The ice-encased plesiosaur split in half and the ice parted to reveal a small chamber full of cowering animals. Most of them were bundled in blankets and playing chess, while others were making escape plans.
As I walked by, I could not help but notice one golden-colored wolf eyeing me. She looked young, energetic, brave, and adventurous, just like me.
"Your meeps smell like hard-boiled eggs," she roared.
I couldn't help but laugh and then smack her for insulting me. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's The Hope's code language. That's a sentence in code. I just said you were cool and I wanted to be friends."
"Okay. Sure, that's fine with me, since I'm an orphan now and I have nobody."
"I lost my parents too! My name's Aureis."
"I'm Silver," I said, shaking her paw politely. "Let's tell each other adventure stories!"
"Okay," Aureis agreed. "So, there was a lightning storm outside. Nothing but lightning. No rain, no thunder, just lightning. It struck and shook the streets like they were going to explode. So my parents and I took the chance to escape and run during the storm. Not a bad idea, right? Well, we were running to Crystal Sands, but the beach was on fire, so my parents made a dumb decision and dove into the Juice Hut, which caught on fire the second they dashed in. I leapt out and saved myself after their urge, and they died in the fire. You know what?"
"What?" I asked, extremely interested.
"The lightning storm and the fire were both caused by phantoms to kill my parents. We're the second most wanted by the phantoms. We come right after the ArcticCat family."
"I'm in that family," I cheered.
"Cool," Aureis agreed. "So Silver, do you like Darts? We stick a raccoon's tail to the board, spin it, and try to hit the middle of the tail."
"Sounds fun," I lied. It actually sounded kind of dangerous to the poor raccoon, but whatever.
Before we could start, though, Sir Gilbert and five other well-dressed animals stood up.
"I am Peck," the rabbit said.
"I am Liza," the panda continued.
"I am Greely, and this runt of a koala is Cosmo," the wolf hissed.
"And of course, I'm Graham the monkey," the monkey rasped.
Sir Gilbert was silencing the crowd so the others could speak. "The shamans have been retrieved! Now it is time for phase 2 of our plan! Greely and I will ambush the phantom fortress in Zios, while Peck brings volunteer fighters for the ambush! Liza will sneak around Jamaa and release the slaves, runaways and resistors while the phantoms are trapped and fighting at their lair. Cosmo and Graham, you will be scouts. Help fight if it is necessary."
"How do we fight phantoms?" Graham pondered.
"We don't fight them exactly. Cosmo traps them in his trapper-plants, and then we release them while they're stunned and kill them with our staffs."
"Okay," Peck sighed. "Can I fight if necessary?"
"Yes," Sir Gilbert answered.
"Alright then, let's move out!" Greely howled, eyeing Aureis while Sir Gilbert eyed me.
Something was very weird here.
What was even weirder was that this battle was going to end very quickly.
I could feel it.
Everybody here was going to die except for Aureis and I.
How did I know that?
I'm not sure, but there was something weird going on... and I needed to find out.
Like, right now.
So I did what needed to be done.
I padded away quietly and unnoticed, dodging leaves and twigs and permafrost and ice. I was halfway to the bridge when I felt something on my neck, and I turned around to see Sir Gilbert.
"You're not going anywhere, young ArcticCat," he growled in an odd, buzzy voice, and then his face melted off.
I wanted to scream, but I knew I couldn't. I bit his paw as hard as I could, scrabbled for a pawhold on the ground, and took off for the bridge. I knew who was chasing me.
But... why?
Why would he do this to me... when he was protecting me all his life?
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