to have you help me create this wonderful army for me. Take them!" A crowd of soldiers ran in and seized Noah and Silky. Erin walked to Noah, "I don't seem like such a silly girl now, do I?"

Noah smirked, "I will admit that I underestimated you but go ahead and play your little game of war. We'll see who ends up on top."

"Throw them in the dungeons along with that pesky healer and the meddlesome night guard."

Chaos ensued as they were dragged away. They all were silent in the cell as they listened to the soldiers rampage through the town. "I suppose we are doomed now," Betty muttered to herself. "She will certainly turn the town against us."

"I wouldn't count on it," Noah said with confidence. "There was a reason I chose her as my accomplice. She has very little leadership ability."

"She might surprise you," Silky pointed out. "She led a very destructive group for several months."

"And who do you think orchestrated that? I had to create a diversion to give me time to grow my army."

"Is there no end to how far you will go to get your self-righteous revenge?"

"Listen here kitty," Noah got in her face. "If you had never been born there would be no reason for there to be any revenge. My family was ostracized because you were a better specimen."

"How is that my fault? Do you truly think I wanted any of this? Maybe if you put aside your petty grievances we can get out of here."

"I can get out of here without your help. Don't you think I had a contingency plan in place? I have my best and most loyal soldiers waiting to rescue me. If I don't give the stand down order they will come get me out."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them," Erin giggled from the top of the stairs to the dungeon. "I took care of them a few days ago. You were right about them being loyal, they were the only ones that would not join my side. It was a shame really, they were most excellent fighters."

"When I get out of here I will hunt you down."

"Temper, temper," she came to the bottom of the stairs. "One might think you hold a grudge."

"Once I get out of here I will make you pay for every life you have taken."

Erin peered through the bars with a smirk, "We shall see. And what of you my stoic friend? Let us hear what tales of revenge you are conjuring."

Silky looked to Erin, "I have no tales nor threats to offer, only a warning. Never underestimate the will of those who strive to do good when pitted against those who would strive to do evil."

Erin tilted her head and smirked, "Oh, we'll see about that in due time. How are you so sure I'm not working for good? Maybe you should ponder that while you're in here." Erin bounded up the stairs and stopped at the sound of Silky's voice.

"Don't confuse selfish pride with a righteous cause."

"So they tell every rebel with a cause who made a difference," Erin slammed the door shut on the misfit company.

After a few hours nothing much had changed with the group in the dungeon. With no news of what was going on out of their small cell they fell into an uneasy silence. They all brooded in their separate corners contemplating their next move. Noah looked simply murderous, an ugly scowl on his face. "Care to rethink working alone or would you rather scowl in the cell with just yourself for company."

"And what is the brilliant plan you have concocted for us?"

"None as of yet but that is precisely why we need you here."

"Count me out of this I'd rather not align myself with you. Besides it's hard to plan a jailbreak without someone on the outside to help."

"And you still do sir," a voice whispered through the bars.

Noah peered through the bars to see his general looking at him, "Lucas, you're alive, I can't believe it. Erin said you were all dead."

"All but me sir. I hid once we were attacked then I came to find you. What is the new plan?"

"We need a way to get you in here to help us. Just get me-"

"Wait," Silky yelled unexpectedly. "That's it. Lucas needs to get arrested, that's how we'll get out of here today. Lucas can dis-"

"Are you crazy? I will not allow him to take such a risk, he could be killed."

"A risk I would most happily take sir," Lucas interjected.

"Even so," Noah continued. "I cannot take the risk of losing our only outside man."

"But he is the only one who can get us out. We have to take a risk sometime to get out. Let's take advantage of the fact that Erin is preoccupied with securing her hold on the village. A lesser guard will have to bring him in. Your ties to your liege would be unknown to a lower ranking officer."

"Can you guarantee his safety and that we will escape?"

"Of course not, but waiting in this cell will most certainly lead to death."

Noah thought about it a moment before answering, "Very well, let's hear this plan of yours."

After hours of explanation and preparation, they were ready to put their plan into motion. They waited impatiently for Lucas to be brought in with the guard. They were not fond of waiting around for their part to play. "I hope he comes through soon. I hate all this waiting." It was more natural for Silky to jump into action than to wait while others took the bigger risks.

