Landing harshly, I nearly yelped as a sharp pain ran up my tail.

It had broken in the fall.

Not fall. Toss. They hadn’t just dropped me, but had actually thrown me to the ground.

I rolled mindlessly for a moment, eventually rolling onto my arms and stomach. Mostly since they were still bound together, and I did my best to not cry out as I hurriedly moved my tail as much as I could to a better position. Which was hard since I was still stuck inside this smelly sack.

Groaning, I regretted not fighting back harder as someone began untying the sack. Before I could blink away the tears in my eyes, the sack opened up around me, but only fell down to my waist. They had tied a rope around my arms and stomach, which held it in place.

Glaring at the people around me, I flinched thanks to the sudden horrid smell. Even through the pain and anger, the stink was strong enough to make me momentarily pause and want to complain as if it was the worst thing happening to me right now.

Focusing through the smell and pain… I looked around at the people standing near me. Men and women. Some looked human on first glance, while a few others barely looked human at all.

And I didn’t need to see the dark stone ceiling and walls nearby to know we were in the sewer. The smell alone had told me that.

“She’s like the master?” someone asked with a point at me.

“Fly said she smells just like the master,” a woman behind a few others said. I couldn’t see anything but her legs, thanks to the angle.

I smelled like the master… Fly had definitely mentioned that before. It was such a weird thing. Did it possibly mean the master was like me? A jaguar? Or was it something else? Maybe it was I was just clean, unlike them.

“She scrawny. She one killed Pulti?” a man asked. His voice was rough, and a glance told me he had something in his mouth… but I wasn’t sure what. Was he chewing something? Maybe that’s why he spoke like a child.

“And broke Frank’s hands!” another shouted.

“Stop!” I shouted at them.

Only a few flinched. Oddly most of the ones who did were the men.

Shifting onto my knees, I sat upward and looked behind me. At the two men who stood not far from me.

They were the ones who had kidnapped me.

Both were taller than me, and likely Vim. One was… a thin man. I had not expected him to look as weak as he did, since I knew he was strong. I had felt his grip on my legs as he carried me here. I could feel the throbbing bruises forming on them already.

The other however looked as I had imagined him. Stocky, muscular… and more beast than man. His brow was furrowed, and not just because he was glaring at me. He had fur all over his face, and it was scraggly. It barely hid the huge jaw that jutted outward oddly, with pointed teeth and fangs. He looked like some kind of dog. His hands were likewise cover in fur, and it looked like he had large claws, which were what I had felt as well.

“My name is Renn. I’m a member of the Society,” I spoke slowly as I tried to study my situation.

Honestly it didn’t look good. They were all glaring at me rather openly, and none looked willing to hear anything I had to say.

“The Society?” a dirty woman stepped forward out from the shadows behind some men. Were more people here than I thought at first? Or were people just arriving? Called here by the noise and shouting?

I nodded briskly as I tried to fumble with the ropes wrapped around my arms. Now that I wasn’t being manhandled, and a little calmer, I could see how I could get free. I just needed to wiggle enough until the sack made enough room for me to just slip an arm out, then I could get the other out… then the rope should just slide off completely.

“I think Klamp is dead, Molly,” the tall man who had helped kidnap me said.

“What…?” A woman nearby, presumably Molly, turned quickly in shock as to glare at the tall man.

He nodded briskly. “There was a little girl with her. She killed him,” he said.

Merit.

“You…!” Molly stepped forward towards him. “I warned you! I told you!” she screamed.

The tall man flinched and looked away. As if in shame. And that shame quickly turned into fear and worry as she began to hit him. He was so tall she could barely hit him in the jaw, yet he began to crouch and scrunch up which gave her the ability to let her fists connect cleanly. He tried to step away as he raised his hands to protect himself, but she didn’t seem to care where she was hitting. She was just furious.

The sudden violence was oddly not too surprising to me. But that might just be because I had just been kidnapped, and my tail was hurting bad enough to make me not care much just yet.

Did these people not realize how long it took tails to heal? Why did it have to be my tail? Fingers, arms and legs healed quickly but it always seemed to take forever for my tail to heal and…

“You idiots! Klamp! You!” Molly continued to scream hectically at the man, and I noticed the way the onlookers were not only staring in fear… but also growing in number.

