Stella slowly opened the door, and looked out of the room.

There was a wide hallway, but none of the candles were lit.

The palace too was filled with all sorts of smells, some of which were unfamiliar to her. But most of the smells were awakening her instincts, some of the more… primal ones…

However, not only did she smell all sorts of things, she also heard some. And the some were apparently coursing throughout the palace, just like the patrols on the walls.

To avoid detection by the sleepy lazy guards (not that she knew that they were such), Stella stood up on her rear legs, and gripped on the ceiling. She walked on the ceiling, and successfully approached a patrol.

There were two men walking below her with torches.

Stella barely held back the saliva, as she watched them leave.

Her insatiable hunger drove her to follow them, and eat them despite her belly being filled, but whenever that thought would almost overwhelm her, she would immediately remember her Mother’s words that she must control herself.

Only through controlling her carnal desires can she stay whom she used to be, and would avoid the horrors she inflicted. Her Mother may be long-dead, but her new Mother too shares the thought that it is bad to kill people. At least kill mindlessly.

Mother always said that Stella is a good girl, and if she continues to be good girl, everyone would like her. The new Mother liked her for being the good girl, and that is why Stella must continue being patient.

When the humans disappeared around a corner, Stella continued walking forth.

On her way she was checking on different rooms of the palace, and their sleeping inhabitants, but none of them matched the picture she was shown.

She almost reached the designated time, the dawn, before finding the right room.

Inside she smelled someone resembling an old human.

When she peeked inside the room, she saw a large space with furniture, and a curtained square thing in the middle. The smell was coming from there.

Stella cautiously opened the door, climbed through the door frame, and approached the bed.

As she looked from above, the feeble old man on the bed didn’t look all that important, but since her new Mother wanted it, she will do what she needs to. If she can do it successfully, she will be praised.

Feeling something wrong, the king opened his eyes, and saw a black shadow hanging from the ceiling, and staring at him with many eyes.

The man’s scream of horror was stopped by a scaly paw blocking his mouth.

Stella wondered what she needs to do: she was considering eating him, but before she gave in to her hunger, she remembered new Mother’s words that the king is going to be required for something.

The horrified man was struggling to free himself, but his arms and legs were held down by Stella’s limbs. The man’s mumbling and bellowing was so annoying for her, that she accidentally dislocated his jaw by a move of her paw.

Since she learnt she could shut him up, she gripped his head, crushing his jaw and almost killing the king. The unconscious man was then grabbed by Stella, and carried out of the room.

Stella was asked to deliver the king to a balcony of the palace. There, she left the unconscious man.

Four shivering men in balaclavas looked at the dreadful creature.

One of them spoke to her in a trembling voice.

‘C-can y-you t-e-ear h-h-him…?’

For a moment she hesitated. Even if she harmed the man, she did it only due to her clumsiness. However, the men were said to be friends of her new Mother.

Until the morning, the team B operatives did not catch a shut eye even for a split second.

Vietnam, Rhodesia, and Afghanistan all combined would not approach the level of terror they experienced this night. However, the new PTSD entry was worth the mission accomplished.

When the citizens started gathering at the central square, the place where there was a clear visibility of the palace, they saw a mangled corpse of their king hanging at the palace balcony.

One of the operatives shouted: “THEY KILLED THE KING!”

And the crowd started rampaging.

The events of that day would be remembered as the slaughter of the Harvest day, when a few thousands of civilians were slaughtered during an unrest. Not only did the civilians die, within a week the rest of the royal family went missing too… disappearing during nights, sometimes together with their escorts…