Just then a scuffle was heard on the stairs, complete with yelling. Lucas was being dragged down to the dungeon.

"What are you doing?" Noah yelled.

"No more than I was told to do," the guard shot back. "My orders come from the top."

"Straight from me," Erin's voice came from the top of the stairs. "You forget I was trained by you Noah. I know all your tricks...plus a few of my own."

"You know nothing," Noah spat.

Erin pulled Lucas up by his hair, "Were you going to wait for my guard to throw him in the cell and ambush him? Not one of my guard would fall for so simple a trick. I taught them to report any instance of an arrest to avoid an unfortunate escape."

Noah smirked as Erin came closer, "I believe you have let your arrogance put yourself in a most compromising position."

"What are-" her words were cut short as she felt a knife slowly slide across her throat. Lucas had taken his hidden dagger out of his boot. He had it in a concealed carrier the guard had missed when he was brought in to the dungeon.

"My my," Lucas growled. "It would appear you seem to underestimate those you feel are inferior to you. Now you will listen very carefully to everything I tell you to do. Got it?"

"Got it," Erin said through clenched teeth. She had no back-up here, so she would have to bide her time for now.

"Good. Now open the door and let them out of there," Erin unlocked the door and watched as the prisoners filed out of the cell. "Now you will get in there and lock the door behind you. I wouldn't want you to follow us. I hope you will be comfortable here." Lucas turned to shut the door and in that moment Erin had enough opportunity to grab the knife and stabbed him in the shoulder. The group all ran toward him and pushed Erin back into the cell, knocking the knife from her hand.

"Lucas," Noah yelled. "Can you move at all? Are you able to come with us?"

Lucas winced, "I do not know what damage has been done sir. It will not kill me but I fear this wound may prevent me from joining with you in your escape."

"But they will surely kill you if you stay here. We just will have to carry you to safety before we go after her army."

"No sir," Lucas grabbed Noah's arm. "You need to stop this insanity. You can still turn this all around. You can still make it all right."

"Don't say things like that, you don't know that will work for sure."

"What are you talking about?" Silky asked.

"The failsafe," Erin giggled.

"Failsafe?"

"The master heart. I must admit it was an ingenius plan," Erin clapped her hands together. "Oh shall I tell them or will you Noah?"

Noah growled, "Just keep quiet you!"

"Aww, he's not going to tell you. So I guess I must tell you all about it."

"I thought I told you to keep quiet!" Noah ran and punched the cell bars.

"And what will you do if I don't, open the door?" Noah watched her a moment before his shoulders sagged. A small smile spread across her face as she giggled. "You never were able to show conviction in the justice of your plan no matter how genius. You see he didn't just find a plan to splice genetic material but also a way for him to destroy his pseudo army in one swoop."

"The master heart?" Silky breathed.

"Is the kitty cat intrigued? I might be inclined to tell you if you let me out. Unless Noah wants to come clean about what he has done."

All eyes turned to Noah where he sat against the wall. "I owe no one here an explanation," he retorted. "Least of all you," he looked pointedly at Silky.

"Listen here, you had better start explaining something or we will surely lose this fight." Silky held onto his collar and forced him to look at her. "Now tell us what you did."

"Tell them what they want to know sir," Lucas coughed out. "Let them help."

Noah sighed, "When I found the formula I also found a way to destroy the whole army with one strike. A master control for them all. You see when they are connected to it they can be controlled or exterminated with it. My goal was to get rid of them after I had taken care of you. It seemed the best option at the time."

"You were going to massacre whole army to get revenge on me. How did you justify that little plan of yours in your mind?"

"I didn't try to, I acted on instinct. What does that matter now?"

"Oh but it does," Erin teased. "I disconnected them from the master heart. Soon they will be able to sustain themselves and they will have to be destroyed one by one. So much for that plan."

"How long before it happens?" Silky asked.

"Oh not long now. In fact they should be gathering in the town square now. The quicker you leave the sooner you might be able to stop me."

"Get up everyone, we have a rally to crash."

With Erin safely ensconced in jail the party made their way to the square unhindered. Lucas offered to stay back to guard the prisoner in case someone came back for her. They tried to convince him that one of the party should stay behind to help but he said they would need all the help they could get to be successful. So they made their way to the square, unsure of what they were going to do. "What is the plan?" Betty asked.