A quick look around showed four more people had shown up. Another appeared from a hallway as well. Just how many people were here? And why did it seem so many of them looked more human than not?

A few were like the dog looking man who had kidnapped me… but the rest seemed to be more human looking than myself. Several didn’t even look anything but human, telling me their non-human features were either not readily visible or…

Or…

An odd feeling filled me as I realized some of them were very likely normal humans. After all… why wouldn’t there be some here too? Fly had never actually said they didn’t have humans living with them too, as we did. That would explain a lot… After all, originally Fly had thought Vim and I were the only non-humans in our group.

It’d make a lot of sense, too. Especially since the homeless humans would need somewhere to live too.

An odd sound of something breaking drew my attention back to Molly and the man she was…

I flinched as I watched her stomp on the tall man’s head. Again. And again. Her merciless beating had forced him to the ground, and he was curled up and doing all he could to protect himself… and failing horribly at it. Her stomps had a horrible wet sound to them as she crushed his head.

Was she killing him…? Why wasn’t anyone stopping her?

If she was going to kill him for simply telling her that this Klamp was dead… what would she be willing to do to me, after?

“Someone stop her. She’ll kill him,” a man said, though sounded as if he really didn’t care if she did kill him or not.

“Hmhm,” my other kidnapper nodded, and stepped forward. Molly didn’t pay attention to him at all, even as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away.

“You fools!” Molly screamed as she got one last kick in before being pulled away. She squirmed in the dog man’s grip, but didn’t seem to fight it too much.

“This is her?” a new voice entered the room. Everyone turned to look at it, which made me do the same.

Looking up at a pair of red eyes, I held the woman’s cold gaze as she studied me. She had antler looking horns on the side of her head, which she had tied her long hair to in various places as if they were ornaments. She was dressed in familiar Lumen attire, and looked much cleaner than most of others here.

“She killed Klamp!” Molly shouted, still being held back by the dog man.

“Actually he said a child killed him, not her,” another noted.

“Why were they unhurt if she killed Klamp though?” One of the women who spoke earlier asked.

“Well Yams is hurt now,” another woman scoffed. The tall scrawny man groaned, and curled up more over on the floor. Was that blood pooling beneath him?

A few coughed some laughs, but others flinched and groaned in worry. Whispers begun to fill the room, and I felt the rope around my arms and waist go slack.

I had gotten the sack out from under it, so now there was room and…

The antler horned woman raised a hand, causing the whole room to go silent as I got an arm free.

They could all see that I was freeing myself, but no one made a move to stop me… so I slowly undid the rest and freed myself. If they weren’t going to stop me then there was no reason to stay tied up.

Slowly standing, I did my best to not let anyone see me flinch when I felt another wave of pain shoot up through my tail and then up my spine.

It was definitely broken.

Bastards.

“Who are you?” the antler woman asked me as I took a small breath and released it upon standing up.

“Renn,” I said.

“I am Aunt. Did you kill Klamp?” she asked.

Aunt…? Maybe it was a play on her antlers or something.

“No. They forced that sack over me, I have no idea what happened,” I said honestly with a point to it. It was near my feet, but honestly I wanted to kick it away.

Aunt looked past me, to the dog man who was still holding Molly… even though she had calmed down completely. He nodded quickly. “She probably didn’t see anything, Aunt,” he said.

“Why did he die then?” Aunt asked him. I noticed the way she glared at him… like a mother scorning a child.

Was she their master?

“There was a little girl with her… we thought it was just a child, so I didn’t realize how dangerous she was. She hit Klamp only once, when Yams and I were tying her up,” he said.

“You’re sure Klamp is dead?” Aunt asked.

He nodded firmly.

“Is that child dead too?” Aunt asked.

I glanced at the dog man and was a little relieved to see him shake his head. “We ran away,” was all he said.

Aunt sighed, and a few people stepped forward… as if they wanted to join the conversation. But they didn’t. One even stepped back away, as if in shame that they had even moved in the first place.

“Why are you all doing this? We’ve done nothing to any of you,” I asked.

The woman with antlers studied me for a moment, and I wondered if Vim would find her pretty. She wasn’t… anything too special, but the way she embraced her antlers and tied her hair to them made her seem pretty to me. Under another situation I’d probably look forward to being her friend.

“You’ve now killed two of us. Plus you ruined Frank’s hands. He can’t work anymore, because of you,” Aunt said calmly.

“Because you attacked us first. We didn’t even know any of you were down here until that moment,” I tried to reason.

“Of course you didn’t. No one ever notices those they don’t care about,” Aunt said with a tiny smile.

I frowned at her comment, and the way she was smirking at me as if she found me funny.

“Let me go. Don’t let this…” I hesitated and wondered if it was already too late. “Don’t let this get worse, please,” I begged her.

Something told me it was too late, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t try.

“Worse…?” Aunt frowned at me, and I realized that they had no idea. How could they?

“If you don’t let me go… if you keep attacking our members, Vim will come,” I said to her.

Her frown deepened. “Vim?”

“Our protector. Please… don’t do anything rash. If anything we should all be working together, to survive. To protect each other. We shouldn’t be enemies,” I said.

A long moment of silence followed my words, and it was obvious how strange they found me. Out of the twenty odd people here, less than a handful seemed to be doing anything but shaking their heads and smiling at me.

“You tried to take our children,” Aunt said.

I shook my head. “We wouldn’t do that. We invited Fly to join our Society… just as we’d invite any of you, given the chance,” I said firmly.

“So you admit it then?” Aunt asked me with a blink of her eyes.

“Admit what?” I asked back.

“That you’d steal from us,” she said plainly.

“Steal what…? We’ve taken nothing from you.” At least… not that I knew of.

“Lives, woman,” Aunt then said.

Lives…

She meant more than just those that Vim and Merit had taken, likely. And more too than Frank, the man whose hands Vim had broken.

Aunt likely meant Fly. And those we were trying to recruit through her. Lives they owned, that we were trying to take from them.

Aunt looked away, to a man on her left. “Have everyone gather at the dinner table,” Aunt said.

Dinner table?

The man nodded, and glanced one last time at me before turning around and leaving the room. I noted the hallway he went down.

Across the hall was another hallway. As far as I could tell there hadn’t been anyone coming from that one since I had been tossed onto the floor. In fact based off its positioning and my own, it was likely the one that they had carried me through.

That would be the one I’d head for, then.

“When Fly gets back, secure her as well,” Aunt then said.

Something deep within me shifted. It kind of felt like when I got sick in the stomach, but it wasn’t.

“Don’t hurt her,” I said to her.

Aunt looked at me. “You’re the one who has hurt her. You’ve led her astray. You lost her to us,” Aunt said.

“You lost her yourself. By feeding her friend to a monster,” I said.

My ears didn’t let me miss the ones in the room who perked up at my words. Especially the two women whose breath had been caught, in shock.

Aunt’s face contorted into anger, and I stood up firmer as she stepped towards me a single step. She lowered her head, and I realized that some of her antlers were… well…

Sharp.

“Spoken like one who has never suffered. But don’t worry. You’ll learn, before you fade into memory. As all should,” Aunt said.

“Do you really have no idea what is going on here? If you don’t stop now… you and everyone here will suffer. Many lives will be lost,” I said.

Aunt scoffed at me. “By whose hand? Yours? I think not.”

I shook my head and wondered if there was any way I could properly explain it… but I knew I couldn’t.

After all, it was impossible.

No one could explain Vim. He was something beyond reason, especially so to those who have never seen it.

I’ve seen it yet I couldn’t believe it. I still questioned it.

Turning a little, I studied those around me. Most were far enough away that I was sure I could get through. The hallway I had in mind of escaping to had only one single woman between me and it. She was old too; maybe not even a non-human. She looked as frail as any normal old woman. She was dressed in similar attire that Fly wore, patched old clothes… and was staring at me with an odd look.

“Let me go. Please. If you let me go we can still handle this properly, and no one else will have to get hurt,” I said one last time.

“She’s crazy,” someone whispered.

No. They were.

Glancing at Yams, the scrawny man had gone silent… and still.

Was he dead? There was now a dark puddle around the man’s head area… but I couldn’t make out his head, thanks to how he had curled up.

No… the better question should be why did I pity the man who had just kidnapped me?

Molly was still being held by my other kidnapper, and didn’t look bothered at all. She now looked calm and collected, as if she hadn’t just beaten a man to death.

These people were calling me crazy? Seriously?

Maybe that was the insanity Vim and the others spoke of. The insanity of cannibalism. Molly didn’t… look that weird… but her actions definitely proved she was a little weird.