"We need to see what we are up against first." Silky answered. "Then we can better make a plan to win." The group looked past the last building before the square, being careful not to be seen. They did not feel reassured by the sheer number of hybrid soldiers amassing there.

"There is no hope in defeating that amount of soldiers. We only number four, there must be thousands of soldiers," Betty observed.

"We can win, we just have to put our heads toge-" Silky stopped abruptly. Erin stood on a raised dais in the middle of the square. "It's not possible." Silky breathed.

"My friends," Erin began, quieting the crowd that assembled. "Tonight we will have the opportunity to take revenge on those who have held us down. Let it be known that those who stand against us will be cut down," The crowd erupted in loud shouts as she hoisted up an object over her head. As the group looked closer they saw in her hand the severed head of Lucas.

Silky grabbed Noah and whispered quickly in his ear, "Do not let your petty grievances get in the way of your judgement. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain."

"But she has to pay for what she has done," Noah hissed.

"And she will but we need to keep clear heads. Think it through a moment before you act. Do you want to go back to the dungeons?"

"If I take her out then the army will follow me again."

"Do you really want to take that chance?" Silky watched as Noah thought about it a moment. "I thought as much. Let's put our heads together and devise a plan first. We need to find a way to get her away from her army."

"But how can we do that?" Chris asked. "She is on to us now. She would never let herself be so vulnerable around us. Certainly not alone with us."

"All we have to do is get her away from the main army, a small guard should be easy to get rid of. Then we can capture her together. The bit that could prove interesting is h

ow to tame her army after we have her captured.

"Perhaps we can show them that she is a coward. I wonder if we could get her to beg for her life in front of everyone and discredit her ability to lead."

let's think about it; she got to where she is by being ruthless. be realistic about this.

realistic about the fact that she is human? Everyone has their breaking point.

Before we begin dusting off our torture devices, let's think of

a way to discredit her without sinking to her level. Maybe if we just get h

er in custody it will show she has weakness.

kicking around silly ideas won't get us anywhere only action. Trust me I understand good ways to clue them into her cowardice.

Kill those thoughts right now. I know how we can get her to incriminate herself.

Then what is it?

You simply never let them think they have another choice.

Little kinky ideas

will certainly blow up in your face. You just need to convince me that your plan will work. That will take a lot.

T

rust me, it will

work.

Once they had their plan in place they hid in their positions in the square and waited for the rally to return. Only a few more minutes to go before the final conflict. Of course tension was high while they waited for the peo

ple to show up. They grew impatient as time drug on and night was almost over.

Only a few more minutes and it would be over. The group began to file into the square waiting for their leader to arrive. Until the mastermind came out they waited in silence. Only she wasn't coming into where the conspirators were hiding but was in a secret room in the house next door. During the next few minutes Silky broke into the house and drug Erin out by her hair. You

would think that after being captured she would have been scared or begging for her life but she remained strangely calm.

Li

ttle known to them she had conceived a plan to get out at the right time. If they had known, her emotionless face would have given them pause. Fortunately Silky suspected she had something sinister planned so sent Chris to take over as captain of the army. He would make sure they could not come to her aid. After all, they were trained to follow only one person, a hybrid who knew the password.

In moments the battle was won Chris had used the password to take over the army and commanded them to stand down. While

the rest of the group helped to subdue Erin and throw her into jail for good. Her plan had been foiled. People r

ejoiced when the hybrid army was reassigned to guard the forest boundaries at night. Chris took his place as their leader. Erin refused to offer an apology. She only was interested in creating havoc. Silky and Noah continued as friends but their friendship was never quite the same again. The good news

was that no one

was hurt in the battle but Silky's

tail was singed at the tip. An accident but swas something that would be there forever.

Silky was idly waiting by her window when she heard someone faintly calling her name. She felt a little funny as if she was waking fro

m a dream. She began to blink her eyes rapidly to clear the growing distortion in her v

ision.

The blinking seemed to only make it worse and the voice grew

steadily louder.

Suddenly she opened her eyes and found herself in

her living room with a fire going. She stretched out her legs before hopping down from the couch. As she walked to the kitchen she flicked her tail once and at the tip you could see the fur was singed.

The End