“Well? Take her to the dinner table already,” Aunt said with a point at me, dismissing me as if I was a loaf of bread.

“I’m leaving,” I said, decisively.

“In a way,” a woman said as she stepped towards me. I seized her up as she approached with a smile, and wondered what she was. Her general appearance was human enough, but she had a strangely shaped jaw and a lot more teeth than normal accompanied it.

Taking a deep breath, I shifted a little to firm my stance. I ignored the horrible pain my tail brought, simply from moving, and readied myself.

I’d not let them kill them. Nor would I let them stop me from leaving.

At least, I was going to do my best to do such things.

“Careful Yazdi,” a man warned from right. A side glance told me it was an older man. One with only one arm.

“Let’s go, woman,” Yazdi reached out, as to grab me by the arm. Likely to lead me wherever they wanted me to go.

This dinner table could maybe be literal. Maybe Aunt was inviting me to dinner, as to talk… but I highly doubted it. And I wasn’t going to take the chance.

I stepped back and slapped her hand away.

Yazdi paused a moment, and I felt the room grow a little colder… but it was the cold realization that she was strong that really bothered me.

When I had smacked her hand away, I had felt the firmness in it. I had put a lot of force into that slap, yet her hand had barely budged.

“Good. I didn’t care about Klamp, but Pulti paid me homage. I’ll be taking it out on you, then,” Yazdi’s smile grew into a toothy grin as her eyes narrowed at me.

My gut churned as I realized why so many of our members had been so worried.

These people really were savages.

“I’ll hurt you if you touch me,” I warned her.

“I hope you do,” Yazdi’s grin went stiff, and then she attacked.

I sidestepped a quick fist. She had struck out at my face, and for half a moment I couldn’t help but respect the woman’s speed. I had almost failed to dodge it.

Yazdi was visibly shocked that I had dodged her blow, but she didn’t let it faze her too long. She stepped forward and threw another punch a moment later.

Ducking this one, I had to step to the right so quick that I nearly stumbled thanks to the dropped sack and rope as Yazdi spun and tried to kick me in the stomach.

For a few moments there was nothing but my dodging of Yazdi’s attacks… until I neared one of the other women. As I dodged a small charge from Yazdi, out of the corner of my eye I saw the woman we were now near step towards me. She approached quickly, and it was obvious she intended to join… and based off the way she clenched her fists it wasn’t to come to my aid.

“Great,” I huffed as I quickly realized I was going to have to resort to violence myself.

Yazdi stepped towards me, and shifted as to try and kick me in the side. Thanks to my earlier dodges, she didn’t even bother trying to position herself safely. She left herself entirely exposed, allowing me to not just dodge her kick… but step forward, along her leg, and easily land a blow of my own.

Stepping into the attack, I put as much force as I could into it. I punched her right in the stomach, right below her rib cage.

It worried me at how much strength I had put into the blow, but at the same time I didn’t hesitate. I couldn’t afford to, after all.

Yazdi’s eyes went wide, and she toppled over. She released a loud groan as she crumpled, falling to the ground.

Stepping away quickly, I back stepped towards the hallway I wanted to run into. For a tiny moment I stood there, staring at Yazdi who was holding her stomach, kneeling on the ground. The rest of the room was staring at Yazdi as well; even the woman who had stepped forward as to join the fight had paused to watch.

“Bastard,” Yazdi groaned, and I heard the pain in her voice. My attack had connected well, so it had worked… but…

“Idiot,” someone scoffed at Yazdi, and others chuckled in amusement. Even the humans seemed to smirk and laugh at her situation.

I didn’t like the way they all jeered at her. As if this was all some kind of game.

I also didn’t like how Yazdi was glaring at me either… She was in pain, and struggling to gather her strength…

But that look wasn’t one of defeat or worry.

Either she was insane, or my attack only temporarily worked. Which was worrying, since I had put my all into it.

If she got up shortly and returned to attacking me, it meant the only way I’d be able to stop her would be to kill her. Since she would be too strong for me to do anything else.

Which also meant if others, like that woman who had intended to help Yazdi, also attacked me…

Yazdi coughed and then got a foot under her, and started to stand. She did so haphazardly and slowly… but her strength was returning.

Once the onlookers realized that she was fine, they all returned their attention to me.

“Get her already,” Aunt said firmly.

Several people stepped forward, nodding.

Flinching, I turned and ran.

Hurrying into the hallway, I ran away as quickly as I could.

The dark hallway felt blurry as I ran through it, likely thanks to the dark color of the stone and my general condition. My head was fuzzy, thanks to the stench, and the pain in my tail was starting to become unbearable.

I noticed the obvious discomfort from my broken tail, but more so the issues it brought. When I turned a corner, I almost slipped and fell… and not because of the thin layer of water on the floor. My broken tail was throwing me off balance.

“Come on,” I grumbled as I picked up my pace and focused.

The hallway was a long one, and every so often I ran past smaller hallways that diverged from it. As I ran I looked for a stairwell, or something like it… surely if I was underground, there would be stairs back up… right?

I needed to get out of here, not just before I got hurt or killed… but before the Society voted to let Vim let loose his wrath upon them.

Not that I believed there was any real chance of stopping it now… but…

My eyes grew watery as I realized it was happening again.

Because of me.

People were dying. Would die. Because of me.

Rounding another corner, I skidded to a stop and once again nearly fell down.

With a huff, I frowned at Yazdi, who stood alone in the hallway in front of me.

Had I rounded around or something? Although I had turned at a few corners I was sure I hadn’t circled around completely… after all I had ran quite a distance.

Yazdi wasn’t smiling, and she now had…

I studied the long black thing in her hand. It almost looked like a sword, but it wasn’t. It was blunt, and round… yet it looked heavy.

Whatever it was, it was definitely intended to be used as a weapon.

Against me.

“Stop this,” I begged.

“But it hasn’t even started yet?” she said.

Taking a breath, I decided to just handle it. To face it, head on.

Stepping towards her as she stepped towards me, I chose my path of attack.

The black weapon was similar to a sword. She held it in her right hand, and it was about as long as the sword I trained with. It was far thicker, but I was able to treat it as a sword. I knew she’d attack as if it was a sword, swinging it at me like a club maybe, so my tactics would be similar to what I’ve been learning from Vim.

I’ll dodge her first swing. I was fast enough. I knew this already, from dodging her earlier. Then after dodging, before she could pull back and attack again, I’ll hit her.

This time I’ll strike her in the chest. A little harder. A little more angled.

A little more deadly.

“Think I’ll take your tail before handing you over. Master won’t notice it, and I could use a new blanket,” Yazdi spoke with a smirk, and I did my best to ignore her words. She was simply being cruel. Taunting me. Trying to unsettle me.

“Funny that you’re all the same,” I whispered as I got into position.

She either didn’t hear me, or care to respond, for she simply rushed towards me. She lifted her weapon upwards, and took a deep breath.

Stepping forward as well, I kept a keen eye on her and not the weapon. I paid attention to her footwork. The way her shoulders tensed. The way her head turned a little to the left.

Stepping to the right, the weapon she swung made a woosh sound as it went where my head had been. Before she could start pulling the weapon back up, or step away, I stepped forward again.

She was quick enough to clench her teeth, expecting the blow, but wasn’t quick enough to dodge or stop it. My fist connected firmly with her sternum. Right where the bones connected. The impact hurt my fist a little, she was a little boney.

The blow was solid, and she released all of her pent up breath through her clenched teeth because of it. She spat a cough, but I didn’t stop. I grabbed the forearm that held the weapon, and I twisted it just enough before smacking it with my other hand. Hitting her at the elbow joint, with it contorted out of place and with her trying to pull her arm free made it easy for it to break. It crunched loudly, and she let loose a tiny yell of pain as she dropped the weapon.

It clanked as it fell to the stone ground, telling me it was metal… then I pushed her away.

She stumbled backward, and slipped. She fell to the ground with a loud oomph.

Before even verifying it was over I turned to run away. There was no point to keep attacking her if she’d just lay there, and there was no point in waiting to make sure if she’d be fine or not.

I didn’t care if she’d be fine, just as I didn’t care to actually finish her off.

Stepping away, I only got three steps before something smacked me upside the head.

My vision blurred, and by the time my sight returned and I realized what actually had happened… I was on my knees.

My hands were wet. I blinked at the sight of a small layer of water beneath me, and wondered if the layer of still water had been there this whole time. I hadn’t heard splashes, had I? Maybe I had…

“Idiot Yazdi. I warned you,” a new voice rung in my ears, sounding louder than ever. As if they were shouting… but I knew they weren’t. There wasn’t even an echo.

“Shut up!” Yazdi spat at the new woman. I turned as I tried to get my feet back under me, as to stand up… but for some reason I was fumbling. My head throbbed as I barely got to my feet.

The new woman was one I hadn’t seen yet. I couldn’t remember her from the crowd earlier.

She was older… and had a rough looking face. She was snarling at me, but most of her expression seemed to be from the burn scars covering most of her forehead. Her hair was shorter, but it was thick enough to hide if her whole head was covered in those scars or not.

Rubbing the back of my head, I was very surprised to not feel more wetness. In fact my hair made my hand dryer, which was a good sign… maybe.

I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to run just yet. I was still wobbly on my feet.

“You’re the one who got me in trouble, huh?” the new woman sounded happy for some reason, even though she was scowling at me. She had a similar black metal pipe in her hand. It wasn’t the same one that Yazdi had; hers was lying a few feet away.

“And how did I do that, exactly?” I asked, even though I didn’t really care for an answer.

“Because of you I have to beat that stupid bird. Do you know how hard it is not to kill her? A pain in the ass. Though I suppose now that doesn’t matter anymore,” she said as she lightly spun the black weapon in her hands.

My headache grew worse as it throbbed while my eyes narrowed at her. “You’re the one who beat Fly?” I asked.

“Last few times at least,” she nodded with a smile.

Clenching my jaw, I ignored the weird pain that throbbed in the back of my head. Every time my heart thumped, I felt the weird pain in my ears. My human ones, not the ones on top of my head… which was weird.

Yazdi coughed, and groaned as she tried to stand. She stumbled thanks to having tried to use her broken arm as support against the wall. She must not have realized I had broken her elbow. “That bitch,” she cursed as she stared at her wonky arm.

“You’re fault,” the scarred woman said with a smile. She actually seemed to enjoy watching Yazdi struggling as she tried to stand up through the pain.

Where had she come from, actually…? There wasn’t any hallway nearby. Nor were there any places for her to have hidden away… there was nothing in the hallway, other than simple junk on the floor. Papers, trash… there was stuff I really didn’t want to think about, too. Nothing big enough to hide behind.

Only thing I could think of was that I was in much worse shape than I felt. Maybe I was panicking.

Taking a few breaths, I decided it was time to run away again. I still hurt, and felt wobbly, but I needed to get away before more people showed up.

“Let’s go already. I want to be the one to catch the bird when she gets back, so let’s get this over with,” the scarred woman stepped forward as to attack me. She didn’t even hesitate, seemingly confident.

So had Yazdi.

I didn’t want to get hit in the back of the head again, so I decided to face her head on. I’d disable her like I did the other woman, and then run away.

About to take a stance, I blinked and suddenly she was in front of me. Within arm’s reach.

Shoot! She was quick like Vim!

I curled up and raised my arms, to block the blow. I wasn’t going to be able to dodge it.

The black pipe felt heavy. Far heavier than it should have, as she swung it up and then down as to hit me on the head. I covered my head with my arms, and wasn’t surprised at all to feel the horrid pain of broken bones as the thing hit my forearms.

Flinching at the pain, I accepted it and then rolled my arms forward, alongside the force of her blow. It forced the bar downward, away from my head and face and to the ground. She stared into my eyes as I followed through after the diverting block, and I shot both of my hands upward towards her throat.

I could feel that my left arm was the worse of the two, but it didn’t matter. I only needed to hit her once. I just needed to force my way through the pain, then escape.

All I needed to do was get to the surface. To get to Vim. After that I’d be…

Within a moment my hands were at her throat. Although I opened my hands as to grab her throat, I still struck out as if I had intended to simply hit her in the throat with balled fist. I grabbed her throat as much as I crushed it, and with all the strength I could muster… ever through the pain, I began to squeeze her throat.

Her throat wasn’t that big. My hands circled most of it. My thumbs and fingers dug into it, a few went deep enough that I knew I was doing damage just from the squeeze alone… yet…

Yet she didn’t even flinch.

She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came. Since no air could go in or out of the throat I was trying to crush. Yet still she didn’t stop. She didn’t let it bother her. She raised her weapon again, and before I did my best to turn a little as it was brought back down.

The black bar hit my right shoulder, and although it staggered me, I noticed it didn’t hurt as badly as the first two blows had. She was acting as if my choking wasn’t affecting her, but it was obvious it was. She wasn’t able to gather enough strength.

“Kapli!” Yazdi shouted from behind her, but I didn’t bother trying to look at her. Right now this woman was all that mattered.

Squeezing tighter, I ignored the woman’s other hand as she reached out and grabbed the side of my face. She grabbed hair, my right human ear, and skin. I felt her sharp nails dig into my cheek, and tear at the back of my head.

“Ahh!” I shouted wordlessly as I put more force into my hands. I reeled up and pushed forward, making the woman step back a step.

She raised the bar again, and I groaned as I realized that was why she grabbed my head. To keep it in place.

I wasn’t going to be able to do dodge this one.

And the effort to try and do so only ended up with her nails digging deeper into my face and head.

The bar thunked against my head, and the world fuzzed to black.

Wheezing, while unable to see anything… I still felt everything. I felt my head become heavy, and slunk downward… as if I was suddenly sleepy and falling asleep. I felt my tail go slack, even through the pain. I felt my knees buckle… and my hands…

“Sheesh!” Kapli wheezed, and I heard the huge intake of breath from above me.

Falling to the ground, I blinked wildly… and was glad that sight slowly returned. Albeit fuzzily and slowly… as if I was just waking up from a long slumber, I groaned and started to look upward.

Looking upward only showed me a knee. A knee that sent me backward, and caused me to close my eyes in pain once again.

Vim’s calm voice filtered into the echoes of Yazdi and Kapli talking to one another. They were yelling at each other for some reason… yet all I heard was Vim.

He spoke calmly. As if we were together again. In the forest. Or on the roof. Sparring.

“You’re strong Renn. But strength isn’t everything,” he said.

No. It obviously wasn’t.

“Plus you’re… well… Too nice, I guess. But that will change. Once you find a reason to fight, you see,” Vim added.

Funny. I thought I had one.

“But that’s why we’re doing this. So hopefully when the day comes, you’re good enough to at escape. Escape to me, that’s all you need to do,” Vim finished.

I tried Vim. I did.

I coughed, and suddenly Vim was gone. The dark, stinky, pain filled world returned… and I realized I was being dragged.

Sharp pains dug into my rear and lower back, and I realized my tail was being damaged. It was stuck below me, and I was being dragged roughly… so…

Rolling a little, I lifted my head just enough to look downward, towards my feet… One of them was being held by Kapli, who was dragging me behind her.

“Let me have the tail first, Kapli,” Yazdi was walking next to her, and glancing back at me. She was holding her arm and didn’t look very happy.

“Shut up! I should skin you, idiot!” Kapli swatted at her, which made Yazdi yelp and flinch away.

Blinking the blurry sight of the two arguing, I wondered what I should do now. My head was fuzzy. My body weak… Even if I got up and away from these two could I escape now?

Kapli pulled me out of a hallway, and I flinched in pain at the sudden brightness. A horrible throbbing ache thumped behind my eyes as I tried to look around. The world was now very bright, and my eyes blurred drunkenly. There looked as if there were dozens of little suns above me, all brighter than the last.

Voices filled my ears, and I didn’t like how some sounded far away and slurred… since I could tell they weren’t. There were people around me, staring down at me as I was dragged. Their blurry silhouettes looked funny.

“Let me go,” I whispered.

“Sure,” Kapli said.

Blinking at the oddly kind tone in her answer, I wondered why she had the sudden change of heart…

Then I felt it.

The ground was gone from beneath me. No longer scraping my back. My head wasn’t burning from the bumps and knocks. My tail wasn’t erupting in pain anymore, from being crushed and dragged.

And I could now feel the cold blood rolling down my head.

Blinking wildly, I tried to sit up or at least bring my arms up so they didn’t dangle so helplessly… but couldn’t. I stared at the blurry Kapli, who smirked at me… while being upside down.

She was holding me upward. By my ankle. Out over…

Looking up, which was actually down, I went cold inside as I saw the darkness beneath me.

A darkness that my damaged head and blurry eyes couldn’t deny.

Some kind of pit maybe.

“One little bird won’t be enough anyway… If you survive the fall, please scream for me,” Kapli said… then she let me go.